Distinguished
AIT alumnus Dr. Bindu Lohani (EV, 77) has recently been appointed Director-General
of the Regional and Sustainable Development Department at the Asian Development
Bank (ADB). Dr. Lohani has held several senior positions at ADB: first as Manager,
then Assistant Chief of the Environmental Division, Office of Environment and
Social Development Department; Deputy Director (equivalent to Deputy Director
General in the current organizational structure) of the Infrastructure, Energy
and Financial Sectors Department (West); and the Secretary of ADB in 1999, a
position he held until assuming his new position in January 2005.
Dr. Lohani’s professional experience covers the
public sector and academe, his expertise including sustainable development programs
and projects, and senior management in multilateral organizations. Dr. Lohani
is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering (NEA) of the United
States – the highest professional distinction accorded to an engineer –
for his work on economic-cum-environmental approach to sustainable development
and Honorary Diplomat of the American Academy of Environment Engineers (awarded
for excellence in the practice of environmental engineering).
Dr. Lohani received his bachelors degree (Honours and
gold medalist for 1st rank) from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science
(India) in 1970 and masters degree in Environmental Engineering with Phi Kappa
Phi Award from the North Carolina State University, (U.S.A.) in 1973. Dr. Lohani
received his doctoral degree in Environmental Engineering (Environmental Technology
and Management) from AIT in 1977, and later joined as a faculty member of the
Institute. He subsequently served as Chairman of the Environmental Engineering
Division until he joined the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1985.
On behalf of all members of the AIT Community, we offer our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to Dr. Lohani.
Professor Mario Tabucanon
Acting President
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Prof. Tawatchai |
Dr. Pichai |
The ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organizations (AFEO)
recently conferred Honorary Fellowship Awards on senior SCE Faculty members
Professor Tawatchai Tingsanchali and Dr . Pichai Nimityongskul. The highly-coveted
awards recognize distinguished engineers from the ASEAN countries, engineers
who have attained great achievements in promoting the formation and implementation
of policies, plan and projects to develop their countries and/or the entire
ASEAN Region. The fellowship includes a medal and a citation certificate.
The awards were presented by AFEO Chairman Prof. Dr.
Sein Myint at a ceremony in Myanmar on 18 December 2004. The ceremony took place
during the 22nd AFEO conference, at which both Prof. Tawatchai and Dr. Pichai
presented papers. The event was presided by over by the Prime Minister of the
Union of Myanmar, and was attended by more than 1,000 engineers from around
the world.
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Prof. Bergado |
Professor Dennes Bergado has been elected the
new President of the International Geosynthetics Society, Thailand Chapter.
Serving a period of two years (2004-2006), IGS-Thailand’s most recent endeavor
was the Fifth International Symposium on Soil/Ground Improvement and Geosynthetics
held in December 2004.
The activity was jointly organized by the King Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi and the Asian Center for Soil Improvement and Geosynthetics, an academic center based at the School of Civil Engineering at AIT serving as IGS-Thailand Secretariat.
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Dr. Noppadol |
Mr. Suebthep |
Dr. Giao |
A paper by Dr. Noppadol Phienwej, Mr. Suebthep
Thepparak, and Dr. Pham Huy Giao of AIT’s School of Civil Engineering
has won the Tan Swan Beng Award. The paper, “Analysis of Differential Settlement
of Buildings Induced by Land Subsidence from Deep Well Pumping,” was presented
at the 15th Southeast Geotechnical Conference held in Bangkok on 22-26 November,
2004.
The award is given to the best technical paper presented
at the conference and those published in the Geotechnical Engineering Journal
of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society during the three preceding years.
The winning paper is the one that best reflects the distinguished career and
geotechnical contributions of the late Prof. Tan Swan Beng, the past president
of the Society.
The award consists of a monetary remuneration and a plague
of recognition.
Professor Chongrak Polprasert, Acting Dean of SCE congratulated the authors, noting that the award “reflects a significant contribution you have made to the geotechnical field and help to maintain our reputation in the scientific world, for which we are most grateful.”