In this issue:

A. Announcements 

B. Events 

C. Classifieds (jobs)

A. Announcements 

1) New Deputy Director of Office of Public Affairs is now On Board

Email  from AIT President on 1 February 2021.

Dear AIT family,

I am pleased to announce that Ms. Thiwari (Mae) Werayasobrasong is now on board. She will have an important role in building the brand and promoting the global reputation of 

the Institute, working with the faculty and senior leadership. She will work closely with me to oversee the entire Public Affairs portfolio of AIT.

She can be contacted by email at thiwari@ait.ac.th or by her office phone number, 5831.

Let us welcome her as a new member of the AIT family and give her our support and utmost cooperation.

Dr. Eden Woon

AIT President

2) A Better Working Environment

Email  from AIT President on 1 February 2021 

Dear members of the AIT family,

I am committed to creating an environment at AIT that enables us to take the Institute to a higher level. To do so, it is essential that we foster a positive and team attitude. This is why this important reminder message is sent out to the AIT community at the beginning of every semester.

But there will be instances where a person may feel that an unsatisfactory situation has developed at AIT which requires addressing, and thus wish to lodge a complaint or express a grievance. For these, AIT already has policies and procedures for addressing grievances, such as sexual harassment, bullying, invasion of privacy and discrimination, among others (PA 2-1-2) and on disciplinary action (PA 1-3-3, X; PA 1-1-1, IX). Procedures for handling the grievances of students are set out in the Student Handbook.

In short,

1. All complaints from within a unit must be addressed through the chain of command within the unit.

2. Complaints about other units/persons must be addressed by the complainant, through his/her supervisor, to the supervisor (or next chain of command) of the other unit.

3. For students, complaints must be addressed through the relevant chain of command: academic advisors; Department Heads; Dean; Director of the Office of Student Affairs.

However, if after following these established procedures, it is felt that the complaint or grievance cannot be resolved through these channels and it is of a serious nature, it should be drawn to the attention of the AIT Administration. Should the matter reach this point, here is the system for complaint or grievance:

Step 1 — Make a report and send it, using your AIT email address, to report@ait.ac.th. Any complaint or grievance reported in this way will be addressed seriously, and in utmost confidence. No anonymous complaints will be accepted.

Step 2 — The Director of the Office of Academic Administration (OAA), Ms Izel Ann Dante, has been entrusted by me to make an initial assessment of all complaints and grievances (including, but not limited to, cases of unethical behavior and misconduct) and to determine whether there is a case. She will do this by first ascertaining all facts material to the complaint. This may involve speaking confidentially to the complainant. She will also review the relevant Institute Policies and Procedures.

Step 3 — Based on her assessment, she will submit a confidential report to the Vice President for Administration and to me, recommending either that there is a case, or that no further action is required. I will then decide the actions that the Institute needs to take.

I would like all of us to focus on the challenges facing AIT. But to do so requires that we address legitimate concerns about the governance of the Institute. Before making a complaint, you should be confident of its legitimacy and seriousness. And if you are confident of that, we will take your concern seriously. This system described above will provide an equitable and confidential channel for students, faculty and staff to put forward their grievances and complaints. The administration will do its utmost to try to reach a fair resolution.

Let’s all strive to have a better working environment at AIT!

Thank you!

Dr. Eden Woon
President

3)  School Opening and Vaccines

Email from AIT President on 30 January 2021

Dear AIT Family Members:

Thank you for your patience and cooperation in the past month regarding our measures while a new wave of COVID-19 hit Thailand.  Today, I am pleased to tell you that since Thailand government has declared that the virus situation is cautiously being handled and schools can open, AIT campus will re-open on February 1, Monday.  Therefore, in-person classroom instruction and in-person office work will resume on that day, with strict social distancing.  Of course, since there are still a number of overseas students who are not in Thailand, teaching will be in the Hybrid Instruction mode as we had in Fall, 2020. 

For everyone’s information, our Organization Quarantine facility has been operating around the clock, and so far, around 200 overseas students have gone through quarantine successfully and are now pursuing their studies in person on AIT campus.

Speaking of COVID-19, I also want to take this opportunity to give the AIT community a piece of good news.  As you all know, the Royal Thai Government will provide COVID-19 vaccinations for Thai citizens.  AIT has always been equally concerned about our non-Thai students and our non-Thai faculty and staff and dependents, so we have been working hard with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our host in Thailand, to see if vaccines can also be available to these AIT family members. 

I am pleased to tell you that we have been informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it plans to make vaccines available to all International Organizations in Thailand, including AIT.  The availability priorities and the timing will be set by the Government, but this is very good news for all of us, as now ALL of our AIT family are covered—Thai and non-Thai.  We are now in close contact with the relevant Government departments on details of our eligible population.  We will of course provide more information to you—such as cost and timing—as we obtain them, but we need to be patient since the vaccines may not be available for us until late this year.

Meanwhile, please still be very careful both on campus and off campus.  Whatever scientific advances you hear, whatever case numbers you read, there is nothing that beats face masks, washing hands, and social distancing to lower the probability of being infected.   As you continue your education and research and work, please be mindful of the strict measures AIT continues to adhere to, in order to keep our campus safe.  Please stay healthy!

