Asian Institute of Technology
| Asian Institute of Technology | |
|---|---|
| AIT | |
 |
|
| Motto | Learning beyond Boundaries |
| Established | 1959 |
| President | Said Irandoust |
| Academic staff | 106 |
| Students | 1,937 |
| Location | Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani, Thailand  |
| Affiliations | LAOTSE, ASAIHL, GMSARN |
| Website | www.ait.asia |
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) is an international institution for higher education in engineering, advanced technologies, and management and planning. It "promotes technological change and sustainable development" in the Asia-Pacific region, through higher education, research and outreach.[1]
History and mission
Founded in 1959 as SEATO Graduate School of Engineering with a mission to develop highly qualified and committed professionals who will play a leading role in the sustainable development of the region and its integration into the global economy, it receives funding from organizations and governments around the world (initially from SEATO members).
It is quoted as "an excellent example of not only the initiative and organization of a technical university, but also of the success of a foreign aid program".[2] In 2006, AIT claimed that it "has become a leading regional post-graduate institute and is actively working with public and private sector partners throughout the region and with some of the top universities in the world". (See note presented at the Asia Commons conference, Bangkok, June 2006.) It also sees itself as being "recognized for its multinational, multi-cultural ethos." AIT celebrated its golden jubilee in 2009.[3][4] On October 21, 2011, AIT's campus was inundated by 2-meter-high floodwaters.[5] Since then, it has resumed operations at its campus [6]
Governance as international organisation
AIT is regarded as an International organization and is governed by a Board of Trustees [7] which includes Ambassadors of 15 countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Norway, Pakistan, Philipphines, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Vietnam and the European Union. Representatives of the Board include the China Scholarship Council, Commission of Higher Education of Thailand and Thammasat University besides ex-officio members. The Chairman Emeritus of AIT's Board of Trustees is H.E. Dr. Thanat Khoman, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand and Former Minister of Foreign Affairs; while the Chairman is Mr. Nopadol Gunavibool, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand. The Ambassador of India to Thailand H.E. Mr. Anil Wadhwa is the Vice Chairperson of the Board.
Location
AIT operates as a self-contained international community at its campus in Pathumthani province, some 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Bangkok, Thailand. Besides laboratories and academic buildings, the main campus includes housing, sports, and medical facilities, a conference center, and a library with over 230,000 volumes and 830 print and online periodicals.
AIT was hosted by the Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, before it moved to its present campus in November 1973.
AIT has a remote campus in Vietnam called AIT Center in Vietnam. Asian Institute of Technology in Vietnam (AITCV) was established in 1993 under the MoA between The Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training and the AIT.[8] At that time AITCV was the first international institution in Vietnam and the first center of AIT out of its headquarters in Thailand. Two other centers have been authorized to be set up in Indonesia and Pakistan.
Structure
AIT consists of three schools at its mother campus; namely
- School of Engineering and Technology (SET)[9]
- School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD)[10]
- School of Management (SOM)[11]
Besides the above three schools, AIT also has a consulting wing called AIT Consulting,[12] AIT Extension,[13] AIT center in Vietnam[14] and AIT center in Indonesia.[15]
Host to international organizations
The campus of Asian Institute of Technology is host to international organizations. They include the Asia-Pacific headquarters of Télécoms Sans Frontières[6], UNEP Environment Assessment for Regional Resource Center in Asia and the Pacific (UNEP RRC.AP)[7], and the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES)[8].
