French delegation visits AIT

French delegation visits AIT

On 14 February 2006, Mr. Thierry Schwarz, regional counselor for cooperation at the French Embassy in Thailand, and his assistant, Mr. Dylan Gelard, visited AIT.

On this occasion, Mr. Schwarz met Prof. Vilas Wuwongse, vice president for external relations, Prof. Khin Ni Ni Thein, vice president for external relations, Prof. Sudip Rakshit, vice president for research, Prof. Sivanappan Kumar, dean of School of Environment, Resources and Development, and Mr. Jean-Philippe Thouard, coordinator, French Cooperation-AIT.

Mr. Schwarz visited School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD) in order to get to know its strategies and activities and make an overview of the activities supported by French cooperation.

Coordinators, representatives and faculty he met with were: Prof. Athapol Noomhorn, Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology; Dr. Preeda Parkpian, Environmental Engineering and Management; Dr. Yang Yi, Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management; Dr. Bernadette Resurrection, Gender and Development Studies; Dr. Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt, Natural Resources Management; Dr. Raimo O Malinen, Pulp and Paper Technology, Dr. Mithulananthan Nadarajah, Energy; Prof. Jayant Routray, Regional and Rural Development Planning; Dr Edsel Sajor, Environmental Engineering and Management; Prof. Chettiyappan Visvanathan; Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh.

Those the French delegation met with are particularly involved in partnerships with French institutions. Mr. Schwarz discussed ways to strengthen those relationships. The meeting was followed by a visit to SERD laboratories.

Finally Mr. Schwarz met with students who have benefited from financial support from the French regional cooperation, either in form of scholarships for their study at AIT, or as support to study visits in France.

This visit was the first in a series which will lead Mr. Schwarz in all AIT schools and units with links to French institutions.