Asian Institute of Technology
Encyclopedia
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
in engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, advanced technologies
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, and management and planning
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
. It "promotes technological change and sustainable development" in the Asia-Pacific region, through higher education, research and outreach.
History and mission
Founded in 1959 as SEATOSoutheast Asia Treaty Organization
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, Philippines. The formal institution of SEATO was established on 19 February...
Graduate School of Engineering with a mission to develop highly qualified and committed professionals who will play a leading role in the sustainable development of the region and its integration into the global economy
Economic globalization
Economic globalization refers to increasing economic interdependence of national economies across the world through a rapid increase in cross-border movement of goods, service, technology and capital...
, it receives funding from organizations and governments around the world (initially from SEATO members).
It is quoted as "an excellent example of not only the initiative and organization of a technical university, but also of the success of a foreign aid program". In 2006, AIT claimed that it "has become a leading regional post-graduate institute and is actively working with public and private sector partners throughout the region and with some of the top universities in the world". (See note presented at the Asia Commons
Asia Commons
The Asia Commons is an attempt to see how ideas of the Commons are specifically applicable to Asian conditions, and may be distinctive from other forms.It is also the name of a conference, held in early June 2006 in Bangkok, the capital in Thailand...
conference, Bangkok, June 2006.) It also sees itself as being "recognized for its multinational, multi-cultural ethos." AIT celebrated its golden jubilee in 2009.
On October 22, 2011, AIT's campus was inundated by 2-meter-high floodwaters.
Ramon Magsaysay Award
In 1989, AIT received a Ramon Magsaysay AwardRamon Magsaysay Award
The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often considered Asia's Nobel...
for Peace and International Understanding "... for shaping a new generation of engineers and managers committed to Asia, in an atmosphere of academic excellence and regional camaraderie."
In 2009, an alumnus of AIT, Yu Xiaogang
Yu Xiaogang
Yu Xiaogang is a Chinese environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2006 for his efforts in "creating groundbreaking watershed management programs while researching and documenting the socioeconomic impact dams had on local Chinese communities"...
was also awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award
Ramon Magsaysay Award
The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often considered Asia's Nobel...
. The citation credited AIT and it said
"Yu fell in love with nature early on, having been raised in Yunnan, a province of amazing beauty and home to three of the largest rivers in the world: Nu, Yangtze, and Mekong. His interest in the environment was cultivated during a stint in the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, and was further deepened when he attended the Asian Institute of Technology, where he earned a master's degree in watershed management."
International organization
AIT has been granted the status of an International Intergovernmental organization by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Government of Thailand. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Kasit Piromya presided over the signing and adoption ceremony of the New AIT Charter on August 25, 2010. Besides Thailand, among those who signed the Charter include Seychelles, Cambodia, Japan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Sweden, Timor-Leste, Bangladesh, Philippines India and the United Nations Development Fund for Women, East and Southeast Asia (UNIFEM). On January 20, 2011, the Republic of Indonesia became the 14th signatory of the new AIT Charter.Six of these countries, Sweden, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal have ratified the new AIT Charter. According to the Charter, AIT would be regarded as an Intergovernmental Organization within six months of the fifth country ratifying the Charter.
Location
AIT operates as a self-contained international community at its campus in Pathumthani province, some 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) north of BangkokBangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. Besides laboratories and academic buildings, the main campus includes housing, sports, and medical facilities, a conference center, and a library with over 230,000 volumes and 830 print and online periodicals.
AIT was hosted by the Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University is the oldest university in Thailand and is the country's highest ranked university. It now has nineteen faculties and institutes. Regarded as the best and most selective university in Thailand, it consistently attracts top students from around the country...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, before it moved to its present campus in November 1973.
AIT has a remote campus in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
called AIT Center in Vietnam. Asian Institute of Technology in Vietnam (AITCV) was established in 1993 under the MoA between The Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training and the AIT. At that time AITCV was the first international institution in Vietnam and the first center of AIT out of its headquarters in Thailand. Two other centers have been authorized to be setup in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Structure
AIT consists of three schools: AIT Extension, AIT centre in Vietnam and AIT centre in Indonesia.The three schools are:
- School of Engineering and Technology (SET)
- School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD)
- School of Management (SOM)
It has a consulting wing called AIT Consulting.
Yunus Center at AIT
AIT has tied up with Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to create a Yunus Center at AIT with an objective "to contribute to poverty alleviation by enabling rural people to handle and be in control of improving their own livelihoods". The center was launched on September 8, 2009. The center intends to follow the objective of poverty reduction and sustainability with an initial focus on agriculture and food security issues, encompassing a variety of disciplines and facilitating interdisciplinary work. According to the MOU, the center will provide an independent and open platform for addressing issues in poverty alleviation in a way that has a direct impact on poor people’s lives. "It will act as an incubator for new social business plans that challenge conventional academic wisdom; it will facilitate generation of community-based knowledge; and it will promote opportunities for both women and men."Host to international organizations
The campus of Asian Institute of Technology is host to international organizations. They include the Asia-Pacific headquarters of Télécoms Sans FrontièresTélécoms sans frontières
Télécoms Sans Frontières or TSF is a humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization specialised in emergency telecommunications.The emergency telecommunication means provided benefit to the victims of natural disasters and of conflicts, and to the other humanitarian aid organisations.-About TSF:-...
http://www.tsfi.org/, UNEP Environment Assessment for Regional Resource Center in Asia and the Pacific (UNEP RRC.AP)http://www.rrcap.unep.org/, and the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES)http://www.rimes.int/.
