Officials representing the three-university alliance visited the
campus on 21 February 2013, extending an invitation for the AIT to join
the university grouping as a member from outside Japan. The officials
visited with AIT’s acting president, and later organized a conference
that assessed the needs for space and geospatial information education
in Thailand.
G-SPASE is an international education program on multidisciplinary
integration for space technology, geospatial information technology and
social infrastructure. The special curriculum focuses on the
utilization of space technology to tackle societal issues on the
ground, the officials said.
The two-year program’s first phase is set for launch in April this
year. In addition to education on remote sensing, GIS, and GNESS,
it will also offer system design that emphasizes finding solutions
through case studies and real project activities.
Acting AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Naukulchai welcomed G-SPASE
representatives Prof. Ryosuke Shibasaki, Center of Space Information
Science, The University of Tokyo; Assoc. Prof. Naohiko Kohtake,
Graduate School of System Design and Management, Keio University; and
Assoc. Prof. Nobuaki Kubo; The Graduate School of Marine Science and
Technology, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology to the
campus, saying, “AIT strongly supports the program.”
Prof. Shibasaki explained G-SPASE's motivation for working closely
with AIT. “Our target is not only Japan but also South-East Asia and
South Asia. AIT is a regional hub and Bangkok is in the heart of
South-East Asia,” he said. The regional hub institution would
be a nexus for a group of space infrastructure researchers to
conduct education, research and development. It would conduct
collaborative research projects with Japanese, local companies and
public institutions, he said.The consortium is funded by the Japanese
Ministry of Education to advance international education programs for
science and technology.
Outlining AIT’s connectivity and regional strengths, Prof. Worsak said
that if the consortium is looking to cooperate academically with
all 10 countries of ASEAN, then AIT would be the right place for its
hub. “You not only work with AIT but nine other countries as well.”
Such efforts are in-line with the Government of Thailand’s efforts to
push forward with AEC 2015, he explained.
Japan is one of the largest contributors to the Asian Institute of
Technology, the acting president explained, citing Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency (JAXA) support and Government of Japan Scholarships,
which currently benefit 24 international Masters and Doctoral students
from a number of Asian countries, as two key current examples.
Later that day, the G-SPASE officials organized a one-day Open Forum
academic conference titled “International Human Resources Development
Program for Innovative Social Services with Space Infrastructure” at
the AIT Conference Center. The event attracted participation from 40
lecturers and academics from AIT, Chulalongkorn University, Kasetsart
University, Thammasat University, Srinakharinwirot University, Chiang
Mai University, and Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning
System for Africa and Asia (RIMES).
Presentations included introduction of G-SPASE, system design and
management for space and social infrastructure, open source application
for GNESS, applications of space technology, and a number
of presentations by Thai university representatives on
needs and curriculum requirements for space technology education in
Thailand. Over 20 AIT graduate students and other guests
attended.
The delegation was accompanied by Dr. Wataru Ohira, Project
Researcher, Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of
Tokyo. Dr. Ohira recently graduated from AIT, earning a doctorate in
December 2012.
The visit was organized by Dr. Masahiko Nagai, Visiting Faculty,
RS-GIS/SET and Associate Director GIC/SET. Dr. Akiyuki Kawasaki,
Visiting Faculty, WEM/SET also attended the AIT meetings and
conference, along with Dr. Manzul Hazarika, GIC/SET. Mrs. Sumana
Shrestha, Program Officer, ERCO, coordinated the visit.
