Tag: Chulalongkorn University

Chula Environmental Research Institute (ERIC) researcher has developed potassium liquid soap from used cooking oil to add value to community waste and enhance the community’s potential in waste management and organic farming.

In 2022, an estimated 115 million liters of used cooking oil (UCO) which is harmful to human health and the environment require proper management. Though some UCO is turned into biodiesel, a large quantity gets thrown out into the sewer or mixed with other types of garbage causing contamination, and great damage to the environment. In the landfill, it can generate methane, a greenhouse gas that is 23 times worse than carbon dioxide!

This prompted Dr. Nattapong Tuntiwiwattanapun, an ERIC researcher of Chulalongkorn University, to develop UCO into potassium liquid soap (K-soap).

The research team started by being tasked by Chula to tackle the fat residue and UCO problem on campus. They were successful in making the fat residue into water-soluble potassium liquid soap that was then composted with the Chamchuree (rain tree) leaves. This method could get rid of the fat residue while enriching the Chamchuree fertilizer with potassium.

With its surface-active agents, K-Soap is as effective as other cleansers on the market. It has low toxin for microbes making it 100% biodegradable, and it has disinfesting abilities at the levels permitted by organic farming standards.

The K-Soap production project was started with a community enterprise at Baan Phai Lueang in Nan Province as part of eco-tourism and circular economy promotion. The K-soap was used to clean garbage trucks, road surfaces, and public places and was well received. It is easy to manufacture at much lower costs. The Pak Lad Community of Samut Prakan Province also implements a similar project based on the Zero-Waste concept.

In collaboration with Chula’s School of Agricultural Resources, the project has enhanced the soap’s biopharmaceutical ingredients that safely control plant diseases and pests and benefit organic farming. It is being tested by groups of organic farmers as alternative pest control and is expected to be ready in 2023 or 2024.

In the future, the project hopes to try using K-soap to wash fruit and vegetable right on the farms for added safety.

Gami +, a Google Classroom Add-on developed by a Chula faculty member is designed to help instructors create an online learning environment that’s as fun as playing games. Over 6,000 classrooms have been opened with as many as 120,000 real users.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has finally abated and onsite classes have resumed, the trend towards online learning continues with the key challenge of keeping learners’ focus on learning activities. “From our research experience on online learning, we found that learners are often distracted and bored, so their learning efficiency is reduced,” said Associate Professor Dr. Prakob Koraneekij from the Department of Educational Technology and Communication, Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University.

Having been selected by Google Asia Pacific to research Google Solution that promotes proactive learning for students in the 21st century, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Prakob and Professor Dr. Jintavee Khlaisang had the opportunity to study Google Workspace for Education thoroughly and later used the insights gained to design and develop Gami+, an add-on application for Google Classroom to help modern teachers manage online classes more efficiently.

“Gami + will help transform a regular online classroom into a challenging game, showing learning progress, and leading to competition, and motivation for learners,” Assoc. Prof. Dr. Prakob said.

The work has won several international awards, including a silver medal from The International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada, iCAN 2022, an International Special Award from the International Federation of Inventors Associations – Focal Point Middle East, and a Canadian Special Award from the Innovation Co-operative Initiative, Inc. “The Inventors Circle”.

Gamification of Learning

Gami + (or GamiPlus) is an add-on application for Google Classroom — a worldwide educational platform with more than 150 million users worldwide.  In Thailand, 50-60 percent of the users are in elementary and higher education levels.

The principle of gamification does not refer to the game itself, but to the techniques, mechanisms, and elements of the game, such as giving missions, collecting points, advancing levels, giving badges or achievements or leaderboards, creating an environment, and driving fun learning. For Gami+, there are gamification for teachers to choose from, namely digital badges, progress levels, leaderboard, and linking learners’ workloads and scores from Google Classroom to determine the conditions for the promotion. These elements motivate learners to enjoy and take ownership of self-learning.

Currently, there have been 11,777 Gami+ downloads and installs through the Google Workspace Marketplace, and more than 4,500 teachers and instructors have created a gamified environment in more than 6,000 classrooms.

In the future, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Prakob plans to develop Gami+ Intelligence using artificial intelligence technology to guide teachers and instructors to offer gamification that’s more attuned to learners’ needs.

Interested persons can download Gami + for free! via Google Workspace Marketplace or the Gami + website at https://gamiplus.edii.in.th.

