By Shawn Kelly
It’s a typical academic lecture for Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, one of the world’s most sought after climate change scientists. Speaking in New Delhi, the dapper chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), joint winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, eases into his presentation.
AIT President Said Irandoust participated in the opening ceremony of the AIT-TU-NSTDA Sports Day event held on 26 October 2007, at the Gymnasium 7 of Thammasat University, which was attended by the officers, faculty and staff from the three neighboring institutions.
On 24 October 2007, one of AIT most respected faculty members from the Urban Environmental and Management Program, School of Environment Resources and Development, Professor A.T.M. Nurul Amin (above), delivered a Professorial Lecture on "Legacies in Planning Education: Economic Aspects of Informal Sector and Urban Environmental Management". It was attended by members of the AIT community as well as by AIT former faculty colleagues, Professor Amin's friends and former students, as well as representatives from some of AIT's partner institutions.
On 24 October 2007, AIT President Said Irandoust together with Professor Vilas Wuwongse, Vice President for External Relations met with Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN Secretary General Designate. The meeting provided us with an opportunity to formally convey on behalf of AIT, our congratulations to Dr. Surin on his appointment as the next ASEAN Secretary General, which will take effect from January 2008, and to update him on some of the Institute's recent activities.
AIT is proposing the concept of establishing a joint center involving areas such as Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems, and Information and Communications Technology in honour of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. The proposed Center would combine efforts and strengths of other centers and organizations involved in these fields in Thailand and overseas, and other relevant national and international agencies.
Congratulations to Professor Shrestha, Professor S. Kumar and Dr. Shobhakar Dhakal (AIT alumnus and Executive Director of Global Carbon Project) whose side event on "Carbon Management in Cities: Gaps in Policy Discussions and Scientific Understanding" has been accepted at the forthcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)'s COP 13 meeting, which will take place in Bali, Indonesia during 3-14 December 2007. This will provide an excellent opportunity for AIT to make it more visible and highlight the climate change research being conducted by the Institute, alongside other side events proposed by reputed organizations and institutions such as the World Bank, ADB, and Harvard University.
Congratulations to Professor Ram M. Shrestha who was recently appointed to a four-year term as a member of the Editorial Board of ASCE Journal of Energy Engineering. The journal is one of the major scientific publications of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in the field of energy.
On 25 October 2007, AIT President Said Irandoust met with AIT alumnus Mr. Herbert Vongpusanachai (SOM 1991), Managing Director, Indochina Region for DHL, who was accompanied by Mr. Panu Satienpoch, DHL National Human Resources Manager. They discussed various ways in which AIT and DHL could partner each other such as through training activities for DHL staff; co-branding through annual DHL scholarships providing educational opportunities for students in the region; opening up structures for internship; theses work based on DHL identified research topics or problem areas; and utilizing DHL expertise as guest lecturers or resource persons.
On 25 October 2007, AIT President Said Irandoust together with Professor Peter Haddawy, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Professor Nazrul Islam, and Dr. Jonathan Shaw, Director AIT Extension met with Mr. Ajai Randhawa, who is associated with the Mountbatten Internship Programme: http://www.
On 18 October 2007, AIT President Said Irandoust, along with Professor Kazi Ahmed, met with Dr. Masayuki Fujise, Director of the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology (NiCT) Asia Research Center. NiCT has been a strong supporter of AIT partnering us in various R&D collaborative programs since 1998. NiCT celebrated their 5th anniversary in Thailand and also signed a MoA with the Ministry of Science and Technology on 25 October 2007, in Bangkok.