AIT Campus Bulletin

This presentation discusses project management primarily in the post-disaster context, where a range of response and recovery activities require effective project management,

particularly because of the uncertainty and volatility resulting from a disaster. Various stakeholders are involved including the public, government, private sector,

civil society and international donors, requiring on an adequate understanding of the different models of project management in a disaster context and a comprehensive approach.

Drawing from case studies from both developing and developed countries, key principles of post-disaster project management are illustrated.

The presentation concludes by highlighting that planning is the major project management stage dealing with the disaster context.

 

Registration: https://ait-ac-th.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AY-D_1-tT-i8jt-YA3kJNg

 

 

 

3) Establishment of the Office of International and Public Affairs (OIPA)
Email from AIT President on 2 February 2023

Dear AIT Family,

To be in line with the smart administration, I am pleased to announce the merging of the Office of International Affairs (OIA) and Office of Public Affairs (OPA) into the Office of International and Public Affairs (OIPA).

Effective 1 February 2023, this new Office will be headed by Mr. Shawn Kelly as its Executive Director who will be overseeing the operations of both sub-units. Dr. Sumana Shrestha is appointed as the Director of International Affairs and Mr. Sanjeet Amatya will serve as the Director of Public Affairs.

Let us continue to support them in this new role.

Prof. Kazuo Yamamoto
Interim President

4) Updates on AIT Board of Trustees
Email from Board Secretariat on 2 February 2023

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,

We would like to share with you some updates on the AIT Board of Trustees and news on the appointment of the new Chair and Vice Chairpersons of the Board of Trustees and Co-Chairpersons of the Board Relations Committees which is featured on the AIT website.

https://ait.ac.th/2023/01/ait-board-of-trustees-meeting-on-31-january-2023/

The earlier news on the new appointments to the Board and Executive Committee is provided below.

https://ait.ac.th/2022/12/new-board-and-executive-committee-appointments/

We would also like to share with you the "AIT Botanical Garden Campus Towards Net Zero" video which is uploaded on the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS-ZR16ArXA

 

5) AIT Confers the Title of Emeritus Professor to Professor Sivanappan Kumar and Professor Chettiyappan Visvanathan
Email from VPAA on 1 February 2023

Dear Members of the AIT Community,

Following the approval by the AIT Board of Trustees at its meeting held yesterday, 31st of January 2023, I am pleased to announce the bestowal of the title Emeritus Professor on Professor Sivanappan Kumar and Professor Chettiyappan Visvanathan. The title Emeritus Professor is conferred on AIT full Professors on retirement after continuous distinguished service. The award of the title will be conferred to those who have achieved outstanding international professional status and have made significant academic contributions to the Institute through teaching, publications and professional work. Please find a brief profile of the new awardees provided below.

Professor S. Kumar

Prof. Kumar obtained his Ph.D. from the Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (INPT), Toulouse, France, in 1989. He joined AIT as an Assistant Professor in April 1995 and was promoted to Full Professor in January 2005. He has been serving as a Full Professor at AIT for 17 years and has had a distinguished career at the Institute for over 29 years as a faculty member. His publication record includes 101 refereed journal articles, 22 books and reports, 47 book chapters, and 70 papers in conference proceedings. He has delivered more than 48 keynote address and invited presentations in the region and around the world. Prof. Kumar has a Scopus H-index of 38 and 4,162 citations and a Google Scholar H-index of 43 and 6,973 citations to his published scholarly works.

