“I am fully confident that each of you in one way or the other
will do your part by helping contribute to the betterment of
your communities, societies, regions and world.”
─
AIT President Prof. Said Irandoust,
19 December
2008
To view the graduation
ceremony, click here.
A total of 179 graduates from 17 countries received their degrees
from AIT President Said Irandoust at
the AIT’s 110th Graduation Ceremony held December 19 at
the AITConferenceCenter Auditorium. Among these graduates,
87 were from the School of Engineering and
Technology, 36 from the School of
Environment, Resources and Development, and 56 from the
School of Management. The event was graced by
H.E. Dr. Tej Bunnag, Chairman of the AIT
Board of Trustees; Mr. Somprasong Boonyachai, President of
the AIT Alumni Association Mother Chapter; General
Boonsrang Niumpradit, former AITAA president, distinguished guests
and representatives of the diplomatic corps. Mr. Somprasong
Boonyachai, CEO of Shin Corporation Plc, offered valuable
messages of advice to the graduating class in his address. Mr.
Somprasong, graduated from AIT in 1981 with a Master of
Engineering degree
Professor Dr. Richard A. Meganck, Rector of UNESCO-IHE
Institute for Water Education, located in Delft, The
Netherlands, delivered the graduation address. Prof. Meganck’s
distinguished career includes thirty-four years working in
international development and management of natural resources with
organizations in the United Nations and Inter-American systems. He has
served as the Director of Sustainable Development and Environment with
the Organization of American States, the Director of the UNEP Regional
Seas Programme in the Caribbean, Director of the
Asia and the Pacific Region for UNEP, and Director of the UN
International Environment Technology Center in
Osaka, Japan. He began his professional career as a
U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia in 1969, followed
by 4 years as an assistant professor in the College
of Forestry at
OregonStateUniversity.
Among the graduates, there were three graduation prize awardees as
follows:
The Tim Kendall Memorial Prize
Md. Zahidul Alam
Mr. Alam, a Bangladeshi citizen, completed his MBA degree with a
thesis entitled ‘"Sadaqah Bank": A Model for a New Financial
Institution for Sustainable Poverty Alleviation’. Mr. Alam was the
recipient of the award in recognition of his outstanding academic
performance in the field of International Business.
The Thyseen Budd Automotive Prize
Pirata Phakdeesattayaphong
Ms. Pirata, a Thai citizen, completed her MBA (Executive) degree with
a project entitled ‘ATOS Origin (Thailand) Ltd.: How to
Sustain Company Profitability?’ Ms. Pirata was chosen as the recipient
in recognition of her outstanding performance in the Executive MBA
Program of the School of Management.
The AITAlumni Association
Prize
Nguyen Thi Kim Anh
Ms. Anh, a Vietnamese citizen, completed her MBA degree with a
research study entitled ‘Family Ownership and Firm Performance: A Study
of the Retail Industry around the World’. Prior to joining
AIT, she worked as an Asst. Brand Manager at ICI
Paints, Vietnam. The AIT Alumni
Association Prize is awarded from funds provided by the Alumni
Association (AITAA).
Voices of our new
AITgraduates!
Ms. Aungsiri Klinmalee, Thailand, a doctoral graduate,
Environmental Engineering and Management, School of Environment,
Resources and Development
“As a new alumnus, I will try to help AIT as much as
possible. I am myself a faculty member at
Thailand’s SilpakornUniversity in the Faculty of
Science. I will definitely tell my students about my studies here and
how good it was, and will encourage them to apply to AIT
for postgraduate studies.”
Mr. Khoa Nguyen, Vietnam, a two-stage Master’s program graduate in
Construction, Engineering and Infrastructure Management, School of
Engineering and Technology
“In my study program, I spent the first year in Vietnam and the
following two semesters at AIT. I gained abundant
knowledge from the Master’s degree courses in this program as well as
the knowledge from the faculty members who have a lot of experience to
offer. I hope that through this education I can help my company,
Petro Vietnam, to develop our business in the in oil and
gas industry, which will further develop my country. Moreover, my
knowledge in project management that I learned here will be very useful
for our firm which is developing several mega projects.”
