Ambassador Khan, who is a member of the AIT Board of Trustees, said
the institute is a highly suitable higher education partner for his
country. “AIT is an international institution, and its postgraduate
programs in engineering are widely reputed and accredited in Pakistan,”
the ambassador said.
The envoy encouraged both parties to work on a partnership involving
secondments for visiting faculty from Pakistan, joint research
projects, and accreditation of the undergraduate programs now being
developed at AIT.
PEC is Pakistan’s institution for accreditation and regulation of
chartered and professional engineers and technicians. At the meeting,
PEC Chairman Engr. Syed Abdul Qadar Shah informed the ambassador that
the body now represented Pakistan as a member of the Washington Accord,
which is the select international accreditation agreement for
professional engineering academic degrees, between the national bodies
responsible for accreditation in signatory countries.
Welcoming the ambassador and the delegation, AIT Interim President
Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nakulchai described AIT’s vision for establishing
high-value, niche undergraduate programs in engineering whilst
maintaining its status as a primarily graduate-level institute. The
institute would welcome well known seconded faculty from Pakistan, as
well as accreditation for its undergraduate level programs, President
Worsak said. He added: “AIT is the best place for your academics to
build up a network in our region.”
Commenting on Pakistan’s proud role as a founding member of the SEATO
Graduate School of Engineering in 1959, which was precursor to AIT, Mr.
Shah said his institution wanted to explore ways for promoting more
engineering students from Pakistan to attend AIT.
Currently there are ninety Pakistani postgraduate level students
enrolled at AIT. The number has increased substantially from a decade
ago, when a handful of students from Pakistan could be spotted on
campus.
“We would like to help AIT with the formalities for gaining
accreditation in Pakistan for its undergraduate programs,” said Engr.
Mukhtar Ali Sheikh, Vice Chairman of PEC.
Dr. Nasir Mahmood Khan echoed the feeling, saying accreditation would
provide a boost to AIT’s applications and enrolment. He explained that
demand for undergraduate engineering places greatly exceeds supply in
Pakistan, where 50,000 students apply annually for admittance to the
12,000 seats available nationwide. The country has a considerable need
for professionals in fields such as food and engineering processing,
biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering,
and energy systems engineering, he added.
As a first step for cooperation, Dr. Khan said PEC would share the
agency’s nine-point procedural process for gaining accreditation. A
“road map” for cooperation could initially involve exchange of
recognized faculty from top universities in Pakistan. Eventually it
could lead to a joint international campus, as a future possibility,
Dr. Khan said.
Ambassador Khan recommended establishing a point person for each side
to develop the partnership through annual meetings, and through close
interaction with AIT faculty. He added that PEC could work to
commission joint research with prominent universities in Pakistan on
issues such as food security and energy. AIT has an opportunity to
respond to emerging human resource needs on Pakistan with appropriate
undergraduate and postgraduate programs, he told AIT administration
officials.
Later the same day, the delegation was received at AIT Consulting by
its Executive Director Dr. Naveed Anwar. Following at brief tour of the
the campus, Ambassador Khan and the PEC officials met with a number of
AIT students from Pakistan in the AIT Boardroom.
The Pakistan Engineering Council Delegation which accompanied H.E. Dr.
Sohail Khan included Engr. Syed Abdul Qadar Shah, Chairman; Engr.
Mukhtar Ali Sheikh, Vice Chairman; Engr. Zahid Arif, Vice Chairman; Dr.
Nasir Mahmood Khan, Additional Registrar; and Dr. Nazim Latif,
Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of Pakistan, Thailand.
Attending the meeting for AIT was Prof. Voratas Kachitvichyanukul,
Interim Dean SET; Dr. Donyaprueth Krairit, Interim Dean SOM; Dr. Mokbul
Morshed Ahmad, Acting Dean SERD; Dr. Naveed Anwar, Executive Director, AIT Consulting; Dr.
Gabrielle Groves, Head-ERCO; Ms. Sumana Shrestha, Program Officer,
ERCO; and Mr. Shawn Kelly, Head, MCU.
Pakistan Ambassador and delegates from
Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) with students from
Pakistan.