12 INTERVIEW
From Thai-German Technical School to KMUTNB: Perspectives on the cooperation with the German industrial sector Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Suchart Siengchin, President of King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok UPDATE interviewed Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Suchart Siengchin, President of King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB) on the cooperation in vocational education and training between Thailand’s education sector and Germany’s industrial sector. Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Suchart had been studying at five universities in several states of Germany, starting from his basic education to PhD level. He is the first Thai person who completed a habilitation in Mechanical Engineering and received a title Privatdozent (associate professor) from Chemnitz University, Germany. Recently, he received the national outstanding researcher award in material engineering by conducting research and development studies in composite materials with a focus in eco-friendly materials or the alternative materials for industrial application. Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Suchart is culturally-bounded and has discovered various aspects in education, culture, and identity of the Germans through his living in Germany for more than 17 years. This experience influences his style of learning and working management. He, in turn, brought it to administrate the KMUTNB, which was also developed from Thai-German Technical School under the cooperation between Thai government and German government in 1959, providing education in the form of a German system that focuses on practice and real-life experience. From the Thai-German Technical School in the past to the university education at present, could you please tell us about the background of KMUTNB, also on the strength and identity of KMUTNB? It started in 1959 when people were familiar with the name “Thai-German Technical School”, which founded under the cooperation between the Thai government and the German government. It had German style of teaching because the founders were Prof. Dr. Boonyasak Jaijongkit and Dipl. Ing Karl Stützle, the German principal. Both of them attempted to produce technician students with practical knowledge who could respond to the industrial sector. After 1959, the Thai-German Technical School had continued to grow and became a college, then an institute, and today, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, which has been consecutively developed. Starting from our personnel, technician instructors are trained by German experts in the practical field from either German professional
UPDATE 2/2022
