June 18, 2008
by Pramod M. Jain (President IITAAT)

A panel discussion consisting of 4 IIT AAT members as panellist was held on 1st April 2007 on the topic “Promoting cooperation in technical education between Thailand and India”. H. E. Miss Latha Reddy was the Guest of Honor and our guest speakers were Prof. Numyoot, and Prof. Dr. Chira.

Our Indian Ambassador to Thailand, H. E. Miss Latha Reddy has played key role since beginning in promoting technical cooperation between India and Thailand. She in fact took the initiative to form a steering committee consisting of 7 IIT AAT members and co-chaired by H. E. Miss Latha Reddy herself and Prof. Dr. Chira. The goal of this committee is to work towards promoting interaction between Thai and Indian technological institutes. The 1st meeting of this committee was held on 31st May 2007 and the fruits of everyone's concerted efforts are in front of all of us today.

IITAAT is proud to having played key role and to be part of this very important event of MOU signing between IIT Madras and Rajamagala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT) as well as RMUT Lanna and we hope to see many more MOUs signed up between other IITs and premium Thai Institutions in near future. IIT AAT would like to express our sincere thanks to one of our senior Alumni, Mr. Lalit Kumar, M. D. of Sunflag Co., for making this happen.

Another important activity of IIT AAT is to promote the ‘Lecture Series’ in Thailand by Indian Academics and Achievers in fields like IT, Science & Technologies in various faculties. 1st Inaugural lecture on the topic “Technology for Development” was held at RMUTT on 24th August 2007.

IIT AAT has also provided the names of about 10-12 IITAAT Alumni to Prof. Numyoot and Prof. Dr. Chira. These IITAAT members have volunteered to give lectures at Institutes in various fields such as Textile and Chemical Engg., Rubber Technology, Chemistry and IT etc..

Some of IITAAT Alumni have expressed willingness to work with Prof. Numyoot and Prof. Chira to guide Thai students chosen for the student exchange program and prepare them beforehand to study along side Indian students and take them through a refresher English course if required so that they can better understand the Indian way of speech.

Lucky Spinning Co., Ltd. has already taken the important step in this direction. Company’s C.O.O. and Group President and our IITAAT Treasurer, Mr. D.Devadas,  organized a half day Business English program for RMUTT students under the able guidance of Dr. Paiboon from RMUTT. 1st such program took place few weeks ago at Lucky Spinning Co.’s office where 40 students got the first hand training from senior executives of the Group including COO himself.  The 2nd training program is planned to take place soon.

Another important project was started by IIT AAT in the month of June, 2007 by setting aside a monthly fund of THB 10,000. as an aid to improve the living conditions of children in the orphanage  Ban Kru Noi in Rajburana area. This project is taken up by our other active Alumni, Mr. Sethu. This commitment is initially for 2 years. Some of us visit Orphanage with family on a quarterly basis to hand over post dated cheques and spend some time with kids by distributing gifts and snacks. Two of our members have generously donated 2 computer sets and printer as well.

Brief introduction of IITs in India:

IITs are engineering & technology oriented Institutes of higher education, established and declared as Institutes of National importance by the Govt. of India.

AIM of IIT Formation was to provide leadership in technological education, to train high quality manpower for the Industry, to develop skilled work force, to promote state-of-the art technology application and to support the social and economic development of India after its independence in 1947.

At present there are 7 IITs. 1ST  IIT was formed at KHARAGPUR in 1951, 2ND one: IIT-Bombay in 1958, IIT- KANPUR and IIT- MADRAS in 1959, IIT- DELHI in 1961, IIT -GUWAHATI in 1994. 7th and last one, IIT Roorkee, in fact very old University, originally known as the University of Roorkee, was established in 1847 as the first engineering college of the British Empire. It was granted IIT status in 2001.

Govt. of India has announced this year to increase the total number of IITs in India to 13.

ADMISSIONs

Admission for undergraduate course is done by JOINT ENTRANCE EXAMINATION (IIT JEE) conducted to select students for all 7 IITs. More than 350,000 students appear for IIT JEE and only around 4500-5000 get admission in all 7 IITs.

Selection ratio is approx. 1:55 which means only less than 2% of all students appearing for the entrance exam make their way to IITs.

IIT BRAND

IIT has emerged as a high value brand due to major contribution from its Alumni to various sectors of technology as well as other areas, all over the world. IIT Alumni occupy position of leadership at top universities, research institutes, Government and various companies worldwide.

IIT brand was reaffirmed when “UNITED STATES House of Representatives” passed a resolution honoring Indian Americans and especially graduates of IIT for their contribution to American Society.

Educational rankings

In international surveys, The Times Higher Education Supplement (2006) ranked the IITs the 57th best overall universities in their World University Rankings and gave IITs the 33rd position globally for science. The IITs were ranked third-best worldwide for technology, after MIT and University of California, Berkeley.

IIT Alumni Association in Thailand

The IIT Alumni Association, Thailand (IIT AAT) was formed about 20 years ago as a result of the initiative taken by some IITians living in Bangkok who saw the need to foster a relationship among former students of this prestigious institution and establish bonds with the Alma Mater.

The membership grew rapidly, peaking during the early part of the 1990s when Thailand saw phenomenal economic growth. Presently there are about 75 IITians in Thailand. Members are from all seven IITs, with no single institute claiming any significant majority.

Meetings in the past had been generally social in nature with members and spouses and children meeting regularly to exchange views and ideas. There had been excursion trips, talks by eminent alumni and quiz competitions, factory visits, sports and fun filled activity etc.

Our informal association represents a specific section of Indian Diaspora who has excelled in their chosen field of work ranging from academia, business, NGOs, various organizations including MNCs and, of course IT. These members are eager to encourage interaction with other similar alumni associations all over the world promoting meaningful dialogue between organizations/establishments in Thailand and India on educational and technical issues.

Of late, since early 2007, the IIT AAT has become much more active and interactive with meaningful Goals. It is striving to establish the Brand IIT in the South East Asia and promote co-operation between Thailand and India in various fields of Science, Engineering, Technology and Management.


Before I conclude, I would like to thank all IITAAT committee members and ordinary members for their valuable support and cooperation.

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Website :  http://www.iitalumnithailand.com/

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