“Creativity is a hugely important factor contributing one’s success,
and is often fostered outside of classrooms and laboratories at
communications events like this one,” AIT President Said Irandoust
remarked to a large crowd gathered at the AIT auditorium where academic
teams faced-off in a test of wits and the art of public speaking,
persuasion and presentation.
The special competition was spearheaded by the Office of the President
to create a culture of quality and excellence for students.
Special guest judge Dr. Branford Johnson, Editor, Education Section,
Bangkok Post, brought an expert journalistic perspective to the event,
and offered numerous tips and recommendations for improving students’
presentation skills. “In such a competition there are no right or wrong
answers,” he said, as he encouraged students to “think out of the box”
and aim to be open minded when approaching problems and arguing their
ideas.
Dr. Johnson emphasized that sound communications skills are a highly
valued commodity in the business world. “Google assesses it potential
employees by how they organize and communicate their thoughts and
ideas,” he stressed.
One-by-one the teams took the stage, and contestants spoke from the
rostrum and cued up their multimedia presentations in an effort to
convince eight judges and a curious audience of their merit. Ten teams
vied for financial prizes supported by President Irandoust totaling US$
2200. AIT Vice President Prof. Sudip K. Rakshit sponsored the "Best
Speaker of the Competition" award and a cash prize of US$ 200 each.
“This competition is to see how you present, not what you know,” Prof.
Rakshit told the competition as he urged the students to strive for
more original ideas and ways of expression.
Topics reflected core scientific themes stressed at AIT, such as the
attainment of energy and food security and the application of
technology and innovation in the context of climate change. The role of
microfinance, entrepreneurship and agro-based small and medium scale
industries for poverty alleviation and sustainable development of rural
Asia-Pacific region was another presentation theme.
The first place AIT Presidential Golden Trophy and a cash prize of US$
750 was won by a team from the School of Management comprised of Anubha
Garg, India; Mr. Cosme Julien Madoni, France; Alberto Gallego Canas,
Spain; and Mr. Saurav Ganguli, India.
A second team from the School of Management earned US$ 500 and the
second place silver trophy and a seven-member team from the School of
Engineering and Technology took the bronze trophy for third place and a
cash reward of US$ 250. Nepal’s Mrs. Merina Lohani, a student of
natural resource management at the School of Environment, Resources and
Development, and Ganguli, 27, an MBA student at the School of
Management, earned best speaker awards. Seven teams were each awarded a
runners-up prize of US$ 100.
“It’s wasn’t about money,” Mr. Modoni, 25, an MBA student from Paris,
France, majoring in micro-economics and finance said. “I saw the
competition as good training for real life.” Indian team-mate Ganguli
agreed. “Gaining exposure and experience was the attraction,” the
Calcutta native eying a career in banking said. The pair scored 76.875
points out of a possible 100 for their presentation titled “Poverty
alleviation and sustainable development of rural Asia-Pacific region.”
All told, 42 AIT students from 16 countries representing Central Asia,
South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe and Africa participated.
All three AIT Schools were represented. Organized by the Student Union,
the event was supported by the Office of the President and the Media
and Communications Unit (MCU).
Participants of the AIT Open Presentation Competition with the AIT
President Said Irandoust.