WEEK #24: 13 – 19 June 2016
In this issue:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Confirmed AIT Management Notes, 16 May 2016
Please be informed that the confirmed notes of the 16 May 2016 meeting of the AIT Management are now Intranet-published at AIT Management Confirmed Meeting Notes.
http://www.ait.ac.th/management/aitmt-notes/confirmed-notes-aitmt-16-may-2016.pdf
Dr. Noppadol Phien-wej appointed as President of SEAGS
Dr. Noppadol Phien-wej of School of Engineering and Technology has been elected as the new President of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS). He was elected for this position at the 19th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 31 May – 3 June 2016.
It was also decided to hold the 50-year Anniversary Conference of SEAGS at AIT in September 2017. The event is to be hosted by Thai Geotechnical Society in collaboration with AIT.
Dr. Noppadol is an Associate Professor in Geotechnical and Earth Resources Engineering in AIT’s School of Engineering and Technology (SET).
He takes over as SEAGS President from Dr. Ooi Teik Aun, and he shall serve for a three-year term from 2016-2019. Prior to taking over as President, Dr. Noppadol was serving as Honorary Secretary General of SEAGS. Other AIT faculty members who have served as Secretary General of the Society include Dr. John Nelson (1970-1973), Prof. A.S. Balasubramaniam (1972-2000), and Prof. D.T. Bergado (2000-2013). Prof. Balasubramaniam has also served as President from 1985 – 1987.
AIT’s association with SEAGS stems back from 1967, when the Society was founded at AIT Bangkok by Dr Za-Chieh Moh, a former AIT faculty member, to cover Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan and other societies in Asia. With a membership of over 200, the Society members are active in soil mechanics and foundation engineering, engineering geology, rock mechanics and geosynthetic engineering.
More details about Dr. Noppadol can be found at this link: http://www.set.ait.ac.th/page.php?fol=people&page=peopleinfo&id=58
Details about SEAGS can be found at this link: http://seags.ait.asia/homepage/seags-2016-opening-ceremony/
AIT team wins third position in ‘Go Green in the City’ contest
A team of two AIT students have won the third place in the “Go Green in the City” competition organized by Schneider Electric. Termed as a global student competition for sustainable energy solutions, the competition, which was held on 19 May 2016 at Schneider’s Bangphoo Industrial Estate, saw AIT’s team comprising of Pokchat Wetchapinant and Danupol Wetchasirikul win the second runner-up position in Thailand.
The Elsevier Foundation Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge
AIT faculty, staff and students are encouraged to consider competing in The Elsevier Foundation Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge, which is open to individuals or nonprofit organizations around the world. The 1st Prize is EUR 50,000 and 2nd Prize is EUR 25,000. Projects can be in any field of Green or Sustainable Chemistry and must be applicable for use in developing countries.
According to AIT President Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai in his email on 8 June, AIT prepares to further support AIT applicants to commercialize their idea if they happen to be the winner or the runner up.
Background:
The Challenge is now open for submissions through September 15, 2016. Official rules and entry forms can be found on the Elsevier Foundation website.
The Elsevier Foundation is proud to partner with Elsevier Chemistry Journals to run the next "Elsevier Foundation Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge" in 2017.
The Elsevier Foundation Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge is open to individuals or nonprofit organizations around the world. 1st Prize is EUR 50,000 and 2nd Prize is EUR 25,000. Projects can be in any field of Green or Sustainable Chemistry and must be applicable for use in developing countries.
Interested persons please visit the Elsevier Foundation at: http://www.elsevierfoundation.org/the-elsevier-foundation-green-and-sustainable-chemistry-challenge/?utm_campaign=45737_CFP&utm_campaignPK=220335133&utm_term=OP23314&utm_content=221076615&utm_source=30&BID=651648430&utm_medium=email&SIS_ID=0
Books and equipment from Indian grant
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India has recently contributed FY 2015-2016 Grants-in-Aid to AIT. This grant can be used to buy books published in India and to buy equipment manufactured in India.
In this regard, faculty and staff members are requested to provide the list of books as well as the equipment they prefer to buy. The fund available for books and equipment is 70,000 THB respectively.
Therefore, please provide the list of needed books and equipment with the following details by 15 June 2016, Wednesday to Ms. Sumana Shrestha, ERCO at sumana@ait.ac.th :
1) For books: Name of the book * Name of Publisher * Price of the book
2) For equipment: Name of the equipment * Name of Manufacturer * Price of the equipment
The AIT - Indian Steering Committee will meet and finalize the list immediately thereafter. If you have any questions/clarifications, please contact Ms. Sumana Shrestha, ERCO at sumana@ait.ac.th
CTCN: Project Opportunity in Ecuador
As part of the CTCN project, there is a request for technical assistance received from Ecuador entitled “‘Implementación de un Centro de Innovación Climática (CIC) como un Instituto Público de Investigación (IPI) del Ministerio del Ambiente del Ecuador'”.
If the subject area fits anyone’s expertise well, and if he/she would like to be involved in providing 'technical services' towards the implementation of this request, please contact Victor Shinde (victorshinde@ait.asia ). He will help in preparing a small application package (2-3 pages) that will be submitted to the CTCN Headquarters in Copenhagen. He will also explain about the CTCN assistance mechanism. The application package will essentially contain information on:
- Capacity to work in the language used by the country requesting assistance (i.e. Spanish in this case. Perhaps we have some AIT faculty and staff who are proficient in Spanish?)
