Seminars, Workshops and Conferences
15 February 2005: 'Road Safety in USA: Trends and Issues' lecture will be conducted by Prof. Stamatiadis, Visiting Professor, TRE/SCE in Room E220, SCE
Building at 2:30 p.m.
Abstract
Traffic safety is a fundamental issue and concern for any nation. A significant amount of resources and funds are typically allocated to identify problem areas and countermeasures to improve roadway safety. Over the past decades, the total number of fatalities in the US has been somewhat steady to approximate 45,000 fatalities. Moreover, there is a significant number of crashes which are in the range of 3.5 million per year. Recent studies in the US indicate significant improvements in some areas but there are still several aspects of traffic safety that merit further exploration in order to develop appropriate means and countermeasures to improve safety. Some of these areas include young and older drivers, roadway designs that guide the drivers to properly determine their operating speeds, specific vehicles types including motorcycles and sport utility vehicles, alcohol consumption, and driver education. These areas of concern have been the focal point of significant research efforts and new means to improve roadway safety are continuously evaluated to improve overall roadway safety. A recent mandate by the US Department of Transportation has set as a goal a 20% reduction in fatalities by 2010 which indicates the seriousness of the issue. At the same time, the need for proper crash databases is paramount to further understanding the issues and determine the potential contributing factors to the crash involvement of these drivers and vehicles.
In general, the seminar will present trends and issues related to roadway safety and discuss potential countermeasures for improving safety. First, a brief historical overview of the safety trends in the US over the past decades will be presented followed by a discussion and identification of the potential areas of concern regarding both fatalities and other crash types. Past research has indicated that there are specific age groups of drivers that are more prone to be involved in crashes and the reasons for the increased involvement of these specific driver groups will be presented. Programs such as the Graduate License for teenagers or periodic reexamination for older drivers have been implemented and have shown promising results. There are several new concepts in roadway geometric design that have either been implemented or being considered for implementation that could have a significant impact on roadway safety. Some of these concepts, such as median dividers and access control, can reduce fatal crashes while others, such as roundabouts, can reduce the severity of crashes. Finally, a new concept of examining traffic safety as part of the built environment, where lifestyle choices and conditions play an important role in transportation needs and mobility, will also be discussed.
18 February 2005: 'Geo-Hazards: The Sleeping Giants Threatening Asia' Colloquium will be conducted by Associate Professor Ulrich Glawe Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering FoS/SCE. The event will be held at 12:00 noontime in Room E220, SERD Main Building.
21 February 2005: 'Some Experiences of Hydro Power Development in the Greater Mekong Subregion' lecture by Subin Pinkayan, Ph.D., Honorary Advisor, GMS Power Public Company Limited Bangkok, Thailand.
The lecture will be followed by a question and answer session and conclude with a reception. Interested persons who would like to attend are requested to please kindly confirm their participation through e-mail: argie@ait.ac.th or call tel. ext. 6316 by Thursday, 17 February 2005. Depending on the number of confirmations received the lecture will be held either at the Milton E. Bender Jr. Auditorium or AIT Conference Center Auditorium, details of which will be announced later.
Abstract:
The concept of regional cooperation on power infrastructure is an ambitious, yet achievable, goal which will help contribute to the region's stability and prosperity. For the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), its hydropower development, and a system of efficient resources allocation, particularly the international matching of electricity demand and supply, is essential to the development of its member-states. The governments have recognized the importance of cross boarder cooperation and are open to participation from the international community, public or private. International organizations as well as the private sector have made great progress in bringing the projects to reality. Successful implementation of the individual project depends on careful planning, the correct strategy, and most importantly the sincerity and honest of the partners involved, and is the key to the true regional cooperation on power infrastructure.
18 February 2005: 'Planning and Management in Marine National Parks Experience from Many Countries' special presentation by Dr. Helene Marchand, Research Laboratory 'Space and Culture' (UMR 8064), French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), University of Paris IV-Sorbonne. The event will be held at 1:30 p.m.
in Room W-208, SCE Building.
10 -12 March 2005: International symposium on 'Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management ' will be held in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. The symposium will be organized by the United Nations University with the support of AIT, Thammasat University, and a number of related organizations.
The symposium is an academic meeting that will serve as a venue for information exchange among transboundary water stakeholders working on Asia's international rivers especially on the Mekong Basin. In this symposium, we expect to bring water professionals together to share case studies emphasizing both risks and paths to cooperation.
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Satiraporn Sirisampan
Secretariat, Local Organizing Committee of the Symposium
RNUS, SCE, AIT
P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang
Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
Tel: 02 524-6418
Fax: 02 524-5565
E-mail: rnus@ait.ac.th
14-15 March 2005: Asialink project Tetrawama workshop on ''Mechanical Biological (MBT) Treatment and Landfilling of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)' will be held at the AIT Conference Center. Eminent speakers from Asia and Europe will conduct various issues in the workshop. For more information, please visit:
http://www.altetrawama.ait.ac.th
.
6 - 10 June 2005:
International Conference on 'Modeling Tools for Environment and Resources Management (MTERM)'. The conference will be coordinated by the Water Engineering and Management (WEM) FoS staff in cooperation with the faculty members of the Modeling Tools for Environment and Resources Management (MTERM) and will be held at the AIT Conference Center.
Interested persons are invited to submit their research/technical papers related but not limited to the broader themes listed as follows:
- Integrated Water Resources Management
- Modeling of Water Resources
- Water Quality Management and Modeling
- Air Pollution Modeling
A two-day pre-conference training workshop on 'Governance of Transboundary Waters' will also be conducted in collaboration with 'The Universities Partnership for Transboundary Waters' (http://waterpartners.geo.orst.edu)
For further information and details, please visit http://www.mterm.ait.ac.th. For other enquiries, please e-mail: mterm@ait.ac.th,
http://www.mterm.ait.ac.th