Bangkok--7 Jul--Asian Institute of Technology
Kurita-GK Chemical Co. Ltd, the Thailand subsidiary of its Japanese parent Kurita Water Industries Ltd, will fund half the cost of a Masters-level scholarship for a Thai student to attend the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) at its School of Environment, Resources and Development.
Company president Mr. Takefumi Shimoda, and sales division director Mr. Nopporn Tia, visited AIT on 2 July 2014 to finalize the pledge worth US$11,900 while meeting with Prof. Chettiyappan Visvanathan, Dean of the School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD) and Prof. Kazuo Yamamoto, Interim Vice President for Resource Development.
At the meeting, the Kurita-GK officials identified their preferred candidate who will be offered a place in the Environmental Engineering and Management (EEM) field of study for entry in the August 2014 semester. Kurita-GK will fund 50% of the total costs of the Master’s program while AIT / SERD will shoulder the remaining half. Prof. Yamamoto initiated the new partnership that brought Kurita-GK together with SERD.
Prof. Visvanathan confirmed that the arrangement was SERD's first cost-sharing collaboration with industry to fund student scholarships. Thanking Mr. Shimoda, the dean added that he looked forward towards similar cooperation in the future.
Samutprakarn-based Kurita-GK operates extensively in Thailand and is Asia’s market leader in technologies for industrial water treatment. The firm offers a comprehensive range of products and services in advanced water and environmental management.
Mr. Shimoda said the firm would be open to explore research opportunities for students of AIT’s SERD and would consider additional scholarship opportunities for students from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam, all countries where the company plans to expand its operations.
The only condition the company put forth for its support was that the selected candidate’s research thesis be on a topic related to water treatment. Following the meeting, the officials visited the EEM program’s laboratories. They also showed keen interest for Kurita-GK to participate in the AIT Career Fair planned November 2014.
Photo caption: From left are Mr. Takefumi Shimoda, Mr. Nopporn Tia, Prof. Kazuo Yamamoto, and Prof. Chettiyappan Visvanathan.