It hosts the global secretariat of the International Partnership for Expanding Waste Management Services of Local Authorities (IPLA),[16] while the regional secretariat is hosted by UN HABITAT. Four UN agencies, three international donors and five national governments are part of IPLA.[17]
AIT has tied up with Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to create a Yunus Center at AIT with an objective "to contribute to poverty alleviation by enabling rural people to handle and be in control of improving their own livelihoods". The center was launched on September 8, 2009.[18] The center intends to follow the objective of poverty reduction and sustainability with an initial focus on agriculture and food security issues, encompassing a variety of disciplines and facilitating interdisciplinary work. According to the MOU, the center will provide an independent and open platform for addressing issues in poverty alleviation in a way that has a direct impact on poor people’s lives. "It will act as an incubator for new social business plans that challenge conventional academic wisdom; it will facilitate generation of community-based knowledge; and it will promote opportunities for both women and men."[19]
Academic programs
Asian Institute of Technology offers Master's and Doctoral degrees and from diploma and certificate courses. It has recently started offering Bachelor's degrees[20] in Engineering. AIT is involved in the Erasmus Mundus academic cooperation programme offered by the European Union as a partner of EMMAsia.[21]
School of Engineering and Technology (SET)
The School of Engineering and Technology offers Masters degrees [MEng, MSc], professional Master degree programs, Doctoral degrees [DEng, DTechSc, PhD], and Certificates of Advanced Studies in the following areas:
Civil & Infrastructure Engineering Group
- Construction, Engineering and Infrastructure Management (CEIM)[22]
- Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (GTE)[23]
- Structural Engineering (STE)[24]
- Transportation Engineering (TRE)[25]
- Water Engineering and Management (WEM)[26]
Industrial Systems Engineering Group
- Mechatronics (MEC)[27]
- Microelectronics (MIC)[28]
- Nanotechnology
- Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME)[29]
Information and Communications Group
- Computer Science (CS)[30]
- Information Management (IM)[31]
- Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (RS-GIS)[32]
- Telecommunications (TC)[33]
Interdisciplinary Programs
- Information and Communications Technologies (ICT)[34]
- Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management (DPMM)[35]
- Geosystem Exploration and Petroleum Geoengineering (GEPG)[36]
- Offshore Technology and Management (OTM)[37]
School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD)
The School of Environment, Resources, and Development offers Masters degrees [MEng, MSc], professional Master degree programs, Doctoral degrees [DEng, DTechSc, PhD], Certificate of Advanced Studies in the following areas:
- Agricultural Systems and Engineering[38]
- Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management[39]
- Energy[40]
- Environmental and Engineering Management[41]
- Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology[42]
- Gender and Development Studies[43]
- Natural Resources Management[44]
- Pulp and Paper Technology[45]
- Regional and Rural Development Planning[46]
- Urban Environment Planning[47]
Interdisciplinary Programs
- Agribusiness Management[48]
- Cleaner Production[49]
- Integrated Tropical Coastal Zone Management[50]
- Wetland and Aquatic Resources Management[51]
School of Management (SOM)
The School of Management offers the following programs:
Ramon Magsaysay Award
In 1989, AIT received a Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding[57] "... for shaping a new generation of engineers and managers committed to Asia, in an atmosphere of academic excellence and regional camaraderie."
In 2009, an alumnus of AIT, Yu Xiaogang was also awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award. The citation[58] credited AIT and it said
"Yu fell in love with nature early on, having been raised in Yunnan, a province of amazing beauty and home to three of the largest rivers in the world: Nu, Yangtze, and Mekong. His interest in the environment was cultivated during a stint in the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, and was further deepened when he attended the Asian Institute of Technology, where he earned a master's degree in watershed management."
Demographic and project facts and figures
- 2300+ students from 47+ countries/territories
- 19000+ alumni from 80 countries/territories
- 26000+ short-term trainees from 70+ countries/territories
- 130 world-class faculty from 20+ countries
- 468 research and support staff from about 30 countries
- About 450 sponsored research projects
- 33 board of trustee members from 19 countries
Sports
The AIT field is one of the three cricket fields in Thailand where Thailand's Premier League[59] matches are played. It also boasts of a 9-hole golf course and a swimming pool. The self-contained campus also offers facilities including badminton, takraw, table tennis, tennis, basketball, cricket, volleyball and swimming.
Memberships
The institute is a member of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Academic and Research Network (GMSARN)[60] and LAOTSE — an international network of leading universities in Europe and Asia.
