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Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology

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Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology
สถาบันเทคโนโลยีนานาชาติสิรินธร

Established	1992
Type:	Private (autonomous unit within a public university)
Director:	Prof. Dr. Sawasd Tantaratana
Faculty:	~75 teaching staffs, of which 52 are faculties.^[1] With ~80 adjunct faculties.^[2]
Undergraduates:	1,955^[3]
Postgraduates:	70.5^[4]
Location	Pathum Thani, Thailand
Campus:	Suburb, Thammasat-Rangsit and Bangkadi
Affiliations:	LAOTSE, DAAD's IQN
Website:	www.siit.tu.ac.th

Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (Thai: สถาบันเทคโนโลยีนานาชาติสิรินธร) (SIIT) is a semi-autonomous institute of technology established in 1992 within Thammasat University. It is located in Pathum Thani, Thailand. Known as one of the premier research universities in Thailand, it offers a range of science, technology and engineering education, as well as related management programs. All of them are international programs, with English language as a medium of instructions. The institute is part of the LAOTSE network, an international cooperation of leading universities in Europe and Asia.

Although it is an academic unit of Thammasat University, and graduates of the institute receive Thammasat University degrees, the institute is self-administered and financed (this is more or less like a 'Deemed University' in India.)

Being a research-led academic institution in nature, from the most recent performance evaluation (Academic Year 2003) by the university, the institute has the highest number of research publications (both in raw quantity and per graduate student heads), compare to other academic units in the university^[5]. In addition, the recent assessment of research publications by Thailand Research Fund put SIIT at the top in terms of equivalent international journal papers per faculty member, and in terms of impact factor per faculty member, among engineering faculties in Thailand^[6].

During the 9th Japan-Thailand Joint Trade and Economic Committee Meeting held in Kobe, Japan in 1989, all of the delegates from the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) realized that in order to enhance industrial development of Thailand, engineers with working knowledge of English are needed. Therefore, it was recommended that engineering programs, where all lecture and laboratory courses would be taught in English by highly qualified faculty members with doctoral degrees, be established.

A cooperation agreement among Keidanren, FTI, and Thammasat University was reached in 1992 to establish bachelor degree programs in engineering at Thammasat University with initial funds provided by Keidanren and FTI. After two years of operation, the "International Institute of Technology (IIT)" was founded on September 16, 1994. Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn graciously presided over the Cornerstone Laying Ceremony of a new building at the Rangsit Center of Thammasat University using part of the initial fund. Then, on June 28, 1996, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand graciously granted the Institute a new name, "Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT)." On October 2, 1997, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn graciously presided over the Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology's Inauguration Ceremony of its name and building. In June 2001, the former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun inaugurated a new campus at Bangkadi Industrial Park.

Although it is a unit of Thammasat University, SIIT is financially and administratively separate from the central university system. SIIT's policies and operations are guided and supervised by the Board of Trustees which consists of representatives from Thammasat University, FTI, Nippon Keidanren, and scholars appointed by the university. In addition, the Academic Review Committee (ARC) comprising reputable scholars in various fields provides guidance and recommendations on academic and research matters. The Institute, headed by the Director, consists of four administrative divisions, a library and information services center, and six academic schools, with fifteen academic programs.

For its financial, as the institute is an autonomous (semi-private) body of Thammasat University, it gets no funding from the state, thus needs to find and manage its own income and spending. To starts its operation, the institute received initial funds from Keidanren and FTI. Parts of funding are research grants and scholarships from international organizations like Asian Development Bank, locals like industries and the Thailand Research Fund, and individual contributions. The rest of funding is from tuition fees, which is arguably high comparing to state-funded academic institutes.

One of SIIT's academic strength, that the institute often points out in a student recruitment ads, is its high qualification of faculty members. All faculty members are doctoral degree holders, with strong research and/or industrial experiences. From the eyes of general Thai students, they give the value to the institute's up-to-date courses, English as a language of instruction (which means language competency, and generally higher salary in the country), and being part of the prestigious Thammasat University. The institute is also considered among academic peers as a research intensive engineering school. Research output-wise, on average, each year each SIIT faculty member produces twice the highest value of national range for international journal publications (0.74 vs 0-0.41) ^[7].

Since a few prospect students can afford the higher-than-national-average tuition fees, the institute initially faces a slight difficulty to recruit undergraduate students with a very high National University Entrance Examination score. While scholarships and special recruitment programs do help attract a lot of bright students, its average entrance score is still not very high comparing to other leading science and engineering programs in the country – which, in turns, quite affects the image of the institute in the eyes of Thais. Due to latest Entrance Examination score, the school is comparatively easy for most student to get admitted. The average entrance score of admitted student is still low and makes the program not competitive.

