AIT President Said Irandoust
welcomes
the incoming students during the Orientation.
To watch part of his message, click
here.
AIT yesterday (12 January) welcomed students arriving for the
January 2009 Semester with an orientation ceremony at the Milton Bender
Auditorium. About 104 students from 30 countries have confirmed their
intention to enroll for this coming semester.
Twenty-two students are enrolling in the School of Engineering and
Technology (SET), fifty-five in the School of Environment, Resources
and Development (SERD) and twenty-seven student will join the School of
Management (SOM). Approximately seventy students have already
registered and registry officials expect the remainder to arrive on
campus this week.
“It is a small orientation, but very warm and multicultural,” said
Ms. Ann Lopez Fontanilla, Head of Students. “This
semester we are welcoming new students from Timor, Korea, and
Cameroon.”
The official Orientation was a day-long affair comprised of a morning
session, afternoon session, and welcome party in the evening. The
morning session was attended by AIT President Said Irandoust;
Prof. Peter Haddawy, Vice President for Academic Affairs;
Prof. Sudip K. Rakshit, Vice President for Research;
Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, Dean, School of
Engineering and Technology; Prof. Sivanappan Kumar,
Dean, School of Environment, Resources and Development; Prof.
Nazrul Islam, who represented the School of Management, and
Mr. Akhtar Nawaz Khan, Student Union (SU) President.
Also present were senior administration officials who provided the
newcomers with an overview of AIT’s academic facilities and on campus
services.
In his welcome speech, President Irandoust paid tribute
to the highly multicultural incoming class as a special
and defining feature of the Institute that sets it apart. “Having new
students arrive from about 30 countries is unique in the sense that
there is no single culture or nationality dominating the learning
environment at AIT. Faculty, staff and students from so many countries,
regions, cultures and scientific backgrounds means that the cases you
will all bring into the classroom are from so many diverse countries.
This fact will prepare you well for your professional roles in the
Asian region and beyond.”
The president also requested the new graduate students to work
together and to consider ways that they could benefit the region in the
future. Assisting sustainable development efforts in the region is
integral to everything AIT does, he said. President Irandoust made
specific mention to some of the world’s problems, its ongoing
conflicts, and recent natural disasters as areas in which all AIT
graduates could conceivably play a positive role. He said recent
events such as the financial crisis, terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the
recent conflict in Gaza, and natural disasters happening in Myanmar and
China, reinforce the societal need for graduates (such as AIT’)
to one day work for sustainable development and positive change.
“There is huge work for all of us out there. Make sure that you can
use your time effectively at AIT so that you too can play major role
upon graduation. Asia and your respective countries need the knowledge
and skills that you possess,” the AIT President concluded.
Prof. Peter Haddawy, Vice
President for Academic Affairs.
To watch his message on the importance of education
in today's challenging times, click
here.
First row from left: Prof. Peter
Haddawy, Vice President
for Academic Affairs; Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai,
Dean of School of Engineering and Technology; Prof. Nazrul
Islam,
representing the School of Management; Dr. Agus Harianto,
Director of ITServ; and Prof. Sudip K. Rakshit, Vice President
for Research.
Mr. Akhtar Nawaz Khan, Student
Union President
Below are some reflections from new students enrolled for the January
2009 Semester:
To watch the student sound bites,
click here.
Ms. Lisa Schindler (United States) Natural Resources
Management, SERD
Actually, I am an undergraduate student in Environmental Studies and
Applications at Michigan State University (MSU) in the United States. I
and eight friends from MSU are joining the special program called
MSU-AIT Study Abroad Program in Thailand for four months here at AIT.
This is a special program to attend courses which are specially
arranged by AIT’s Natural Resources Management (NRM), and Regional and
Rural Development Planning Fields of Study. The classes will be
separately conducted from the Master’s and Doctoral programs here. I
found out about this program from my advisor at my university. I can
obtain 12 credits from AIT and I will graduate from MSU once I complete
my studies at AIT. The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at
MSU offered me a scholarship to come here, and I have to pay a little
bit. I am so excited to study here to learn more about Asian culture
and to see what I can do within this new environment. I found that the
scenery of AIT is gorgeous and it’s wonderful being in a warm weather
in Thailand.
Mr. Indra Risttawansyah (Indonesia) Transportation
Engineering, SET
I am attending the dual master’s degree program in Transportation
between AIT and Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia. This program is
offered with a scholarship from my employer, the Department of Public
Works, Indonesia, and is intended for employees who have worked with
the department for at least two years. Under this program, I have to
study for one semester at Gadjah Mada University, and then spend the
second semester at AIT before going back to Indonesia for the third
semester (or inter-semester) at the AIT Center in Indonesia. The last
semester (fourth semester) I will return to Gadjah Mada
University. Through this program I will earn a dual master’s
degree from both universities. This type of academic cooperation is
good and should be continued further because this program allows me to
learn from many places and resource persons. Being first time in
Thailand, it is all still a little confusing and I must confess to
having a problem with the food.
Mr. Somchok Sakjiraphong (Thailand) Computer Science,
SET
I joined AIT because I found that it is the only place that offers an
international study program on a full-time basis. I prefer this rather
than studying during evening. I got to know about AIT from one of my
undergraduate professors at Assumption University, who had graduated
from AIT last year. He told me that being a student here means you must
be seriously committed to your classes: with studying and eating taking
up most of your time! I also think that being here gives me more
opportunities to study and interact with other Asian students, as
opposed to meeting mostly Americans if I were to do my postgraduate
studies there. At AIT, I sure I will be able to learn about Asian
cultures which, for me, is more important than western culture. In the
future, I plan to start my own firm and my goal would be to expand it
throughout Asia. So, to achieve this goal I need to learn about other
Asian people. After graduating, I plan to further studies with a
doctorate. My tuition at AIT is supported through the Royal Thai
Government scholarship program.
Mr. Andreas Wenning (Denmark) Telecommunications Field of
Study, SET
I will spend five months at AIT on an exchange program between AIT and
the Technical University of Denmark. I chose to study here because AIT
is one among very few universities that offers a master’s degree
program in telecommunications. Under this exchange program, I took one
semester at Technical University of Denmark for six months. Now I am
beginning my five months of learning here at AIT. Following this will
return to study at Technical University of Denmark before getting my
master’s degree. This program will allow me to bring the credits I earn
at AIT to Denmark. This is part of the exchange program. I only pay for
the accommodation and other expenses except the tuition fee. Hopefully,
I will learn a lot from time at AIT.
Mrs. Sandamali Sakunthala Herath (Sri Lanka) Aquaculture and
Aquatic Resources Management, SERD
I came here to join my husband who is studying in his second semester
in the same field as me. He got a scholarship from the Asian
Development Bank to study at AIT, while I received a scholarship from
AIT for my entire four semester program. I found that the community
environment here is great for my small son who very much enjoys looking
at the different surroundings, such as the campus houses, roads, and
children.
Ms. Prapti Dhungana (Nepal) School of
Management
AIT is a very reputable institution which is not so far away from many
other Asian countries. In my opinion, this is one of the good
institutions in the region. So I finally applied here with my own
financial support. I still have to choose between international
business or international public management as my field of study. In
coming here, I have a lot of expectations to earn a good degree and
gain a lot of knowledge. After graduating, I see myself working in a
big multinational company as a manager. This could be located anywhere,
possibly in Nepal.
