Dr.  Amoussou-Guenou, lecturer at AIT and Project
Manager of the AIT Asia Africa Initiative, has been invited by the
Bangkok Post, to write a regular "Asia- Africa Business"
column.

To read his latest article on the topic “Business in Africa:
Universities could make the difference”  visit  
http://www.

To complete the line up of the four recently established
Director positions under the Office of the Vice President for Academic
Affairs to oversee new highly promising initiatives, AIT President Said
Irandoust, ormalized the appointment of  Dr. Mark
Neal, Associate Professor in the School of
Management (SOM), as Co-Director for Professional Programs at AIT,
along with Mr. Nicholas Innes-Taylor who oversees the Wetlands
Alliance Program in the northeast of Thailand and Laos.

Professor Vilas M. Salokhe, Director of Unified Programs at
AIT, recently visited  the Allahabad Agricultural Institute Deemed
University and the Shivaji University, Kolhapur in
India.  

During his visit to the Allahabad Agricultural
Institute Deemed University, Professor Salokhe conducted a series
of six seminars to explain the concept of the unified program to the
first and third semester students.

On 1 October 2008, the inaugural meeting of the AIT-Nepal Task Force
took place, which also coincided with the visit of Mr. Ramesh
Bista, President of the AIT Alumni Association (AITAA) Nepal
Chapter (Deputy Director General, Department of Roads, Foreign
Cooperation Branch, Ministry of Physical Planning and Works), and
Mr. Amod Adhikari, Member, AITAA Nepal Chapter (Vice Chairman of
the Nepal Engineering Council). From AIT, Nepalese faculty and staff
members, along with the President of the AIT Nepalese Society
attended.

Professor Vilas Wuwongse, AIT Vice President for
External Relations, accepted the invitation by the Commission on Higher
Education, Thai Ministry of Education, to join the delegation for the
E-Learning Expo Korea 2008 which transpired in Seoul early September.

On 26 September 2008, Dr. Monthip Sriratana Tabucanon,
Director-General of the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion,
who is also a distinguished AIT alumnus, led a senior delegation from
the Environment Research and Training Center (ERTC), Department of
Environmental Quality Promotion, Ministry of  Natural Resources
and Environment, Thailand, for an MoU signing between  AIT and the
ERTC. 

The objectives of the MOU includes cooperation between AIT and ERTC
for promoting mutually beneficial researches, seminars, trainings and
academic collaborations, particularly in the fields of environmental
engineering and management.

On 24 September 2008, AIT President Said Irandoust led
an AIT delegation comprised of officials  from the institute’s
central administration, schools and AIT Extension to the Amata Nakorn
Industrial Estate in Chonburi, which is located about 50 kms from
Bangkok.

A review on the status of the Wetlands Alliance Program (WAP) was
performed from 15-24 September 2008, before the formal evaluation of
the program that has been tentatively planned to be held in early 2009.
Mr. Borje Wallberg and Dr.
Jean-Lacoursiere conducted the review focusing n being able to
provide feedback to the Alliance partners on Sida’s concerns.

Dr. Tej Bunnag (fourth from left) is
recognized as 
"Person of the Year" during Thailand Tatler's anniversary.
(Photo
courtesy of Thailand Tatler)

Dr. Tej Bunnag, who was recently reinstated back as the
Chairman of the AIT Board of Trustees, was recognized as Thailand
Tatler magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2008.

At the presentation ceremony for the award at the magazine’s 17th
Anniversary Celebration held in Bangkok, Dr. Tej made a reference in
his speech to his brief but significant tenure as foreign minister of
Thailand.

According to Dr. Joydeep Dutta, Director of
the Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology, and Associate Dean School
of Engineering and Technology, the new master’s program in
nanotechnology is planned for launch from the January 2009 intake. This
is stated to be a very unique and interesting, application-oriented
multidisciplinary program that integrates physics / engineering
physics, chemistry / chemical engineering, material science / material
engineering.