Mr. Matthieu Guyot,
France, a Master’s graduate, Telecommunications, School
of Engineering and Technology
“It’s a real achievement to have spent almost two years here. It also
has been a great time studying with an environment which is very
convenient for every student to mix with so many cultures. Three is
very strong knowledge in the fields of study that are taught here. The
faculty members are very good as well as the staff members who are
efficient in what they are doing. I am very proud of graduating from
this institute and very happy to become an alumnus today. I hope I can
help in whatever I can for AIT in the future. I will stay
here a bit longer and hopefully I can find a job in
Thailand.”
Mr. Ko Ko Lwin,
Myanmar, an MBA graduate, International Public
Management, Schoolof
Management
“After graduation, I will go back to my country, and go back to my
Catholic church where I have many projects to implement. Because of
Cyclone Nargis, most of churches have been destroyed and there are many
people who are in need of help. I will manage a project in disaster
management, livelihood, child protection, and psycho-social or trauma
healing of the victims.”
Ms. Prina Bajrcharya, Nepalese, Computer Science,
Schoolof Engineeringand
Technology
“I think the knowledge I received here has broadened my thinking far
beyond my bachelor’s degree. Most of the subjects I studied here are
areas that I didn’t take as an undergraduate. I am currently working
here with Dr. Matthew Daily on computer vision research. It’s all about
robotics how we automate the systems remotely.”
Graduation Address by
AIT President Prof. Said Irandoust
19 December 2008
H.E. Dr. Tej Bunnag, Chairman of the AIT Board of
Trustees
Dr. Jean-Pierre Verbiest, Vice Chairman of the AIT
Board
and Chairman of the Executive Committee
Members of the AIT Board of Trustees,
Executive Committee
Mr. Somprasong Boonyachai, President of the AIT
Alumni
Association Mother Chapter, and former President
General
Dr. Boonsrang, Niumpradit
Our Graduation Speaker Professor Richard Meganck, Rector,
UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft,
The Netherlands
Excellencies and honored guests,
Senior Members of the AIT alumni, faculty, staff,
Our dear graduands, family members,
It is my great honour and privilege to welcome you to
AIT’s 110th graduation ceremony and to join you, your families,
friends and members of our faculty and staff who have supported and
encouraged you on this important journey in celebration of this
significant achievement and milestone. I would also like to acknowledge
the presence of so many of our partners, and to take this opportunity
to also thank them for their valuable contributions made to the
Institute, and through whose support, several of you have been provided
with an opportunity to pursue your higher studies at
AIT.
As you stand here today, on the threshold of your future,
shoulder to shoulder with your fellow graduands, this graduation
ceremony joins you to a proud tradition and history. It connects you
not only to the past, but also to the generations of students still to
come. You join AIT’s more than 16,000 alumni as our
ambassadors. Today, we celebrate this important achievement; and we
also look forward to your future and the opportunities that have been
made possible by your commitment and hard work.
When you selected AIT, you chose to belong to a
proudly unique institution. This institute set out to be different from
the very beginning; in fact, it was born to be different. AIT
was a pioneering regional institution, conceived almost 50 years
ago with a noble mission of uplifting the people and countries of the
region through capacity and institutional building initiatives. You
form part of the batch of graduates, who will make known AIT
and what it stands for, as it looks towards the next 50
years.
As I reflect on some of the incidents that have taken place over
the year, it becomes obvious how interconnected we are and why we as a
global community, need to start looking at problems and issues from a
totally different perspective. From natural calamities such as the
earthquakes in China and Pakistan, to the cyclone in Myanmar,
repercussions of the financial meltdown, and recent terrorists attacks
in Mumbai, the consequences are global and the impacts reverberate all
over the world, touching all of our lives in one way or the
other.
