Professor N. T. Kim Oanh was awarded in the category of Senior
Research Leader, while Associate Professor Sangam Shrestha won the
award in the Junior Research Leader category.
A Vietnam national, Prof. Kim Oanh lectures in the Environmental
Engineering and Management field of study at the AIT School of
Environment, Resources and Development. Assoc. Prof. Shrestha, who
hails from Nepal, teaches in the Water Engineering and Management field
of study at the AIT School of Engineering and Technology.
Both AIT Distinguished Researcher awardees receive a full doctoral
scholarship and will be presented with a certificate of recognition at
the May 2015 AIT Graduation Ceremony.
Launched last year, the AIT Distinguished Awards series is a new
yearly award program that recognizes excellence amongst the institute’s
faculty and researchers in seven categories.
This particular award is intended to provide motivation to faculty and
staff to get more involved in conducting sponsored research projects
that benefit the Asian region and provide solid research infrastructure
for AIT graduate students. The new award also honors AIT faculty and
staff for their indirect contributions to the institute which emerge
from their projects.
According to AIT Vice President for Research Professor Kanchana
Kanchanasut, the award evaluation committee considered four candidates
among the senior category and five candidates from the junior category.
The evaluations were conducted using external evaluation committee
members.
Awardee Citations:
Senior Research Leader Category
Professor N. T. Kim Oanh
AIT School of Environment, Resources and Development
Professor Kim Oanh is a well-established professor who has clearly
demonstrated scientific leadership in the field of air pollution,
environmental monitoring and modelling. Her scholarly contributions are
truly outstanding. In 2014, she published 1 book, 11 book chapters and
6 peer-reviewed journal articles. She is currently running seven
research projects, four of which started in 2014. Owing to her very
high-level networking and visibility activities, and by conducting
training workshops, she is highly recognized amongst the international
scientific community. She has demonstrated high quality research
leadership adapting to changes, seeking integrated solutions and
providing high quality scientific answers to local problems. Prof. Kim
Oanh’s proposed future research on regional air pollutant assessment
and emissions reduction will likely have high impact for the Asian
region.
Junior Research Leader Category
Associate Professor Sangam Shrestha
AIT School of Engineering and Technology
Assoc. Prof. Shrestha has obtained significant research and other
technical service grants from a number of international agencies. He
has particular strength in working cooperatively with international
partners. His expertise is focused on water resources management and
climate change impacts. Apart from conducting many policy-oriented
researches and studies, he has also been instrumental in delivering a
number of capacity building programs in this area. Assoc. Prof.
Shrestha’s proposed future research on “Assessment of climate change
impacts on water, food and energy security” is a very important topic.
Moreover, he is a prolific publisher who has authored numerous
international refereed journal papers and book chapters since joining
AIT in 2009.