Tag: Thammasat University

The Faculty of Engineering, Thammasat University (TSE), represented by Associate Professor Dr. Tira Jiasiripongkul, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, and Associate Professor Dr. Plaiwan Suttanon, Dean of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, have signed a memorandum of academic cooperation with HK Management & Service Co., Ltd. represented by Miss Hemnarat Kitiyanan, the Managing Director.

The memorandum of cooperation was prepared with the objective of promoting cooperation in testing a UVC sterilizer called “Smart Handy” manufactured by HK Management & Service Co., Ltd. Assistant Professor Dr Pratchaya Prempranirat from the TSE Department of Mechanical Engineering calibrated the Smart Handy machine to sterilize effectively.

In addition, with cooperation from Associate Professor Dr Worada Samosornsuk from the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences who tested sterilization efficiency. This machine can be used to prevent and ease COVID-19 infections.  Furthermore, future sterilizers can be developed based on this device.

Thammasat Business School was invited to be a part of John Molson Undergraduate case competition  2021 along with other 28 undergraduate business schools from over the world.

John Molson Undergraduate case competition is the largest international undergraduate case competition organized by the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. The competition is a weeklong event and consists of multiple levels of challenges in both short and long cases.

The team comprised of four BBA students: Kanlyaruk Tantisirivat, Nichamon Pananurak, Nueaprae Doungsri ), Arnon Ariyawatkul. Even though the entire competition was conducted virtually, that did not make the competition less challenge since our team was requested to solve 3 cases: 3-hrs, 5-hrs, 24-hrs long, throughout the week without physical meeting due to the competition’s policy.

The team finished with second place in the division. The team emphasises that apart of the success, they value the  the new skills they learned during the competition.

The team appreciates the guidance and support of their advisors, Prof. Supawat Likittanawong and Dr Worapong Janyanyuen.

A team of students from BBA, Thammasat University have won the regional round of 2021 ASCM Case Competition.

The team comprised of students, Tantisuwankul, Phasinee Saengthong, Nutrara Suangthonglang, and Nithid Pongcharoen. They competed with 331 other teams who participated in the competition.

There were only 64 teams in the regional round. In this round, the team solved an 8-hour case about supply chain management and emerged as the winner of the region which consisted of 6 countries: Australia, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The 2021 ASCM Case Competition is organized by ASCM in collaboration with Deloitte Consulting LLP. Participating teams had to present solutions to an exciting end-to-end supply chain management problem, as they competed for prize money and recognition.

ASCM is proud of a rich tradition of student team case competitions. The program began as a grassroots-level event, with many APICS chapters, colleges and universities taking part.

The program challenged students to test the supply chain knowledge with real consulting cases curated by Deloitte. Deloitte is a world leading provider of audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and related services.

Over the years, the Case Competition has evolved into a flagship event touching students at universities across Africa, Asia, Europe, and both North and South America.

 

A team of Thammasat University students from the B.E. Faculty became one of the top 10 semi-finalists ASEAN Inter-Varsity Retail Challenge 2021 competition held online hosted by the Singapore Management University (SMU).

The “Teletubbies” team representing Thailand comprised of Athicha Korkiertsatean, Pitchaporn Inthisorn, Praewnapa Chaisaengjan, and Thanachote Phokakul.

The team mentioned that participation in the competition significantly improved their hard skills and soft skills, including analytical thinking. data analysis, data structure, communication, and teamwork.

The team also stressed that the competition was a good platform to apply the skills learned in class to real-life situations.

MBA students from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Thammasat University, on behalf of “tbs-cml” team, beat 61 contestants from the world’s top universities and won 1st prize at the Operations Simulation Competition 2021 (OpsSimCom 2021), a global competition organized by MIT Sloan School of Management, the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In this competition, the contestants ran a virtual factory through the Medica Scientific game for 2 days. The duration equated to 388 days, divided into 3 phases: 50 days for data in the start period, 288 days that the contestants are allowed to manage, 50 days for supervision according to their planning but they are not allowed to manage. The results were based on the amount of cash that remained. MBA Thammasat has joined the competition every year since 2009 and won the world championship for the first time in 2016.