An economic model based on unfettered greed and which spawned
financial instruments that – we now know – literally nobody understood,
has come spectacularly unbuttoned, and as of today, few of us would
predict with any certainty where this will end. The cost of the global
financial crisis has recently been estimated to be 2.8 trillion US
Dollars. According to ILO about 20 million people could lose their jobs
by the end of next year due to the impact of the global financial
crisis and the number of working poor living on less than a dollar a
day could rise by some 40 million - and those at two dollars a day by
more than 100 million.
Similarly, ADB also forecasts a difficult year ahead for
developing Asia, while noting on a more positive tone that
although it will be a difficult year it will be manageable if countries
respond decisively and collectively.
This convinces me even more strongly in the mission of
AIT and what the Institute has meant for the region, and the huge
inherent potential it has to make an even greater contribution for the
region and world communities. As a regional and network
institution, AIT is in a unique position to provide an
important platform for such collective efforts among countries in the
region.
As you face the future, some of you may be concerned about the
many seemingly insurmountable challenges that lie ahead for your
generation. It has been said that brilliant opportunities are often
cleverly disguised as difficult challenges problems. The challenges we
all face, the difficult problems that present themselves in the future
are, I believe, these brilliant opportunities you have prepared
yourselves to encounter. The ability to create knowledge will be the
key to opportunity in the future, because, as Albert Einstein once
said: “the problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved with
the same kind of thinking that created them.”
The AIT students who have stood where you stand today,
participating in this same ceremony are, today, engaged in many
exciting and challenging areas of work. Almost all of the alumni
whom I have met during my travels in the region, many of them in very
senior positions in academe, government, private sector, international
and non-governmental organizations, have all expressed the same
sentiments on how the AIT experience, learning and living
together with colleagues from so many different countries and
nationalities, has helped them in their careers and left an indelible
impression on their perspective of life and people as such.
You are part of an academic institution that has
demonstrated its commitment preparing students who will be leaders for
the next generation with the ability to think differently. Here I
would like to quote the words of Orison Marsden, scholar & author
who said: “The golden opportunity you are seeking is in
yourself. It is not in your environment; it is not in luck or
chance or even in the help of others; it is inside yourself
alone.”
I am confident that you will leverage the experience and learning you
have had at AIT and use it as you encounter new
challenges, seek out new opportunities and continue in the pioneering
spirit of this Institute. On behalf of AIT and
all our partners present with us on stage, I would like to once again
congratulate you on your achievements and wish you all the very
best.
“Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think
back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time”.
Congratulations and thank you!
Professor Said Irandoust
President
Asian Institute of Technology
Graduation Address by
Professor Dr. Richard A. Meganck
Rector, UNESCO-IHE
Delft, Netherlands
Thank you very much ... for the generous
introduction.
- Graduating Doctoral Degree, Masters of Science Degree,
and AIT Diploma recipients from the School of Environment,
Resources and Development, the School of Engineering, and the
School of Management; - Professor Said Irandoust, President of AIT
- Members of the AIT Board of Trustees,
- Dr. Nini Thein, V.P. for Development and Resources and the
first PhD graduate from UNESCO-IHE - Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
- Families of the students we honor today some of whom traveled
from great distances, - Academic Colleagues and honored guests,
- Ladies and Gentlemen
It’s a singular honor to be invited to address this group of
graduates and their families here at the Asian Institute of Technology.
I lived in Thailand for nearly five years in the early 1990s, learned
to love this country, and have watched this Institute grow not only in
terms of its size and influence, but more importantly in terms of the
quality of the academic experience being provided and the resulting
prestige of the degrees and diplomas you are about the receive in the
international marketplace.
Netherlands but one whose focus is exclusively on the various
aspects of water science, management and engineering. In many ways my
institute is very similar to AIT. Each year when I open
the new academic year I interrupt my prepared comments and ask
everybody present to introduce themselves to the person sitting next to
them. Invariably that person is someone of a different race or
religion, somebody speaking a different language or dressed
differently. Sometimes our students have never spoken publicly before,
sometimes they have never engaged in a role play or had to defend the
way things are done in their village as compared to the customs of
another part of the world. It is indeed a distinct experience and one
that I am certain you all had too. My comment on this experience is
twofold: First how strange this all seems at the outset of your
academic career, and secondly how these strange people somehow overtime
actually form an integral part of your new network of friends and
colleagues. I repeat the same exercise 18 months later when I award
their MSc degrees. The big difference of course is what I have already
alluded to - how normal it seems to see and interact with someone with
a different background. You have chosen well in selecting to study
at AIT and it will pay benefits for the remainder of your
professional life.
