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Dr. Eden Y Woon joined AIT as President on September 1, 2018. It has been slightly over one year since he took over the reins. AIT’s Office of Public Affairs is pleased to share a Question and Answer session with President Woon.

1.  What did you want to accomplish when you came to AIT a year ago?

I consider the start of my tenure at AIT last September to be the beginning of AIT 3.0 – with AIT 1.0 being the first few decades after our founding in 1959, when we had more widespread support and engagement, and AIT 2.0 being the past two decades or so when resources became more constrained and various issues limited the growth of the institute.

Prominent alumnus and a major donor to AIT, Dr. Yanyong Phataralaoha (IE&M ’86), Managing Director, Thai Pipe Industry Company Limited presented the donation cheque to AIT President, Dr. Eden Y. Woon as a continuation of his support to the 60th Anniversary Fundraising Campaign towards Student Exchange Scholarship Program and Updating of Student Village 1—where his future wife lived while studying at AIT. He was accompanied by his wife, Mrs.

This year is the 60th Anniversary of AIT.  We are celebrating all year with a number of events sprinkled throughout.  The highlight of the celebrations will be during October 23-25.

The three days start off on October 23 with the AITAA’s 48th Governing Board Meeting hosted by the Thai chapter.

Ms. Babita Sharma, Masters student from Nepal in the School of Management, is the first winner of the Lawsgroup Charity Student Exchange Scholarship. She (see photo) is granted half of her expenses during her exchange program to Tsinghua University, China from September 2019 to January 2020.

The Lawsgroup Charity of Hong Kong is the third donor to support AITs Exchange Scholarship Program.

Mr. Russell Bruce Rein joined AIT as Vice President for Administration (VPA) on May 1, 2019. He has served as Head of Business Services and Director of Operations with the International Schools Group, Jubail, Saudi Arabia and formerly performed the same role at the United Arab Emirates University and the American University of Phnom Penh.

Open innovation is more effective in emerging markets compared to developed markets. This is particularly true in firms and organizations that lack sufficient technical knowledge. However, employees in firms in emerging markets appear to search broadly but not deeply across external knowledge sources, which risks reducing their innovative output.

For the 400-plus students hailing from 32 countries who are making the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) their new home, Institute President Dr. Eden Y. Woon had a fresh and welcoming message: “Take Advantage of New Opportunities at AIT.”

As the Institute celebrates 60 years of existence, it is transforming itself, and this transformation is bringing new opportunities for AIT students, with the Edmond Yue Exchange Scholarship Program being one such initiative.

The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Thailand’s National Food Institute (NFI) to conduct joint research and development and create a network of food researchers.

The MoU was signed by Mr. Yongvut Saovapruk, President, NFI, and Dr. Eden Y. Woon, President, AIT on 1 August 2019.

NFI will also offer internship opportunities to AIT students and participate in the soon-to-be established AIT Entrepreneurship Center.

On 26 July 2019, Dr. Subin Pinkayan, Chairman, AIT Board of Trustees, handed over a cheque of Thai Baht 1 million to AIT President, Dr. Eden Y. Woon for the AIT Exchange Scholarship program.

Dr. Subin Pinkayan is the second donor to support the AIT Student Exchange Scholarship Program.

Dr. Naveed Anwar assumed the post as the new AIT Vice President for Knolwedge Transfer on April 1, 2019. Prior to assuming this position, Dr. Naveed was serving as Executive Director of AIT Solutions. An alumnus of AIT (Master's in 1988 and Ph.D. in 2004, both in Structural Engineering), Dr. Naveed has had a long association with AIT. AIT’s Office of Public Affairs joined him in his office and had a long and engaging discussion.