Dr. Eden Woon

President

Asian Institute of Technology

4) Seminar on Autonomous Mobile Robots by Dr. Pasan Kulvanit

Please be invited to attend a seminar on Autonomous Mobile Robots: The Past, Present, and Future (…and their long overdue duty!) by Dr. Pasan Kulvanit as following schedule;
Topic: Autonomous Mobile Robots: The Past, Present, and Future (…and their long overdue duty!)
Date: Wednesday, 3rd February 2021
Time: 13:00 hours
Zoom Meeting ID: 942 4422 2341
Passcode: 376086

 

 

5) The Webinar on Contextualizing the Circular Economy for Action

The SWITCH-Asia Regional Policy Advocacy Component funded by European Union (EU), implemented by UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific is pleased to invite you to attend the Webinar on Contextualizing the Circular Economy for Action -
A Few Perspectives from Asian Countries on 04 February 2021, 14:00 hrs (Bangkok time).
We hope that you will be able to join us and actively contribute to this dialogue. Don't miss it!
Event details and registration link are available here: http://www.sl-scp.ait.ac.th/ce-action.html

To go directly to registration page, click this link:
https://forms.gle/NmAq 7rg VNca By5

For more information please contact:
Ms. Pondchanok Piraintorn (Japan)
Project Coordinator
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)

 

6) Invitation to a webinar on "Overcoming Challenges in Surgery with 3D Printing Technology", 5 Feb, 3pm

Dear Faculty, Staff and Student,

It's our pleasure to invite you to attend and participate in the webinar on "Overcoming Challenges in Surgery with 3D Printing Technology" on 5th February 2021 from 15:00 - 17:00 (Bangkok time).

The webinar will include the following topics:
- Collaboration of engineers and medical professionals in development of 3D printing technology for medical uses
- Benefits & opportunities of 3D printing in Craniomaxillofacial surgery applications
- Benefits & opportunities of 3D printing in Orthopedics surgery applications

For registration pls. visit http://gg.gg/nyjxs to get the Meeting ID and Password.

7) Join us for the Alumni Talk Series on DEMER: A Practical Model for Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning by Mr. Voravate Chonlasin, Director (Programs), AIT Extension

Date: 09 February 2021, Tuesday
Time: 2:00 – 3:00 PM (Bangkok Time)
To join, please register here: https://bit.ly/3ca0lwG

Training Courses/ Conferences

1) Invitation to Virtual Workshop "Opportunities and Challenges for a Blue Economy in Asia-Pacific Region in COVID 19 World"

It’s our pleasure to inform and cordially invite you to participate in a Virtual Workshop "Opportunities and Challenges for a Blue Economy in Asia-Pacific Region in COVID 19 World" on 2 and 3 February from 12.30 pm to 4.00 pm (IST).

The workshop is jointly organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). The virtual workshop will specifically discuss and examine the opportunities and challenges for the Asia-Pacific Blue Economy framework that impinges on regional cooperation, resource security, science, and technological cooperation, and sustainable development. The focus of the discussions would be to deliberate on interlinkages and potential for cooperation in the geopolitical, economic, and sustainable development landscape of the region.

The workshop will be organized on two consecutive days (2 and 3 Feb) with two technical sessions on each day.

Please find attached the event agenda. The event will be held on the Webex platform.

Event Link:
https://www.teriin.org/event/opportunities-and-challenges-blue-economy-a...
DAY 1 (2 Feb) Registration Link:
http://52.76.109.165/webinar/webinar_register.php?w_id=V0VCSU5BUl82Ng==
DAY 2 (3 Feb) Registration Link:
http://52.76.109.165/webinar/webinar_register.php?w_id=V0VCSU5BUl82Nw==

 

2) 100 Innovations x Entrepreneurs : What Drives the Future?

WHAT DRIVES THE FUTURE?

The first 100 Innovations x Entrepreneurs (100X) event was organized by the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in 2019 as Southeast Asia’s first Research-to-Commercial conference to bridge the gap between academia and industry. The event also served as the venue to launch AIT’s Entrepreneurship Center, a breeding ground for future business leaders as well as a learning center with the ultimate goal of enhancing economic and social development. As our signature annual event, this year also AIT is organizing the second 100X in a new normal hybrid mode, a combination of online and in-person to also reach out to more people from different parts of the world. The theme for this event is What Drives the Future with a mindset to rethink our future by focusing on how we can improve the basic human needs such as Food, WellBeing, Living, Education, and Communication in context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).We believe that collaboration among different stakeholders: University, Industry, Government, and Civil Society is the key to safeguard our future and each stakeholder has a critical role to play in achieving the SDGs. Through this event, AIT, as one of the stakeholders, is reaching out to the Government, Industry and Civil Society to collaborate with us as co-organizer, partner, and participants.

More details:

100 Innovations X Entrepreneurs (ait.ac.th)

 

3) Online training course on "Connect Learning with Monitoring and Evaluation: A Strategy for Project M&E in Current COVID-19 Pandemic"

Date: 26 April - 13 May 2021
Time: 14:00 - 16:00 hrs. (Bangkok time)
Learn from practitioners on how to develop M & E pathways that foster measurement of results and respond to current changes of M&E contexts. Broadening perspectives for innovative ways to develop tools and reporting mechanisms that help to make decisions for project implementation. 

Aims of the program

Enhance practical knowledge and scope for M&E approach and practices during COVID-19.
Be acquainted with appropriate research design and data collection tools.

Apply M &E concept to create information sharing and reporting strategies.

For more information and registration pls. visit https://extension.ait.ac.th/course/1127

 

D. Classified (jobs)