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Asia & Oceania Thailand’s AIT to be Asian hub for global sustainability research Japan. Notable members include The University of Tokyo, Hokkaido University, Tohoku University, Kyoto University, University of Yamanashi, Keio University, IGES, United Nations University, NIES, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). In Thailand, Chulalongkorn University, Thammasat University and Kasetsart University have also formed a cluster of like-minded higher education institutions. Other countries are expected to join the movement by setting up national-level networks.
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand is set to become the Asian hub for the Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS), a leading consortium of some of the world’s top research universities dedicated to achieving sustainability for the planet. The international partnership was started by four of the world’s leading science and technology universities— ETH Zurich & EPFL, MIT, The University of Tokyo, and Chalmers University of Technology. Launched in 1996, AGS draws on members’ world-class strengths in academics, integrated research and outreach activities. Today, it connects many more top-flight universities in Europe, Asia and North America. By collaborating closely with industry, it seeks to advance a new paradigm for global sustainability. Spearheading the initiative, Japanese Professor Kazuo Yamamoto, who deftly combines a faculty position at The University of Tokyo with his duties as vice president for resource development at AIT, said the new AGSAsia Secretariat bodes well for Thailand and the ASEAN region. “It is time to expand the activities of AGS into the rest of Asia, and in particular, Southeast Asia,” said Professor Yamamoto. “Asia is where emerging economies are driving global economic growth. But it is also where modern development is placing pressure on the natural environment’s ability to cope.” Currently, the consortium utilizes the extensive global network of AIT to connect with twenty-seven universities, institutes, and industry partners in
Once operational in late 2014, the AGS-Asia Secretariat at AIT, just north of Bangkok, will be the nexus for the coordination of all nationallyfocused arrangements aligned at a pan-Asian level, connecting Japanese colleagues with Thai partners and other universities and partners around the world. The hub will tap the region’s academic and research institutions, governments and industry committed to supporting sustainability, according to Professor Yamamoto. A noted environmental engineer who formerly worked as an AGS secretary in Tokyo when it was first established, Professor Yamamoto explained that the alliance studies and applies multiand interdisciplinary approaches to living and learning in fields such as the natural sciences and technology, agriculture, and medical sciences. AGS-Asia will have a soft structure, he said, which will make it attractive for disparate faculty, researchers and professionals to participate. It also aims to create an inviting environment where junior and senior academicians will willingly collaborate. Convinced that AIT is the natural home for the growing alliance, Professor Yamamoto said it would leverage the institute’s considerable international reach and burnish its strengths in academics and applied research focused on sustainable development outcomes. AGS-Asia also dovetails with AIT’s flagship effort to transform its verdant campus into a bona fide “living sustainability laboratory”, where concepts learned in the classroom and analyzed in laboratories are practiced everyday by more than 2,500
postgraduate students, faculty and staff. By complimenting AIT’s existing Center of Sustainable Development in the Context of Climate Change (SDCC), and the institute’s myriad of programs, fields of study and centers of excellence, officials expect AGSAsia to fuel a regional critical mass of sustainability thinkers and practitioners searching for solutions to one of the greatest challenges facing humanity.
Hindustan University reaps awards Hindustan University has had a glorious 2014 with plenty of awards in various fields. The university won the Volkswagen Award 2014 presented by the Volkswagen Group for outstanding performance of the training facility; National Education Excellence Award 2014 presented by Associated Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ASSOCHAM) India for the best B-School in South India; Worldwide Achievers Award 2014 for outstanding service and contribution to the education sector; and Excellence Award 2014 for the best university for offering US$500,000 in scholarships. Hindustan College of Engineering started in 1985 as one of the first higher education institutions offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses in engineering and technology in the private sector of Tamil Nadu State, India. The Institution was conferred university status in the year 2008 by the Ministry of Human Resources Department. The university is well acclaimed for imparting holistic education and is renowned for its state-of-the-art infrastructure. Hindustan University offers innovative courses such as Robotics and Automation course in partnership with YASKAWA, Japan, a leading manufacturer of industrial robotics and factory automation systems; MBA Defence Technology programming partnership with Cranfield University, UK; and SWEBOK (Software Engineering Body of Knowledge) partnership with IEEE Computer Society, the world’s leading computing membership organization.