Prof Kumar’s outstanding professional accomplishments and contributions include the recognition of being among the world's top 2% scientists based on career-wide scientific impact to respective disciplines (Energy) since 2020. At AIT, he ably discharged his functions with dedication as the Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) for 6 years (April 2013 - March 2019) and as Dean of the School of Environment, Resources and Development for 4 years (2005-2009). Prof. Kumar’s strong commitment to teaching and research is evidenced by having taught 16 courses at AIT (12 of which were developed by him), implemented 100+ sponsored projects with a total project value of 9.5 million USD, supervised 23 doctoral and 125 master’s students, served as external examiner for 6 PhD (from universities in Australia, India, and Thailand), and received the Research Award in SERD, AIT on two occasions (1999 and 2000) in recognition of his outstanding research performance in the field of energy technology. He had also helped in the capacity building of more than 15 countries in South/Southeast/Central Asia to address climate change and promote renewable energy through Technology Needs Assessment (Global Environment Facility). Towards his professional community, Prof. Kumar consulted for several institutions and organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Economic and Social Asia Pacific (UN ESCAP), Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) etc., served as Editor of the International Energy Journal for 12 years (2009-2021) and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Energy Sector Management (IJESM), served as member International Advisory Board for Curriculum Evaluation in Energy, University of Malaysia, Malaysia (Nov. 2015), prepared policy briefs for government officials in Vietnam and Thailand on carbon societies, and was a Guest Professor (2012-2015/Visiting Professor (2006) in Tongji University, Shanghai China. The AIT Board of Trustees has approved conferment of the Emeritus Professor title of AIT on Prof. Kumar “for his three decades of inspirational teaching and innovative research on energy technology and management, especially in renewable energy, energy and sustainable development, and energy access, and for his exemplary and committed leadership to AIT”. Prof. Kumar’s one-page profile can be accessed via this link, http://bit.ly/40h2Nbr

Professor C. Visvanathan

Prof. Visvanathan obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical/Environmental Engineering, Institut de Génie Chimique, Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, Toulouse, France in 1988. He joined AIT as an Assistant Professor in July 1991 and was promoted to Full Professor in July 2001. He has been serving as a Full Professor at AIT for 21 years and has had a distinguished career at the Institute for over 31 years as a faculty member. His publication record includes 205 refereed journal articles, 24 books and research reports, 47 book chapters, 170 papers in conference proceedings, 40 monographs, 90 project reports, 200 workshop presentations, and 140 non-refereed publications. He has delivered more than 150 keynote address and invited presentations/lectures in universities and industries in the region and around the world. Prof. Visvanathan has a Scopus H-index of 42 and 5,311 citations and a Google Scholar H-index of 57 and 10,123 citations to his published scholarly works.

Prof. Visvanathan’s outstanding professional accomplishments and contributions include the recognition of being among the world's top 1% scientists based on career-wide scientific impact to his academic discipline. He is the recipient of prestigious awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award by International Conference on Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy (IconSWM-CE, 2020) and the Best Reviewer award by the Journal of Bioresources Technology, Elsevier Publications (2014). He was listed as among 50 leading researchers of Thailand based on number of Research Publications (2008). At AIT, Prof. Visu was Dean of the School of Environment, Resources and Development for the period from July 2013 to December 2015 and served as Chair and member of important School and Institute-level committees and task forces. Prof. Visu’s strong commitment to teaching and research is evidenced by having taught 15 courses and developed professional master’s programs at AIT, supervised 15 doctoral and 204 master’s students, served as external examiner to 14 master’s and PhD students, and implemented several sponsored projects. Towards his professional community, Prof. Visu’s leadership and contributions are recognized internationally as noted by his membership in the Editorial Boards of eight international journals. He also served as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Waste Management (Asia) by Elsevier Publishers (2009-2013), the Global Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (July 2009-), the Environmental Quality Management (July 2019-), and Special Editor, Journal of Environmental Management (2018). Prof. Visu consulted for numerous institutions/ organizations/government agencies such as the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), UN-HABITAT, World Bank, the Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development (DANCED). Prof. Visu was Visiting Professor/Scholar in the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University (Japan), Durban University of Technology (South Africa), HCMC University of Technology and Hanoi University of Technology (Vietnam), and the Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection, Technical University of Hamburg-Hamburg, Germany. The AIT Board of Trustees has approved conferment of the Emeritus Professor title of AIT on Prof. Visvanathan “For his three decades of teaching, exemplary research contributions at AIT, guiding new generation of environmental engineers and scientists to protect Asian environment, networking capacity and placing AIT in the global map of environmental sciences, engineering and management.” Prof. Visu’s one-page profile can be accessed via this link, http://bit.ly/3l1xgtO

On behalf of the AIT community, I offer Professor Kumar and Professor Visvanathan my heartfelt congratulations!