Now, I want to shift gears for a moment. I want you to think
about the continuum of opportunity and risk – opportunity on one
extreme and risk on the other. Imagine having the opportunity of
investing in the education of environmental superstars of the future
the way people do with athletes or music prodigies in today’s world.
What if you had spotted Bill Gates when he was 18 and given him money
for books and tuition, in exchange for a percentage of his later
earnings? Not a bad investment, given the benefit of a retrospective
examination. Now, imagine taking the risk of investing in an entire
class of future environmental leaders. That is precisely what your
sponsors have done. Investing in human capital and the long-term
potential of each of you to not only succeed here, but to have a
fruitful career trajectory and in that manner assist both your country
as well as the name of this Institute and over the next 25 years
becoming a more effective professional. To state it simply: they
are investing in you as the future of environment management and
engineering – nationally without question, even globally, and in some
of the most critical sectors for development, for progress and to
address poverty.
Each of you took a risk when you decided to accept the
invitation to study at AIT. You left friends and family
behind. Many of you left good jobs and certainly all of you were taking
a leap of faith in coming here, not fully knowing how this experience
would impact your future.
Now you are about to take another risk by returning to your
country of origin or departing for another region to start a new job.
Please permit to read a short poem relating to this experience. My
closest friend gave it to me nearly 42 years ago when I left home after
receiving my MSc degree to work hydrology problems in the Amazon
drainage. Now I pass it to you. The great German poet and
philosopher, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, wrote it.
Until one is committed there is always
hesitancy,
the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
concerning all acts of initiative and creation,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid
plans:
the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves
too.
All sorts of things occur to help that would never otherwise have
occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising to one’s favor all manner of unforeseen accidents and
meetings
and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would
come his way.
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
My risk experience lead to undertaking a PhD after spending two years
in Colombia and overtime a 34 year career in the UN. You
too have all exhibited boldness. The implications of this poem are that
you are in charge of your future. Now the time is fast approaching to
apply this boldness in your future professional life, daring to hope
for genius. You may be seated next to a future Noble Prize laureate, a
future Minister, or just as important, someone who will dedicate his or
her life to improving the quality of life in some small, out of the way
village. These are all noble endeavors and some of the most remarkable
people in the world are tucked away in an outpost too small, too
insignificant to draw the attention of the world. Yet it is undoubtedly
a truism that greatness is not the currency of any single people. That
fact makes understanding the mosaic that comprises the world such a
wonderful pursuit. In that context I want to pose two
questions:
- Each of you came here with a certain academic and
professional background engineers, planners, managers - all sharing the
desire to improve your technical skills by pursuing a graduate
degree. - You are some 250 men and women, from xx countries,
representing all major religions, many language groups and cultures
from around the world. - You have all left family, friends and colleagues in this
pursuit, taking risks, both financial and personal that few are willing
to take. - For some of you coming here was the result of a process of
several years, waiting for selection by your institutions or for a
fellowship. - You are also the future of environmental management,
engineering and management science in your countries, the hope upon
which countries so willingly and boldly agreed to the Millennium
Development Goals.
transformed you? Of course the exact measure of that question lies
within each of you, the level of your effort, the spirit with which you
integrated yourself into all that this Institute has to offer. But
there are a few givens for all of you here present.
- You are now part of the 110th graduating class of the Asian
Institute of Technology, forever marked with the greatness that this
institute represents. - You will likely stay active in your discipline for the
remainder of your career. The Journal of higher education reported
recently that 85% of graduate students in developing countries stay
within their chosen discipline for a minimum of 15 years after
graduating. This is the return on investment that your supporters
saw. - You now have a basic understanding of how research is carried
out. A sub-set of you will pursue research as a career and possibly
enter a PhD programme here or at some other institution. - You have changed both in terms of your sense of self and your
sense of the potential you represent as a professional. You know that
you can positively impact your village, your region, or even the world.