- Work conducted on related topic/technology, if any (optional: provide relevant documents).
- Previous work in the country or region, if any (optional: provide relevant documents).
- Relationships and partnerships you may have in the country, if any.
Please note that submission of an application package does not guarantee an award. The CTCN Headquarters receives a number of applications from different organizations and it is their prerogative to choose the one they deem appropriate.
Please let SDCC Office know if you are interested in this opportunity before 18 June, 2016.
P.S: SDCC Office hopes to receive some requests for assistance from Asia soon. On a related note, the office would like to reiterate that AIT has a pulse on the region's developmental and technological needs (in regards to climate change). Hence, if any of you thinks certain Government line agencies in your network could benefit from CTCN assistance, please feel free to initiate talks with them to submit a request. SDCC Office can help with this. This would be a win-win situation for everyone. Countries will benefit from CTCN assistance; and AIT (through AIT faculty and staff members) will stand a better chance of being engaged by CTCN to provide the technical assistance.
Inaugural Retreat of the Ostrom Center for the Advanced Study of Natural Resources Governance (OCeAN) at AIT
The inaugural retreat of the Ostrom Center for the Advanced Study in Natural Resource Governance will be held on June 14-16, 2016 at the AIT Conference Center, which will be followed up with a related activity in Chiang Mai on June 17-19, 2016 in Chiang Mai University.
Campus Updates
Acting Dean SET:13 – 17 Jun. 2016
Please be informed that Prof. Voratas Kachitvichyanukul, Dean of School of Engineering and Technology (SET) will be travelling to United Kingdom from 10 - 17 June 2016. Prof. Pennung Warnitchai and Dr. Matthew N. Dailey have kindly agreed to serve as the Acting Dean as follows:
13 - 15 June 2016 : Dr. Matthew N. Dailey
16 - 17 June 2016 : Prof. Pennung Warnitchai
Visitors
- Delegation from the Indian Society for Technical Education, led by Prof. (Dr.) K. Manivannan, Vice President of ISTE / 13 Jun 2016 / to explore collaboration with AIT
- Delegation from Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Science (JIRCAS), Japan, led by Dr. Satoshi Uchida, Director of Social Sciences Division and Project Leader of Food Value Chain / 17 Jun 2016 / to explore potential future collaboration between JIRCAS and AIT on food value chain development including food value additions, marketing and processing, ICT technology, etc.
Faculty and Staff Travel
Dr. Vishnu P. Pandey / Jaipur, India / 31 May – 4 June 2016*
Mr. Tharakorn Chabkaoa / Pattaya, Chonburi / 4 – 5 June 2 2016*
Prof. Mukand Singh Babel / Osaka, Japan / 5 – 10 June 2016*
Dr. Manzul K. Hazarika / Guwahati, India / 5 – 11 June 2016*
Mr. Syams Nashrrullah / Guwahati, India / 5 – 11 June 2016*
Dr. Pradeep Kumar Dash / Kolkata, Gauhati, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati, India / 4 – 15 June 2016
Dr. Joysee S. Chaterjee / Fukuoka, Japan / 6 – 15 June 2016
Dr. Matthew Dailey / Rayong, Thailand / 7 June 2016*
Dr. Anil Kumar Anal and Ms. Melida Supakijjoraset / Rayong, Thailand / 7
June 2016*
Dr. Shabhakar Dhakal / Kathmandu, Nepal / 8 – 14 June 2016
Prof. J. K. Routray / Pattaya, Thailand / 10 – 11 June 2016*
Dr. Anil Kumar Anal / Birmingham, England / 10 – 17 June 2016*
Prof. Voratas Kachitvichyanukul / Birmingham, UK / 10 – 17 June 2016
Dr. Jonathan Shaw / Gauhati, India / 12 – 15 June 2016
Mrs. Lucena d. Talaid / Singapore / 17 – 21 June 2016
Mrs. Chalita Lertwinyu / Singapore / 18 – 21 June 2016
Ms. Chotiros Mongkolchotirat / Singapore / 18 – 21 June 2016
Ms. Sitahng Puttha / Singapore / 18 – 21 June 2016
Prof. Pennung Warnitchai / Potsdam, Germany / 18 – 22 June 2016
Dr. Nitin K. Tripathi / Czech Republic / 19 – 23 June 2016
*(Staff or faculty member travelled and returned to AIT prior to documentation received for publication)
Classifieds (Jobs)
Position: Assistant Administrative Officer (Government Relations Unit)
Ref. No. 25/16
Deadeline: 17 June 2016
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/382
Position: Head, Human Resources Office (Human Resources Office)
Ref. No. 7/16
Deadline: 30 June 2016
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/363
Position: Development Officer (President's Office)
Ref. No. 24/16
Deadline: 30 June 2016
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/381
Position: Administrative Officer (Government Relations Unit)
Ref. No. 26/16
Deadline: 30 June 2016
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/383
Position: Assistant / Associate Professor (School of Environment, Resources & Development)
Ref. No. Fac 01/16
Deadline: 30 September 2016
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/380