Following its submission of Expression of Interest (EOI) to partner the Afghanistan Government for capacity building of the Faculty of Engineering, Balkh University, AIT has been short-listed for the proposed partnership.

AIT has been informed by the Strengthening Higher Education Program (SHEP), Ministry of Higher Education, Afghanistan, that funding for the project will be provided by the World Bank, and AIT and the Ministry are now working on the more detailed proposal submission.

On 17 September, AIT alumnus Mr. Janaka Dharmabandu (GTE, 1989), who is the President of the AIT Alumni Association (AITAA)-Central Asia Chapter, and working in Kazakhtsan, visited the Institute and discussed ways in which the AITAA Central Asia Chapter could assist AIT in recruiting more students from central Asian countries.

Professor Vilas Wuwongse, Vice President for External Relations and Dr. Weerakorn Ongsakul, in his capacity as Greater Mekong Subregion Academic and Research Network (GMSARN) Secretary General, visited Kunming University of Science and Technology (KUST) and Yunnan University (YU) on 19 and 20 September 2007, to strengthen AIT's GMSARN collaboration with the two universities.

At the invitation of Dr. Anders Granlund, Counsellor (Director of Swedish Environmental Secretariat for Asia), AIT President Said Irandoust attended a meeting on 19 September 2007 at the Swedish Embassy, where he met with Mrs. Gunilla Eitrem, Senior Program Officer of the Environment Policy Unit of the Department of Natural Resource and Environment, Sida, who was visiting Thailand on a field trip.

Dr. Siriwan Suebnukarn to compete at the World Cup of Computer Implemented Inventions Finals in 2008

An alumna of AIT's Computer Science and Information Management Program, School of Engineering and Technology, Dr. Siriwan Suebnukarn, recently won the prestigious International Federation of Inventor Association’s (IFIA) Lady Prize for the Best Women Invention, at the 2007 International Invention Show and Technomart, Taiwan, on 27-30 September 2007.

The award was for her work on COMET: an intelligent tutoring system for medical problem-based learning.

On 19 September 2007, AIT President Said Irandoust met with Dr. Tej Bunnag, Chairman of the Board. The President briefed the Chairman on the feedback received from trustees on the latest version of AIT Charter, which was endorsed by the Board at its special meeting on 6 September.

AIT President Said Irandoust recently travelled to Nepal during 15-18 September 2007 to promote the Institute and solidify numerous relationships and partnerships. The president was accompanied by Mrs.

Congratulations to Professor Chongrak Polprasert of the School of Environment, Resources and Development on being elected as one of the 21 Fellows of the School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo. Professor Y. Matsumoto, Dean of the School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, noted in the official communication to Professor Chongrak that the conferment of the Fellowship, which will take place on 10 November 2007, is in recognition of his distinguished service and achievement in research and education in the field of engineering and contribution to the School.

To strengthen the collaboration of GMSARN with two universities in China, Professor Vilas Wuwongse, AIT Vice President for External Relations, and Dr. Weerakorn Ongsakul, in his capacity as Greater Mekong Subregion Academic and Research Network (GMSARN) Secretary General, visited Kunming University of Science and Technology (KUST) and Yunnan University (YU) on 19 and 20 September 2007.

At KUST, the AIT representatives met with Prof.

On the 20 September 2007, Dr. Sven Gunnar Edlund, Director and Head of Innovation Actors Division, VINNOVA (Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems) and his colleagues, Mrs. Marit Werner, Project Manager, Innovation Actors Division, and Ms. Asa Minoz, were welcomed to AIT to make a presentation titled "The Swedish Innovation System and VINNOVA".

The presentation highlighted the Swedish National Innovation System Characteristics, such as VINNOVA's mission to promote sustainable growth by funding strategic research.