A lecturer from the Chula Faculty of Education has developed an educational toy that instills a sense of compassion in children while teaching them to live peacefully with the elderly and people with disabilities in society.

The Doll House was developed by Assistant Professor Pornthep Lerttevasiri, Art Education Division, Department of Art, Music, and Dance Education, Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University to instill empathy, and promote maturity in children, aged 3-6, so that they can live happily with others.

Social simulation

The dollhouse is unique in that the dolls portray various forms of disability including visual impairment, hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, etc., and are equipped with devices used in their daily life with realistic mechanisms made of MDF (Medium Density Fiber Board) that’s safe for children. Developed based on world-class award-winning research, the dollhouse and dolls are made with patented joints and locking systems making them realistic and interesting to play with.

The fun of coexistence

The toy set comes with a basic manual on the importance of coexistence with the disabled and the elderly, as well as how to operate devices, and give appropriate help, for example, when crossing the road.

Play not Preach

Asst. Prof. Pornthep stresses that parents and teachers must read and understand the basic manual, which contains methods, guidance, and equipment information to help people with disabilities to be able to adapt the information into fun play for children.

Parents or teachers may let their children play with the dollhouse imaginatively on their own, but adults and children should spend time and learn together. It’s life learning that comes with age-appropriate fun.

“The disabled don’t need sympathy, but understanding and help in the right way. The dollhouse is fun for children to play with while learning how to help the disabled, how to use the equipment, and most importantly, coexist with the disabled and the elderly.

Those interested in the Doll House can contact Asst. Prof. Pornthep, Art Education Division, Department of Art, Music, and Dance Education, Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University, Tel +662-218-2565 ext 5601.

A lecturer from the Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University has developed rocking traffic poles made of natural rubber that is highly flexible, withstands, and reduces impact while also resuming its original form immediately upon being run over. They are now being tested with the hopes that they can soon replace plastic traffic poles.

Traffic poles – round, orange poles with white reflectors are important in regulating road traffic to ensure that drivers keep to their lanes and that the lanes are clearly visible at nighttime. Oftentimes, however, these plastic poles get run over, leaving the debris on the road that can be hazardous to drivers who have to avoid them.

This is a problem that has led Associate Professor Dr. Sirilux Poompradub, Department of Chemical Technology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University to develop and produce the natural rubber traffic pole which is a result of the collaboration with the Office of Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI) and the Siam United Rubber Co. Ltd.

“The traffic poles currently in use are mostly made of plastic, they are light and are easily damaged when they get hit by a vehicle. We have developed a rocking pole from natural rubber that is more pliant and can better withstand impact.”

Natural rubber for the “rocking traffic pole”

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sirilux, most of the traffic poles currently in use are made of plastic materials which are light and brittle. Even if we have poles made from other materials that are more durable such as polyurethane or thermoplastic polyurethane, they aren’t very popular due to the high costs. Natural rubber seems, therefore, to be the most appropriate material.

“Natural rubber is highly pliable and can resume its form as soon as it gets hit or run over by a vehicle. It can also absorb the impact of road accidents.”
Nevertheless, natural rubber also has its weak point in that when it is exposed to heat and sunlight for an extended period, cracks will appear. So, she experimented and adjusted the formula to address this problem.

“We spent a lot of time adjusting the chemical formula to develop a highly flexible rubber pole that resumes its original form when hit by a vehicle and most importantly, is resistant to our climate and UV rays.”

Test results of the rocking traffic pole

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sirilux has designed a test to determine the rocking traffic pole’s durability by using a vehicle weighing 1 ton moving at the speed of 30, 50, and 80 kilometers per hour to hit a traffic pole repeatedly 90 times. Then, a vehicle weighing 5 tons is used at the speed of 10 kilometers per hour to hit the pole another 10 times.

“The results have been highly satisfactory. When the poles were hit and fell to the ground, they sprang back up after the car had driven past them, without any damage, or severe scratches to the vehicle. They can help increase road safety and reduce accidents.”

Currently, a pilot project to use these rocking traffic poles has been launched on Srirat and Rama VII expressways to test actual usage and to collect the results of the experiment as well.

Extended use of natural rubber for road safety

Aside from the “rocking traffic pole” Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sirilux also sees the potential of natural rubber extended to other products to assure drivers and pedestrians of their safety in the future. Some possibilities are barriers placed on the curves or narrow areas in parking structures since those made of natural rubber can help reduce the impact between the vehicle and the parking structure wall as well as avoid causing deep scratches to the cars.

