Bangkok--14 Aug--AIT
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM), Sri Lanka, to launch four-year collaborative international Bachelor’s degree programs in Bio-systems Engineering and Environmental Engineering.
The agreement was signed by the Prof. Said Irandoust, AIT President, and Prof. Neville Fernando Chairman, SAITM on 1 August 2012. SAITM plans to officially start the four-year program in October 2012, under which students will spend their first two years in Sri Lanka and will transfer to AIT during final two years. The new program will be offered by AIT’s School of Environment Resources and Development (SERD).
Earlier, AIT had signed an MOU with SAITM in January 2009 to launch the undergraduate program spearheaded by AIT’s School of Engineering and Technology (SET). Following this agreement, the first batch of 50 undergraduate students from Sri Lanka have already enrolled in the third and fourth years at AIT. The second batch of 90 students will arrive at AIT in September 2012.
The MoA ceremony at Colombo was witnessed by over 100 guests including SAITM faculty, students, prospective students and their parents, as well as representatives from the media. The President was accompanied by Dr. Weerakorn Ongsakul, Dean SERD, and Mr. Sanjeev Jayasinghe, Director, Fundraising. The MoA signing event was reported in the daily newspaper The Nation, and can be read at this link.
The President also met Hon. Mr. Gitanjana Gunawardene, Deputy Minister of Finance Planning, Government of Sri Lanka, and briefed him about AIT’s latest initiatives. The President thanked him for his role in facilitating the Government of Sri Lanka’s endorsement of AIT’s Intergovernmental status, and for becoming a founder member of the AIT New Council. The President also discussed the proposed contribution of the Government of Sri Lanka to the AIT Endowment Fund. The Minister stated that as a symbolic token contribution, he will request his Government to provide scholarships to Sri Lankan students to study at AIT.