Mr. Issara Rungwittayakul, a “tbs-cm1” team member from Thammasat University, explained that the challenging part of this competition was that there were two production lines and market price fluctuation.

“The most important thing that made us win this competition is that we analyzed market conditions, costs and selling prices with high-profit margins. Our team used strategies that focused on short-term loans for investment in the first period then we managed to boost production capacity and cost reduction as much as possible.”

Mr. Puripat Petchdee, a “tbs-cm1” team member from Thammasat University, said, “Knowledge is very crucial in this game. Thanks to Thammasat University, we gained the business knowledge which we have to know what we want our business to be, which direction to go, and what we need to do, for example, Investment Management course will focus on return on investment and risk management as well as computational skills that allowed us to choose the strategy for the most profitability.”

 

SDG Lab: School of Global Studies, Thammasat University in collaboration with Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, a world-class chemicals company with a global leader in PET partners including the SEAMEO Regional Centre for Sufficiency Economy Philosophy for Sustainability, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched “The Circular Innovation Challenge” on April 26, 2021, to persuade young people between the ages of 16-30 to present their innovative ideas for general practice and development in order to create a circular economy, improve plastic waste management and solve hygiene problems.

This challenge offered a prize valued at over 200,000 baht together with learning session and workshop by experts from leading international organizations

Prof. Dr. Prapaporn Tivayanond Mongkhonvanit, Dean of the School of Global Studies, Thammasat University as the initiator of the Circular Innovation Challenge held by SDG Lab: School of Global Studies, said that the objective of the Circular Innovation Challenge is to raise awareness of circular economy issues.

In addition, it helps young innovators to enhance new skills to propose solutions concerning our society and the environment. The contest will be held as a hackathon, which is a design sprint-like event in which participants brainstorm to solve waste management issues.

Mr. Yash Lohia, Chief Recycling Officer of Indorama Ventures, said, “We are proud to support ‘The Circular Innovation Challenge’ and hope to provide tools and spaces for new generations to create a circular economy for the future. Moreover, they can learn from various experts directly. We hope this project will provide a better understanding of the circular economy in Thailand and promote the benefits of using recycled products because good innovation makes a comprehensive circular economy like our PET bottles, which still circulate in the economy loop.”

“For example, we are the first Thai company with the success of high-quality PET bottle recycling for the production of medical PPE which can be washed and used repeatedly replacing the single-use one.”, Mr Lohia added.

Recycling is the core element of a circular economy and a clear practice to reduce waste problems. Therefore, the company cooperates with both domestic and international organizations to support a universal declaration to increase the use of recycled products aiming at increasing the PET bottle recycling capacity to 50 billion bottles/year by 2025.

Mr. Renaud Meyer, UNDP Representative in Thailand said, “The poor waste management problem has a very negative impact on the environment and human life, especially the impact on marine resources, onshore biodiversity and public health. During the COVID-19 crisis, we saw the vulnerabilities of the waste management system, infrastructure as well as changes in waste management.”

“However, this crisis allowed us to initiate a more sustainable model of innovation, define green spaces, build resilience to life and develop modern innovations. The United Nations Development Program believes that innovation plays a key role in solving waste management problems. Thailand supports young entrepreneurs and communities by transferring knowledge of the waste management approach through circular economy principles,” Mr Meyer continued.

“The concept of circular economy is not only a guide to more sustainable resource management, but it also helps to achieve other sustainable development goals. One of them is Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.”

At Pridi Banomyong International College, Thammasat University, academic scholars from Thai studies, Chinese studies and Indian studies collaborated in conducting research under the topic of “Thailand’s One Year After COVID-19” to study the effects and analyze results to offer solutions and policy proposals that provides benefits to Thai people and community as follows.

