Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) welcomed the latest batch of undergraduate students at the Orientation Day function organized at the AIT Conference Center. Students from Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam formed the cohort in the 2011 batch of undergraduate students They were joined by 49 other students from Sri Lanka, who have already completed two years of undergraduate study in their home country.

Former faculty member of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Prof. Stephen O. Ogunlana, has proposed a partnership between the Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, and AIT. He proposed collaborative research work, joint doctoral programs and student exchange, besides joint teaching of courses, during a visit to AIT on 26 August 2011.

A faculty member of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Prof. Ganesh P. Shivakoti, has co-authored a book with Nobel laureate Ms. Elinor Ostrom, winner of the 2009 Nobel prize in Economics. The book, titled “Improving Irrigation in Asia,” which has just been released, is based on a two-decade long study on innovative interventions for sustained performance of irrigation systems.

Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), India have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their partnership in the fields of student exchange, joint teaching activities and industry training.

AIT alumnus Dr. Nimal Rajapakse (M.Eng.’81) and (Ph.D. ’83), who is now Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences at Canada’s Simon Fraser University (SFU), has expressed interest in a possible academic tie-up with his alma mater in some specific fields of study.

The Asian Institute of Technology has partnered with the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) of Thailand in launching a Professional Master’s Degree Program in Water Technology and Management (PM-WTM).

Public sector reform depends on good governance, political will, community participation, and above all human resource development. This was the view of experts from Thailand, who deliberated on factors critical to public sector reform at a symposium organized for civil servants from Bangladesh, at Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) on 17 August 2011.

Sri Lankan Airlines wants to forge a partnership with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) offering special packages to AIT, apart from entering into a co-branding exercise. Mr. Sahruka Wickrama Adittiya, Manager Thailand and Mekong Region, Sri Lankan Airlines, remarked that they could also partner in offering training programs, and furthering the cause of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning, Sri Lanka, H.E. Mr. Gitanjana Gunawardena, visited the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) on 16 August 2011, and assured the Institute of continuous support from the Government of Sri Lanka. The Minister stated that the Government is keen that AIT should establish a campus in Sri Lanka under the AIT brand name.

A delegation of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relation (ICRIER) visited the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) on 11 August 2011, and sought AIT’s opinion on helping India and Thailand connect each other in a more productive manner.