However, the undergraduate recruitment situation is improving by years, especially for its IT and management-related majors, which now have relatively very high entrance scores. With its strong science and technology education, the institute has been selected, along with Mahidol University and Chulalongkorn University, by Thailand National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), as a destination of selected group of top students from Mahidol Wittayanusorn School and 12 Princess Chulaporn Schools for Science, the country's science schools for gifted students, in a program to mentor junior researchers for national science and technology development.

For its graduate levels, the institute attracts a lot of bright graduates, as the institute gains supports from many national and international bodies (and use that as scholarships for graduate students). SIIT is one of a very small number of universities which can secure numbers of Thailand Research Fund's Royal Golden Jubilee grants, considered to be the country's most prestigious researh grants for PhD students, for every single year since the program began in 1998 ^[8] — one of the only three which can secure Engineering discipline grants for every single year.

A number of undergraduate and research-based graduate programs are offered via six schools and one department.^[9]

School of Bio-Chemical Engineering and Technology: hosts chemical engineering and environmental technology programs
School of Civil Engineering and Technology: hosts civil engineering and structural engineering programs
School of Communications, Instrumentations and Control: hosts communications program
School of Information and Computer Technology: hosts information technology and computer science programs
School of Management Technology: hosts management technology and engineering management programs
School of Manufacturing Systems and Mechanical Engineering: hosts mechanical engineering and industrial engineering programs
Department of Common and Graduate Studies

The Institute enjoys a strong link with many universities, remarkably with its neighbor Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), and a group of Japanese universities and research centers, as well as a network of European universities such as DAAD International Quality Network (IQN) program and LAOTSE network. Locally, a remarkable collaborative network is the Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, a group of leading Thai universities in environmental and energy technology area.

The Institute has established both faculty member and student exchange programs, as well as internship programs, with a number of universities and organizations in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. These programs allow faculty members to collaborate with their counterparts in research projects as well as students to have an opportunity to take engineering courses at these universities. Additionally, qualified foreign professors are invited to visit and conduct courses at SIIT regularly.

From their proximity location, SIIT, Thammasat University, AIT, Thailand Science Park, and research centers of NSTDA, share some of their facilities, including libraries and laboratories, with each other. In 1998, the Thailand Graduate Institute of Science and Technology (TGIST) has been established by NSTDA to further strengthen its collaborations with academics and industries, SIIT is among three major academic institutes in TGIST's "Thailand Science Park Collaboration".

In 2007, SIIT joined together with NSTDA, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, and Tokyo Institute of Technology as founding members in the establishment of Thailand Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. This joint graduate school will offer international postgraduate degrees, where faculty staffs will come from Tokyo Tech, NSTDA, and Thai universities.^[10]^[11]^[12]

Operations of SIIT are carried out at two locations, Thammasat University's Rangsit Center and Bangkadi, both of which are in Pathum Thani, surrounded with many national research centers, high-tech industrial parks, universities, as well as Thailand Science Park and National Science Museum. The area is now known as the "Technology Cluster of North Bangkok".

The Rangsit Campus is situated in the TU's Rangsit Center, approximately 42 kilometers north of Bangkok, just next to the Asian Institute of Technology and Thailand Science Park. The center served as the main host for the 13th Asian Games in 1998 and the World University Games in 2007.

Located in Bangkadi Industrial Park, the Bangkadi Campus is about 15 kilometers away southeast from the Rangsit Campus. The information technology program moved to this facility in June 2002. The management technology and the telecommunications programs also moved to Bangkadi in May 2003. It also houses all new ICT-related programs, for example, the computer science program. In June 2006, the new building Sirindhralai (Thai: สิรินธราลัย), the name graciously granted by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, was opened to accommodate the telecommunications, engineering management, and management technology programs.

Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Rangsit Campus: P.O. Box 22 Thammasat University, Rangsit Center; Pathumthani 12121, Thailand; Tel +66 (0) 2986 9009, 2986 9101, 2564 3221-9; Fax +66 (0) 2986 9112-3; Rangsit Campus contact list

Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Bangkadi Campus: 131 Moo 5, Tiwanont Road, Bangkadi; Muang, Pathumthani 12000, Thailand; Tel +66 (0) 2501 3505-20; Fax +66 (0) 2501 3524; Bangkadi Campus contact list