A record-breaking 38 companies participated at the AIT Career Fair on 7 November 2012. With 16 companies joining the event for the first time, the turnout was the largest ever for the one-day jobs event held each November.

School of Environment, Resources and Development Dean (SERD) Dr. Weerakorn Ongsakul was made acting Vice President for Resource Development (VPRD) by AIT President Said Irandoust on 1 November 2012. Dr. Weerakorn’s appointment as acting VPRD was effective immediately, the AIT president said in an email to the AIT Community.

Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) is the key to African food security, human nutrition and health. It acts as a unifying system contributing to soil nitrogen economy, aids soil fertility, helps stimulate plant and animal protein production, and increases the legume and cereal crop yield. This was stated by Prof. Felix Dapare Dakora of Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa while delivering a lecture on “Challenges on food security in poverty alleviation” on 2 November 2012 at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).

Vice Chancellor of Siksha O Anusandhan University, Odisha, India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Mohanty visited the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and sought academic and research collaboration with the Institute. Dr. Mohanty, who was a visiting faculty at AIT in 1985, met with senior AIT officials on 1 November 2012, and expressed his admiration for the Institute.

For faculty, staff and students increasingly concerned about some external reports of the Institute’s finances, AIT’s Head of Finance had some reassuring words at the Institute Forum on 30 October 2012.

AIT President Prof. Said Irandoust was interviewed live on the evening of October 31, 2012 on the Thai television channel Krungthep Turakij, Nation Group.

Facing questions from journalists Mr. Thanong Khanthong, ASEAN TV Editor, and Nophakhun Limsamarnphun, News Editor on the “Trong Praden” program, the president addressed a number of issues facing AIT.

An article following that interview appeared in The Nation, on 2 November 2012:

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has expressed its desire to be part of the AIT Council. Further, it wishes to send one hundred students to pursue undergraduate programs at AIT. This sentiment was expressed by H.E. Prof. Obaiddullah Obaid, Minister of Higher Education (MoHE), Afghanistan, during a visit to the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) on 31 October 2012.

Stating that both the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) put together have over a hundred years of work in the region, MRC Chief Executive Officer Mr. Hans Guttman remarked that AIT is a regional resource which MRC should draw upon to benefit from its geographical proximity.

Nine scholarships will be provided to students from Bhutan for undergraduate studies at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). This follows a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed by Mr. Tshewang Tandin, Director General, Department of Adult and Higher Education (DAHE), Ministry of Education (MoE), Bhutan, and Prof. Said Irandoust, President, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) on 29 October 2012.

AIT scientists last week unveiled to the media some findings from a series of tests conducted at the campus Hydraulic Scale Model Study of the Xayaburi Hydroelectric Project, which is a facility planned for construction in Lao PDR.