It hosts the global secretariat of the International Partnership for Expanding Waste Management Services of Local Authorities (IPLA), while the regional secretariat is hosted by UN HABITAT. Four UN agencies, three international donors and five national governments are part of IPLA.
Academic programs
Asian Institute of Technology offers Master's and Doctoral degrees and from diploma and certificate courses. It has recently started offering Bachelor's degrees in Engineering. AIT is involved in the Erasmus MundusErasmus Mundus
The European Union's Erasmus Mundus programme aims to enhance quality in higher educationthrough scholarships and academic co-operation between Europe and the rest of the world.Erasmus Mundus comprises three Actions:-Erasmus Mundus Joint Programmes:...
academic cooperation programme offered by the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
as a partner of EMMAsia.
School of Engineering and Technology (SET)
The School of Engineering and Technology offers Masters degrees [MEng, MSc], professional Master degree programs, Doctoral degrees [DEng, DTechSc, PhD], and Certificates of Advanced Studies in the following areas:Civil & Infrastructure Engineering Group
- Construction, Engineering and Infrastructure Management (CEIM)
- Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (GTE)
- Structural Engineering (STE)
- Transportation Engineering (TRE)
- Water Engineering and Management (WEM)
Industrial Systems Engineering Group
- Mechatronics (MEC)
- Microelectronics (MIC)
- Nanotechnology
- Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME)
Information and Communications Group
- Computer Science (CS)
- Information Management (IM)
- Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (RS-GIS)
- Telecommunications (TC)
Interdisciplinary Programs
- Information and Communications Technologies (ICT)
- Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management (DPMM)
- Geosystem Exploration and Petroleum Geoengineering (GEPG)
- Offshore Technology and Management (OTM)
School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD)
The School of Environment, Resources, and Development offers Masters degrees [MEng, MSc], professional Master degree programs, Doctoral degrees [DEng, DTechSc, PhD], Certificate of Advanced Studies in the following areas:- Agricultural Systems and Engineering
- Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management
- Energy
- Environmental and Engineering Management
- Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology
- Gender and DevelopmentGender and DevelopmentThe Gender and Development approach is a way of determining how best to structure development projects and programs based on analysis of gender relationships...
Studies - Natural Resources Management
- Pulp and Paper Technology
- Regional and Rural Development Planning
- Urban Environment Planning
Interdisciplinary Programs
- Agribusiness Management
- Cleaner Production
- Integrated Tropical Coastal Zone Management
- Wetland and Aquatic Resources Management
School of Management (SOM)
The School of Management offers the following programs:- MBA program
- EMBA Bangkok program
- EMBA-HRM program
- International EMBA Vietnam program (offered at Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Vung Tau)
- Doctoral (PhD and DBA) programs
- Professional Masters in Banking and Finance
Demographic and project facts and figures
- 2300+ students from 47+ countries/territories
- 17000+ alumni from 80 countries/territories
- 26000+ short-term trainees from 70+ countries/territories
- 130 world-class faculty from 20+ countries
- 468 research and support staff from about 30 countries
- About 450 sponsored research projects
- 33 board of trustee members from 19 countries
Athletics
AIT prides itself in the athletic diversity offered within the campus. Sports such as badminton, takraw, table tennis, tennis, basketball, cricket, volleyball, swimming, slow bicycle, and running enable students the chance to exercise and share valuable experiences with such a diverse student body.Memberships
The institute is a member of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Academic and Research NetworkGreater Mekong Sub-region Academic and Research Network
The Greater Mekong Sub-region Academic and Research Network is a network of academic and research institutions in a Greater Mekong sub-region....
(GMSARN) and LAOTSE — an international network of leading universities in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
Notable alumni
| Name | Degree | Degree Year | Notability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn | > | ||
| Boonsrang Niumpradit | D. Eng. | 1978 | > |
| Mao Chi-kuo Mao Chi-kuo Mao Chi-kuo serves as the Minister of Transportation and Communications in the Republic of China under the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou, since May, 2008.... |
M. Eng. (Community & Regional Development) | 1975 | Minister of Transportation and Communications Ministry of Transportation and Communications (Republic of China) The Ministry of Transportation and Communications of the Republic of China is a cabinet-level governmental body of the Executive Yuan. It is in charge of all policy and regulation of transportation and communications networks and administration of all transportation and communications operations... in the Republic of China Republic of China The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor... since 2008 > |
| Yu Xiaogang Yu Xiaogang Yu Xiaogang is a Chinese environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2006 for his efforts in "creating groundbreaking watershed management programs while researching and documenting the socioeconomic impact dams had on local Chinese communities"... |
M. Sc. (Interdisciplinary Natural Resource Development and Management) | 1993 | > |
| Mohammad Kaykobad Mohammad Kaykobad Mohammad Kaykobad is a computer scientist, educator, author and columnist from Bangladesh. He is one of leading specialists in Information Technology who along with Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, started the national mathematics olympiad... |
M. Eng. (Computer Science & Information Management ) | 1982 | Bangladesh Bangladesh Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south... > |
| Imtiaz Gilani Imtiaz Gilani Imtiaz Gilani is a Pakistani civil engineer and a former vice chancellor of the University of Engineering and Technology , Pakistan from 2004 till 2008... |
M. Eng. (Structural Engineering and Construction) | 1971 | > |