Assistant Prof. Dr. Yi Lin from Chinese Studies Program found that focusing on cultural and traditional tourism would contribute to more success for Chinese tourist market to allow social and cultural exchanges between Chinese tourists and Thai people. The key to a positive attitude between Thai and Chinese people is that both of us have long-standing social and cultural integration.

Dr. Thomas Bruce, Head of Thai Studies Program, who highlighted the study of “The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Food Retail in Bangkok”, found that government measures against COVID-19 had a direct impact on the food retail and public transportations that remain available, such as MRT, are the crucial factors to the survival of Chinatown’s food retails because despite loss of foreign tourists, they were replaced by Thai customers.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Shweta Sinha from Indian Studies Program conducted a comparative study of the effects of COVID-19 on the agricultural sector of India and Thailand. The results showed interesting facts; during the pandemic, India increased rice exports by 44% compared to 2020. Vietnam also ordered rice from India for the first time in decades. However, Thailand rice exportation decreased by 31%due to its high price resulting in lack of competitiveness. According to Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), Thai farmers had a household debt of 54% and 50% of Thai farmers had debt over 200,000 baht per household and another 20% owe more than 400,000 baht per household.

“The challenges of the agricultural households are declining income and increase in debt, COVID-19 is also a factor of digital disruption,” noted Asst. Prof. Dr. Shweta Sinha.

Dr. Mohd Faheem, Head of Indian Studies Program, addressed the lessons learned during the lockdown in India which resulted in a massive relocation of labour to bigger cities for works and better income. Most of the migrants suffered from shortages of food, shelters, and money. In addition, they dealt with anxiety, paranoia, and fear of COVID-19 infection. Thus, his research suggested that the most important thing is that the labors should not have been ignored by the government and establishing labour database and distributing opportunities to the countryside would help manage and minimize migration to big cities.

Dr Usanee Lertrattananon, Head of the Chinese Studies Program, found that during the COVID-19 crisis, live streaming technology had become a key to success for several businesses. In addition, it became the people’s means to socialize. There were various successful Chinese websites and applications, e.g., Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok, that was introduced to Thai market. Therefore, COVID-19 offered opportunities and challenges for businesses at the same time.

Dr. Ornthicha Duangrat, Thai Studies Lecturer, focused on the conflicts between the superpowers, China and the United States, and mentioned “COVID-19 pandemic had inevitably intensified the competition between these two nations as well as expanded the influence of their powers. While vaccination currently played an important role. As we could see from Vietnam and the Philippines that they had to compromise and adapt themselves to balance the power of China and the United States. Likewise, Thailand needed to find more approaches for vaccination which might get from the ASEAN cooperation.”

Prommin Lertsuridej, M.D., the Former Deputy Prime Minister, said “The first priority of Thailand at this moment is vaccination and availability of rapid test kit to allow borders reopening so that Thai people would not lose their hope and faith. To be able to find infected patients quickly could save time and cancellation of quarantine measures would increase tourists’ interest in visiting Thailand. The rapid test kit is affordable and Thai specialists are developing it. I would like to see more of the government’s attention on this issue.”

COVID-19 has an impact on various aspects. It is more than a health issue because its impact remains widespread through the economy and society. This crisis is not only a challenge, but it is also a change that allows us to learn and grow at the same time.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Duangrit Benjathikul Chairungruang, Secretary to the Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) as the ministry spokesperson has led a team of researchers from MHESI organizations: National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) and Center of Excellence in Agriculture Innovation through Supply Chain and Value Chain, Thammasat University, to visit to help Durian farmers in Nonthaburi, Thailand

The farmers encounter the saltwater intrusion resulting in agricultural issues, and using innovations from NSTDA, TISTR and TU including nanotechnology for water purification, water quality monitoring system with the mobile application will allow the real-time monitoring, seawater desalination system as well as fertilizers that give durians sweet creamy flavour and rich and smooth texture with a floral scent and soluble fibres.