Notable alumni
| Name | Degree | Degree Year | Notability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn | Member of the Thai Royal Family | |||
| Boonsrang Niumpradit | D. Eng. | 1978 | Former Thai Army chief | |
| Mao Chi-kuo | M. Eng. (Community & Regional Development) | 1975 | Minister of Transportation and Communications in the Republic of China since 2008 | |
| Yu Xiaogang | M. Sc. (Interdisciplinary Natural Resource Development and Management) | 1993 | Among the six winners of the 2009 Ramon Magsaysay Awards | |
| Imtiaz Gilani | M. Eng. (Structural Engineering and Construction) | 1971 | Provisional Minister of Education for the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
.th domain
AIT administers .th, the country code top-level domain for Thailand.
Notes
- ^ Business Week
- ^ Tall, Lambert, 1972. "Asian Institute of Technology", Office of Naval Research, London, England
- ^ http://50-anniversary.ait.ac.th/
- ^ De Silva, Neville, 2009, "Asian Institute of Technology celebrates 50 years of service to the developing world," Asian Tribune [1]
- ^ AIT, Thammasat Rangsit inundated
- ^ [2]
- ^ AIT Board http://www.ait.ac.th/about/board-of-trustees-1/bot-members-2013/#.UaP_yZWUAdM
- ^ AITCV, Vietnam
- ^ School of Engineering and Technology (SET)
- ^ School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD)
- ^ School of Management (SOM)
- ^ [3]
- ^ AIT Extension
- ^ AIT center in Vietnam
- ^ AIT center in Indonesia
- ^ United Nations, Economic and Social Council, 13 May 2011, "New Initiative to Aid Local Governments in Managing Growing Waste Problems" [4]
- ^ United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), IPLA Official Partners [5]
- ^ Bangkok Post, 2009, "AIT launches Yunus Center"|http://www.bangkokpost.com/life/education/23480/ait-launches-yunus-center
- ^ Charter of Yunus Center at AIT
- ^ (UG)
- ^ EMMAsia East
- ^ Construction, Engineering and Infrastructure Management (CEIM)
- ^ Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (GTE)
- ^ Structural Engineering (STE)
- ^ Transportation Engineering (TRE)
- ^ Water Engineering and Management (WEM)
- ^ Mechatronics (MEC)
- ^ Microelectronics (MIC)
- ^ Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME)
- ^ Computer Science (CS)
- ^ Information Management (IM)
- ^ Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (RS-GIS)
- ^ Telecommunications (TC)
- ^ Information and Communications Technologies (ICT)
- ^ Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management (DPMM)
- ^ Geosystem Exploration and Petroleum Geoengineering (GEPG)
- ^ Offshore Technology and Management (OTM)
- ^ Agricultural Systems and Engineering
- ^ Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management
- ^ Energy
- ^ Environmental and Engineering Management
- ^ Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology
- ^ Gender and Development Studies
- ^ Natural Resources Management
- ^ Pulp and Paper Technology
- ^ Regional and Rural Development Planning
- ^ Urban Environment Planning
- ^ Agribusiness Management
- ^ Cleaner Production
- ^ Integrated Tropical Coastal Zone Management
- ^ Wetland and Aquatic Resources Management
- ^ MBA
- ^ EMBA Bangkok Program
- ^ International EMBA Vietnam program
- ^ PhD
- ^ Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
- ^ The 1989 Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationAIT.htm
- ^ The 2006 Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationXiaogangYu.htm
- ^ Premier League http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/91014.html
- ^ GMSARN http://mpuhost04.ait.ac.th/gmsarn/sitegmsarn2009/home.php
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Asian Institute of Technology |
- Asian Institute of Technology
- AIT Center in Vietnam
- AIT e-Business Work Shop Myanmar
- AIT Alumni Association, Thailand Chapter
- AIT videos on YouTube
- AIT Alumni in Vietnam
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Coordinates: 14°04′44.82″N 100°36′40.88″E / 14.0791167°N 100.6113556°E