“Thailand is a world leader in natural rubber production. The development and production of natural rubber devices for road safety can add value to our local products while helping those in the agriculture sector as well,” she added.

Those interested in the traffic poles from natural rubber may contact the Siam United Rubber Co. Ltd. or via Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sirilux Poompradub at the Department of Chemical Technology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University at her email [email protected].

The School of Agricultural Resources (SAR) has developed goat and sheep production as an alternative to monoculture plantation. The School of Agricultural Resources, in cooperation with the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, and Nan Provincial Livestock Office, has developed a project to replace feed corn production in the highlands of Nan. Named “The development of small ruminant production model for small-scale farmers to transform the farmers into smart farmers”, the project was carried out from March 2020 to April 2023 with a target group of farmers from 10 sub-districts in 7 districts of Nan.

The production of feed corn in unsuitable areas has caused a negative impact to the environment, such as deforestation, soil erosion, and the burning of agricultural raw materials to prepare land for cultivation. The use of unsuitable areas actually renders higher production cost, but low income, causing a number of farmers to seek alternative sources of income. Goat and sheep rearing become popular choices as they are small, easy to manage and can be fed with a variety of feed types.

The project was conducted in collaboration with 10 organizations to provide knowledge and skill for farmers, including breeding, feeding, appropriate hygiene management, and production plan for efficient goat and sheep production. An additional gain from the cooperation between the research team, farmers and related organizations was the successful establishment of a systematic and developed channel for the goat and sheep market.

Joining the project, there was a total of 58 farmers, of which 18 showed leadership and capability to become community innovators. The project contributed to the success in career development for the farmers, as goat and sheep rearing can be promoted as an alternative to growing feed corn. With this new value chain of the agricultural production sector in Nan, the farmers could earn more income and have a better quality of life.

A big round of applause to members of the Chulalongkorn University High Altitude Research Club – CUHAR from Aerospace Engineering (AERO), Chula International School of Engineering, who represented Thailand at the Spaceport America Cup 2022. The team went above and beyond as one of the runners-up of the Dr. Gil Moore Award for Innovation (Sounding Rocket Design). Other runner-up teams for the same category were from Cornell University (USA) and the University of Leeds (UK).

Members of the Chula engineering student team (Aerospace Engineering – Batch 15) included

Mr. Puwit Chaowanapreecha

Mr. Peeravich Chirakunakorn

Mr. Nitipote Seubhanich

Mr. Kittanu Hongsevihok

Ms. Porntreetra Rattanapansri

Ms. Rachaya Deelertkulchai

Mr. Pasin Manaspiya

Mr. Pwint Krittiyanithi

Mr. Phuwanut Pataratawinun

Mr. Napatr Porntavornvittaya

Mr. Trin Uthaisang

Mr. Ratchagrit Seelsut

Mr. Thanakrit Maleesut

Mr. Siriwat Sirirattanachaikul

For more information and updates, follow the CUHAR Team on

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cu.highaltitude/.

The Spaceport America Cup is the world’s largest intercollegiate rocketry engineering contest (IREC) for student rocketry teams from across the country and around the world. Students launch solid, liquid, and hybrid rockets to target altitudes of 10,000 and 30,000 feet.

On Wednesday, May 18, 2022, Professor Dr. Kaywalee Chatdarong, Vice President for Strategic Planning, Innovation and Global Engagement, welcomed Prof. Dr. Chee Yeow Meng, Associate Vice President, Innovation & Enterprise, and Director, NUS Overseas Colleagues & MSc in Venture Creation, and delegates from National University of Singapore (NUS).

The visit was to discuss possibilities for future academic collaboration between Chulalongkorn University and NUS Overseas Colleagues (NOC), NUS MSc in Venture Creation and NUS Graduate Research Innovation Program (GRIP).

On this occasion, Dr. Santhaya Kittikowit, Assistant to the President for Innovation Affairs, served as a representative to discuss about CU Innovation Hub. Asst. Prof. Dr. Jittima Luckanagul, Head of Chula Spinoff Club Project, was present to discuss about a dual degree program between NUS MSc in Venture Creation and Chula MSc Innovation Enterprise.

Miss Kanyasorn Tansubhapol, Assistant to the President for Secretary and Special Affairs, and Dr. Pietro Borsano, Deputy Executive Director of the School of Integrated Innovation, were also present to welcome the NUS delegation.