DISTINGUISHED AITians
PROF. SUPHAT RECEIVES NATIONAL DISTINGUISHED RESEARCHER AWARD FOR THE YEAR 2000
Prof. Suphat Vongvisessomjai, a senior faculty member of the Water Engineering and Management Program, School of Civil Engineering, and an AIT alumnus, (M.Eng. '68; D.Eng. '72), has been named one of six recipients of the National Distinguished Researcher Award for the Year 2000. The annual award is conferred by the National Research Council of Thailand. This year's award will be presented by H.E. the Prime Minister of Thailand on 27 September at the Government House. Prof. Suphat is the fourth AIT faculty member to receive this award.
The awardees were officially announced on 28 July. The other recipients are Dr. Wichai Tanpaichit, Ramatibodi Hospital, Mahidol University (in Medical Science); Prof. Wichai Bunsaeng, Mahidol University (in Chemistry & Pharmacy); Prof. Pirasak Chanprateep, Chulalongkorn University (in Agriculture and Biology); Prof. Suntorn Bunyathikarn, Chulalongkorn University (in Philosophy); and Prof. Bovornsak Uwanno, Pok Klao Institute in (Law).
Each award carries a gold medal and a cash prize of B300,000.
DR. RASARATNAM LOGENDRAN (IEM '80) has a place of honor among AIT's high-achieving alumni. An Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Oregon State University, USA, Dr. Logendran visited AIT's ISE Program on 27-28 August to conduct a seminar on the 'Effects of Alternative Cell Locations and Material Transporters (AGVs) in the Design of Manufacturing Cells'. The Bulletin took the opportunity to speak to Dr. Logendran on his impressive career path.
A Ph.D. holder in Industrial Engineering and Management from Oklahoma State University, USA, Dr. Logendran recently completed a Fulbright scholarship at the School of Mechanical Engineering University of Science, Tronoh, Malaysia (5 June to 5 Sept. 2000). He was previously awarded faculty fellowships by the Airforce Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) - McClellan Airforce Base, Sacramento, California, USA; the A.D. Welliver Fellowship, The Boeing Company, Seattle, Washington, USA; and the NASA - Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA. Dr. Logendran has co-edited a book entitled, 'Group Technology and its Applications to Cellular Manufacturing' and has published over 50 papers in archival journals and proceedings.
A much-invited speaker at national and international conferences, Dr. Logendran has organized and/or chaired numerous sessions in the areas of manufacturing cell design, group scheduling and flexible manufacturing system scheduling. He is a senior member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), a member of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS), Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE).
In 1996 Dr. Logendran was voted 'Most Favorite Teacher of the Year' by the Institute of Industrial Engineers Student Chapter at Oregon State University.
Dr. Logendran expressed optimism over the continued growth and development of AIT's ISE Program and its specializations in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering and Mechatronics. He took note of the the ISE Program's state-of-the-art computing facilities and laboratories and said that these will be vital in promoting advance technology education in the region.
Dr. Logendran received his B.Sc. (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sri Lanka.