You will confront problems and hopefully solutions about which you have
never thought; such is the quality based on experience of the academic
staff here at AIT. - You have argued your point of view with your fellow students
and professors having little understanding of the nuances of your
culture; such is the opportunity for learning presented in a
multi-cultural setting. - Some of you left your country for the first time. Several of
you had never been on an airplane before flying here. You have eaten
foods you didn’t recognize. - You have grown personally from all these experiences in ways
you don’t even realize now.
On behalf of President Irandoust, I implore you neither to
forget this Institute nor your academic mentors who have worked
hand-in-hand with you during your time in Thailand. I also
ask that you recall the many administrative staff who worked on your
behalf to ensure that your personal needs were satisfied and that you
too participated-in and learned-from Thailand. You will
now become alumni and as a Rector myself I hope that you will not
forget this part of your makeup, of your professional DNA as it
were. AIT like any institution of higher education depends on its
graduates to form part of its ambassadorial corps and help spread the
word about what this Institute of higher education can do for your
professional maturation.
I am confident that you will agree that one of the most valuable
and tangible aspects of your experience here at AIT is the
network of professional colleagues – both fellow participants as well
as staff and faculty of this Institute that you have developed. I have
just finished reading a marvelous book exploring the workings of
several religious communities from all faiths. The common factor
throughout this book is the importance the individual’s place in the
community. We are not islands, but rather parts of a whole. And while
some will go on to win acknowledgements of outstanding contributions,
even those so decorated would admit that without their team, they would
not have achieved the highest of accolades – regardless of their field
of specialization. Some of you are the first in your country to be
awarded a post graduate degree in your field. Others will shortly join
an exclusive club of decision makers. But all of this implies
responsibility. Now that you have an education, now that you have the
skills to solve real-world problems, you must apply that knowledge. You
must put yourself above the petty in-fighting of politics that so
plagues the world of development. You must adopt the role of mentor
yourselves back home to those younger and in certain cases older than
you, but without the technical background you have acquired here. This
is not an admonition as much as the reality and my hope for each of
you. That change will continue to happen is assured. Your task is to be
prepared to influence how it develops and then manage it on a
sustainable basis.
Your time here reflects a microcosm of life – in all its
richness. You have learned much more than modeling techniques or
engineering principles, than development policies or water treatment
technologies. You have grown in ways that you don’t even recognize now.
It will hit you at some unplanned, even obscure moment in the future.
You will flash back to Thailand and this Institute and
your friends here. You will have the tools to address a problem that
you may not realize are in your tool kit. You’ll flash back to an old
professor or to what you saw on a field trip and have part of what you
need at the moment.
I suppose any speech of this nature must end with a request to
go forth and do good things for your country or village. I assume that
as a given. You have proven yourselves in so many ways. I know we will
read about many of you in future years – in terms of your contributions
to solving development-related issues.
Let me conclude by noting that last year AIT and
UNESCO-IHE signed an MoU that will facilitate a greatly increased level
of cooperation between our two institutions. We are already working on
the possibility of sharing PhD students and the mechanisms for
transferring credits with the aim of developing a joint degree program
as well as a number of joint research themes. This is good news for you
too as alumni as we will certainly begin to offer joint short and
tailor-made courses as well as develop distance learning courses
together. These new tools will help you remain cutting-edge in your
chosen discipline. We look forward to benefiting from the full
potential that our MoU offers.
Thank you for the honor of being here with you today and for the
humbling experience of being among a wonderful group of
people.
Graduation Speech
By Mr. Somprasong Boonyachai,
AITAA President
Distinguished guests
Friends and colleagues
Ladies and gentlemen,
Sawasdee Krub and Good Morning
I am very much delighted to be here and may I please extend a
warm welcome to all of you for joining us on this special event
particularly to congratulate the new AIT graduates
2008 for their remarkable achievements.