The biggest problem was that local farmers had been affected by the saltwater intrusion causing the agricultural problems and they expected assistance from MHESI to bring technology and innovation to solve this issue.

TISTR will use arbuscular mycorrhiza to help improve salt stress and drought resistance. These fungi also enhance durian productivity, along with their own developed desalination filter to desalinate seawater from freshwater in durian plantations. While NSTDA will set up the water quality monitoring system with a mobile application that can be monitored at all times.

TU will regulate the plant root salinity defence mechanism to desalinate seawater from freshwater and allow the plant roots to find the nutrients from the proper areas which would improve the growth and resistance from drought and salt stress.

MHESI Secretary continued that besides solving the saltwater intrusion, MHESI had other technologies that are beneficial for durian cost reduction, productivity and quality enhancement. To help farmers TU and NSTDA would deploy these technologies.

Some of these technologies are IoT-based smart irrigation systems to manage water distribution in appropriate quantity from root transpiration and absorption that is dynamic in terms of temperature, humidity, transpiration and evaporation rate to save water and energy; Basin-Fertigation to increase the efficient use of water and fertilizers to increase fruit yield and give the sweet creamy flavor, rich and smooth texture with floral scent and soluble fibers to durians; Active bagging technology for the highest quality fruit packaging, Water management forecast for plantation according to Global GAP, Technology for fruit packaging materials that allows air flow through the package and smart irrigation controller and sensor via surrounding factors etc.

National Research Council of Thailand announced the 2021 National Outstanding Researcher Award winners. Professor Watchara Ngamchitcharoen from the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University has been named as the national outstanding researcher in Philosophy.

Professor Watchara Ngamchitcharoen said that he took an interest in Buddhism since childhood. He began researching Buddhism in 2003.

He has created nine research papers mainly related to Buddhism in 3 dimensions: concept, teaching or principle, application of principles in today’s world, reforming, developing and solving problems related to monks. He expressed he is very proud to have received this award.

National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) organised the third National Outstanding Researcher Award of the year 2021” to honour Thai researchers with outstanding contributions to Thai education and Thailand.

NRCT announced the 7 winners of the 2021 National Outstanding Researcher Award in five fields. One of them is Professor Dr Kesara Na-Bangchang, Professor from Chulabhorn International College of Medicine, Thammasat University, as an outstanding researcher in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science.

Dr Wiparat De-ong, Director of NRCT said, “Professor Dr Kesara Na-Bangchang was recognized with the national outstanding researcher award by NRCT because of her consistent initiatives and devotion to research. She is one of the key contributors in promoting research and pursuing studies in the area of the pharmacology of Malaria and Cholangiocarcinoma in Thailand to meet international standards and is recognized internationally.”

“Both Thai and international researchers expressed interest, followed and adopted her works for further studies, for example, pharmacokinetic studies, studies funded by public and private research organizations for Malaria infection and Cholangiocarcinoma, including international organizations such as UNDP World Bank Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases: WHO/TDR where she was responsible as the Director. She also provided academic services which include knowledge, training, as well as audit and assessment of research projects associated with research standards to Thai and international researchers,” Dr Wiparat added.

Prof. Dr Kesara is also ranked among the list of “Top 2% World’s Scientists” for the year of 2020 by Stanford University, USA, has been awarded for her studies and contribution to various publications and references of studies in academic journals.

The National Outstanding Researcher Award recognizes Thai researchers who are dedicated to a specific subject or multiple subjects in a group of academic disciplines or interdisciplinarity of research on a regular basis and have made contributions to outstanding research with initiatives for not less than 5 years.

The award emphasizes Thai researchers with professional ethics who are well recognized and accepted in each academic discipline for their research that benefit Thailand’s economics, community, society and policy which can be used as the prototype for other researchers in the future.

Those who are recognized as the National Outstanding Researcher will receive the award with the certificate and the prize money at Thailand Inventor’s Day 2021.