Compared with any other university in the world, the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), located on the outskirts of Bangkok, is absolutely special.
Its founding purpose is rather unique: not to educate the students of the country in which it is located but to train engineers of the entire Asian region. And it has a "weird" rule: graduates must return to their countries of origin to serve and contribute what they have learned.
The competition for admission is tough. One of the reasons is that the school provides all its students with full scholarships, covering air fare, tuition, room and board, medical insurance, and the cost of textbooks, as well as offering them each 3,400 Thai bahts (around US$130) a month for incidental expenses. All this, and a Thai government worker with a college degree earns a monthly salary of less than 3,000 bahts!
Around 300 people from Taiwan are sent by government or organizations to study at AIT each year. The R.O.C. Ministry of Education reviews their applications first and selects a number of applicants to be interviewed by an AIT representative who comes to Taiwan. Usually around twenty to 25 of those interviewed are admitted to the institute.
Although it enjoys the reputation of being "Asia's only international university," AIT was actually founded less than thirty years ago and is rather small for a world-renowned university. But judged by the broadmindedness of its educational purpose and the contributions it has made to the Asian region, AIT indeed lives up to its name.
AIT President Alastair M. North points out that the idea for founding the school arose for two reasons. First, the developing nations of Asia urgently need to bring in Western science and technology to strengthen construction and development, while many Asian students who go to study in the West remain there, creating a brain drain instead of bringing back needed technology. And second, Asia differs from the West in topography, climate, resources, and customs, so the technology brought in from the West is not necessarily applicable to Asian conditions.
For these reasons, several Asian countries shared the idea of setting up an international industrial research institute in Asia. In September 1959 they founded the Engineering Research Institute of the Southeast Asian Industrial Organization, which became the Asian Institute of Technology in 1967. Supported by the contributions of its forty member nations, AIT specializes in offering advanced programs in science and engineering.
Because it is aimed at training Asian engineers, the institute accepts only Asian students and requires them to return to their countries upon graduation. But based on its aim of bringing in Western technology, the school's faculty is drawn from countries around the world. The students and teachers of this "Asian" institute communicate in English.
AIT has already made its presence felt in Asia. Workers in government agencies and public enterprises are sent here by member nations for advanced study, and they play an important role in promoting development in their countries upon their return. The R.O.C. Ministry of Economic Affairs and Ret-Ser Engineering Agency, which frequently send employees to AIT, have handled engineering projects in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Singapore, and other areas, transferring technology to these Asian countries.
When you step onto the AIT campus, you see many buildings and lots of green, while the people look just like scattered decoration. Where are the students?
Actually the answer is simple. The campus covers 170 hectares, and there are just 600-some students distributed about the institute's classrooms, libraries, labs, and facilities, so the school naturally resembles something of an "empty city."
The small size of the student body is complemented by a large faculty of 150. The one-to-four student-teacher ratio not only gives the students greater opportunity to interrelate with professors in class, but also lends student-teacher relations a "family-style" familiarity and friendliness.
The R.O.C.'s connection with AIT is deep and strong. The government and RetSer Engineering Agency have sent students here for advanced study since 1970 and the nation's 10, 12, and 14 key development projects have all had AIT alumni working on them. The two deputy director generals of the project to build the Taipei rapid transit system are both AIT graduates.
Over the past 28 years, AIT has trained nearly 4,000 engineers, among which R.O.C. students have made up 518, or around one eighth. In fact, the R.O.C. has been second to none in its support for the institute, be it in grants, equipment, or scholarships.
In the four decades since the Second World War, the Asian region has made great strides in industrial technology, and AIT has already begun to warm up for the next stage of development, strengthening its computer and management programs.
"It's hard to predict what kind of changes will occur in Asia in the future," one professor at the school said, "so AIT will continually seek to advance and keep ahead."
[Picture Caption]
A keepsake picture at graduation. (photo courtesy of K'ung Hsien-fa)
Shady foliage is the first impression that the AIT campus gives people. (photo by Chung Yung-ho)
Dr. Alastair M. North, the school's president. (photo by Chung Yung-ho)
Colorful flowers decorate the campus like a garden. (photo by K'ung Hsien-fa)
Fallen leaves outside a student dorm add a picturesque touch. (photo by K'ung Hsien-fa)
(Left) A poster designed by a student--not bad, isn't it? (photo by K'ung Hsien-fa)
(Right) A scene at Homecoming. (photo by K'ung Hsien-fa)
Individual instruction in the classroom. (photo by Chung Yung-ho)
The Solar Power Center in the Division of Energy Technology. (photo by Chung Yung-ho)
Traditional Thai altars, similar to those of China's earth god, are found on campus.(photo by K'uang Hsien-fa)
The Asian Institute of Technology in the evening twilight. (photo by K'ung Hsien-fa)
Shady foliage is the first impression that the AIT campus gives people. （photo by Chung Yung-ho）
A keepsake picture at graduation. （photo courtesy of K'ung Hsien-fa）
Dr. Alastair M. North, the school's president. （photo by Chung Yung-ho）
Colorful flowers decorate the campus like a garden.
Colorful flowers decorate the campus like a garden.
Colorful flowers decorate the campus like a garden.
Colorful flowers decorate the campus like a garden.
Fallen leaves outside a student dorm add a picturesque touch.
A poster designed by a student--not bad, isn't it.
Individual instruction in the classroom.
The Solar Power Center in the Division of Energy Technology.
Traditional Thai altars, similar to those of China's earth god, are found on campus.（photo by K'uang Hsien-fa）
The Asian Institute of Technology in the evening twilight.
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@List.jpg?w=522&h=410&mode=crop&format=webp&quality=80)
