Following the meeting of AIT President Said Irandoust with Dr. Ir. Gatot Hari Priowirjanto,
Head, Bureau of Planning and International Cooperation, Ministry of National Education, Indonesia, AIT was informed through the AIT Center in Indonesia (AITCI) that the Ministry will be providing ten new scholarships for the AIT-AITCI-Universitas Gadja Mada (UGM), dual degree program in Transportation Engineering.

AIT President Said Irandoust, together with Professor Vilas Wuwongse, Vice President, External Relations; Professor C. Visvanathan; Dr. Nitin Afzulpurkar; and Dr. Do Ba Khang, took part in the recent AIT Center Vietnam (AITCV) Council of Advisors Meeting, which was chaired by H.E. Professor Tran Van Nhung, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), on 21 September 2007.

High on the agenda of the meeting was a review of the AITCV Strategic Plan for 2006-2010, which was described as a very progressive and forward-looking plan prepared by Dr. Fredric W. Sweirczek, AITCV Director, and other officials at AITCV. The financial forecast of AITCV for 2007 is very promising, officials said, and the Center is expected to end the year in a surplus situation.

During a recent visit to Vietnam on 21 September 2007, President Irandoust signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) between AIT and PetroVietnam. Under the partnership, AIT and PetroVietnam will be launching a Professional Master’s of Engineering in Project Management in Construction (MPM), initiated by Dr. BHW Hadikusumo and faculty members of the School of Engineering and Technology (SET). 
 
For more information about PetroVietnam visit: http://www.

AIT’s considerable expertise in e-learning and distance education has attracted the interest Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Urban Development and Sacred Area Development, who are now engaged in initial-stage discussions for a capacity building tie-up with AIT’s Internet Education and Research Laboratory (IntERLab). http://www.

The Energy Field of Study at SERD recently purchased an Interactive Electronic Whiteboard (Panasonic's Interactive Panaboard UB-8325). The Interactive Whiteboard functions as an interactive board, an electronic whiteboard, a projector screen and an electronic print board.

Please be informed that the library working hours for the mid-semester examination period from 28 September to 11 October are as follows.

8.00 am - 01.00 am.
Monday – Saturday

9.00 am - 01.00 am
Sunday

Another enriching international welcome show took place on Saturday, 22 September 2007 at the AIT Conference Center. A packed auditorium witnessed a variety of performances from fourteen different countries on the theme: 'Friendship: Closer and Longer'. A combination of competing and non-competing shows, consisting of the 'Mr. and Ms. Fashion Show,' singing, dancing and skit presentations, wowed the audience from 5:00 pm until early in the morning of the following day.

An AIT alumnus, Mr. Sood Dhirendra (SOM '92), Managing Director, Lenze Srirama Associates, introduced and accompanied Dr. Ir. Meike C. te Giffel, Business Development Manager for Asia Pacific, NIZO Food Research (www.nizo.com), to AIT officials to explore areas in which there could be partnerships.

On 19 September, a Decision Meeting was held to consider the outsourcing of the AIT cafeteria operations to Sodexho (www.sodexho.com), which is a global organization specializing in integrated facilities management. Following a lengthy discussion on the various pros and cons, the decision was made to proceed with the outsourcing of the cafeteria.

The workshop on "Good Governance in Universities in the 21st Century", conducted at AIT from 22 May to 1 June, was recently featured in the June 2007 issue (on page 7) of Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan's News and Views Magazine, a monthly publication, provided by the Embassy of Pakistan.