AIT is more than just a learning institute and without any
doubt, AIT has “armed” you with all the necessary tools,
things you need to know academically and things that you learn through
experience. With a combined knowledge and inter-personal skills, I
am certain that you can make a difference in other people’s lives,
bringing higher living quality and advancement of mankind.
As you know, the impact of the global economic depression has
spread to almost every sector of the economy. And Thailand
is no exception. Coupled with the surge in oil price and the
recent closure of airports in Thailand, we expect to face
one of the most challenging and toughest 2009 and the years ahead of
us.
It is crucial now more than ever before that we join together as
a team, regardless of our race or belief, and contribute our knowledge,
expertise and accumulated experience, what we have gained from this
establishment, acting as a catalyst to bring about growth and
sustainable development of our respective societies and
countries. Learning to give back – one of AIT’s top
objectives – and that is indeed what I would like to encourage and ask
for your active participation.
I am confident that during your stay at AIT, you
have learned how to enhance what you know and how you think. This
is vital to the start of your new lives as you move forward.
I hope you will keep the networks of friends and colleagues you have
collected over the years here in AIT. They are as equally
precious as the education that was shared with all of you here. Support
each other when the time comes. Always remember that you have now
gained a unique extended family: the AIT Alumni
Association Mother Chapter and the national chapter in your respective
countries.
Let me again welcome our new graduates to the AIT Alumni
Network. I hope that from this point onwards our
efforts will bring even greater success and
development our society and the region.
May I thank the event organizer for arranging a truly marvelous
program.
It is time to celebrate among friends and family after all the
hard work. May I wish you and your loved ones a wonderful and
….untroubled Christmas and New Year.
Enjoy yourselves and thank you.
Professorial Remark By Prof. Joydeep
Dutta
Honorable Mr. President Prof. Said Irandoust,
Graduation Speaker,
And Trustees,
Honored Guests;
Candidates for the Award of Degrees;
My Dear Colleagues;
This is a magical moment for academics like me to be able to
deliver the Professorial remark on this occasion. I am humbled to get
this honor to share my thoughts with you all in this auspicious
occasion.
The turf on which we have to operate has undergone a dramatic
change in this flat world of globalisation. For example, the role
of an engineer has transcended the narrowness of geographical
boundaries in the trans-national and cross-cultural competitive world.
The academic community is facing new challenges to educate students
with the necessary knowledge, understanding, and skills to interact and
provide leadership in the new world.
As we step into the 21st century we have begun to feel the
convergence of technologies and the consequent processes of
globalization. The knowledge and technology driven economic
development in this century does not know any barriers of the classical
fields of knowledge. The future wealth of nations, certainly the
economic sustainability of nations will be shaped by the preparations
we make today. If we had the knowledge in 1960’s and 1970’s to prepare
for the impact of computers or telecommunication that has changed our
lives in the last decade, how might we have prepared the nation? If we
do not follow the current developments, we may then miss the boat.
Nanotechnology, for example, is an umbilical link to the technology
development ….. if it is not pursued by some nations, by 2015, they
would miss the opportunity to reap benefits from a market comparable to
the size of the electronics and ICT taken together!
Competition will be fueled increasingly by fast breaking
innovations and we will need to be prepared for that. However, just
technology alone cannot change the face of the world. Striving to be
the best, Cross cultural understanding and pluri-disciplinary education
to achieve leadership in each individual sphere is the need of the
hour. That is what AIT is all about and that is what we
all strive to make it even stronger. There is no SKY TO
LIMIT US AT THE BOTTOM and we will continue to be revered in the years
to come. We all should be proud to be a party to this incredible family
“called AIT”.
Thank you very much.
Convocation Speech By Student Awardee Mr. Md.
Zahidul Alam His Excellency Dr. Tej Bunnag, Chairman of the AIT
Board of Trustees,
Honorable Chief Guest, Professor Richard Meganck,
Honorable President of AIT, Professor Said
Irandoust,
honorable and respected AIT faculty members,
distinguished guests,
staff members,
my dear graduating fellows and
beloved families and friends.
Good morning to everyone.
I am really honored today for standing before this graceful
presence of graduating students, distinguished guests and our
professors. Today is a memorable day for all of us, especially for the
graduating students. On behalf of all the graduating students, first of
all, I would like to extend my heartiest gratitude to all of you for
your attendance to our graduation ceremony.
I would like to congratulate all of my graduating friends
for the successful completion of the demanding studies. Well done, my
friends.
This is a day to say ‘thank you’ to our beloved parents, other
family members and friends. Without their inspiration and support, it
would not have been possible for us to reach this milestone. Our
parents have sacrificed so much to help us that it is not enough just
to say thank you to them. We can pay back our debt to them by helping
on our next generation. I do believe that today our parents are the
happiest persons in the
world.
I know he is also happy in heaven and celebrating my graduation there.
I am missing too much my mom, who is staying thousand kilometers away
from me, in a remote rural area, of Bangladesh. Mom, I love
you.
We are indebted to our honorable teachers. They have prepared us
for taking the challenges of the 21st century. Our teachers
were always helpful and cooperative. Their invaluable teachings and
guidance are the foundation of our future careers.
At this moment I would like to take the chance to give my
heartiest thanks and acknowledgement to my respected advisor, Professor
Ilkka Kauranen for his endless support in the completion of my degree.
I treated him as my father, friend and my well-wisher. Dear professor,
I can not pay the debt that I owe
you.
This is the time to give our cordial thanks to our donors and
sponsors for their financial support. We the recipients wanted to excel
in order to influence them to give more grants, scholarships to
upcoming students in AIT.
The time spent in AIT for the past two years had no
doubt been an important part of my life. AIT has
been a home to all of us for the past two years where we studied, and
lived. Outside the academic studies, I have learned many things from my
stay in AIT. One important learning is “Multicultural
communication” among different communities and countries. I feel proud
that, now, I have many real friends from different countries outside of
my own community. Many good memories are there in my mind, at
this moment. I have collected local currencies of 25 different
countries from my friends. These are a good gifts and memories from my
fellow people. Thank you my friends.
established a real multicultural environment for all the people. I
believe AIT is a good example for practicing ‘freedom of
choice’. Thank you AIT.
staff and their cordial cooperation. We have received love from them.
Thank you Thailand, I love you. I wish to come back again
in Thailand, especially to AIT, in the future.
In the coming years we, the graduates of AIT will
use our acquired knowledge for the betterment of our families, society
and countries. The graduates from third world countries, like me, have
even more responsibilities to our people. We should not forget the
impoverished and destitute poor people in our countries. We should show
our strong commitments to our societies.
Dear friends,
We are sharing some common problems such as terrorism, climate
changes, poverty, hunger, illiteracy etc. We all should work together
to build a hunger-free and poverty- free world - a safe place to live
for us and for the generations to come.
We all feel proud to be a member of the AIT
family. We are ambassadors of our beloved institution. We all
have an obligation to uphold the high reputation of our institution. I
call on all of us to work together in order to enhance the capabilities
and resources of AIT.
Finally, today is the day of celebrating our graduation as well
as to craft a roadmap for our future careers. We have to go a long way
to reach our dreams. I am also thankful to each and every one of you. I
wish you all a successful career. May God bless us! Thank you every
one. Thank you so much.
From left: Mr. Somprasong
Boonyachai, President of the AIT
Alumni Association Mother Chapter and CEO of Shin Corporation
Plc; H. E. Dr. Tej Bunnag, Chairman of the AIT Board of Trustees;
General Boonsrang Niumpradit, Former AITAA president,
distinguished guests and representatives of the diplomatic
corps.
First row, seated from left: Prof. Peter
Haddawy, Vice President for
Academic
Affairs; Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, Dean of the
School of Engineering and Technology; Prof. Sivanappan Kumar,
Dean of the School of Environment, Resources and Development;
Dr. Barbara Igel, Dean of the School of Management; Prof. Sudip
Rakshit , Vice President for Research and Dr. Khin Ni Ni
Thein,
Vice President for Development and Resources.
