FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

FOCUS on research

FOCUS on research

NEW CMKL UNIVERSITY JOINS CARNEGIE MELLON WITH KING MONGKUT'S INSTITUTE WITH AIM OF BUILDING THAI INNOVATION HUB 

WITH THE AIM to build the nation's strength and to nurture Thailand as the leading hub of innovation in the Southeast Asia region, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) has joined hands with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to establish CMKL University. 
The collaborative activities, to be known collectively as the Carnegie Mellon-KMITL (CMKL) programme, will occur both in Thailand and at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is a longterm collaboration to significantly expand research and education in the areas of information, computing and autonomous technologies.
The Carnegie Mellon-KMITL programme will focus on collaborative education, research and faculty development programs. 
The education component will sponsor students for masters-degree and PhD programs in electrical and computer engineering at CMU. Successful students will be awarded degrees from both institutions.
To facilitate the collaboration with Carnegie Mellon, a separate institution - CMKL University - has been established in association with KMITL to administer the programmes for research and education activities in Thailand.
Supan Tungjitkusolmun, president of CMKL University, said that the new institution aims to be a model new growth engine that provides world-class knowledge and expertise from Carnegie Mellon. 
"The university aims to support the government's Thailand 4.0 initiative and the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) special economic zone [plan]. CMKL University will work hand-in-hand with our industrial partners on advanced research to create new innovations. It is to bring the CMU culture of excellence to transform research and education in Thailand and Southeast Asia," said Supan.
CMKL offers top PhD and MS programs in areas of computer engineering and digital technologies, including software systems, cloud computing, Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence and robotics. 
The CMKM programme will involve professors, researchers and students from both Carnegie Mellon and KMITL, and include several industry partners from Thailand.
The industry partners so far signed up are Thai Beverage Public Co Ltd (ThaiBev) and Betagro Public Co Ltd. 
"Students will do research according to addressing industry issues rather than taking an academic point of view. We're doing research to really be used in industry," said Supan.
Hyong S Kim, the Carnegie Mellon-KMITL (CMKM) program director, said that CMKL University is the fifth collaboration of this kind between CMU and universities in countries outside the United States. 
"We initiated this [latest programme] three years ago," said Kim. "We have a lot of Thai students who come to CMU for a PhD or masters degree and they are talented and smart. Thailand is a perfect fit for our culture of excellence. We do not collaborate with all, we are very focused and selective," said Kim.
This kind of collaboration will help drive Thailand's move forward and increase the country's competitive strength, he said.
"CMU is not the best in everything. We are certainly a good quality [university] and we want to transfer the quality to KMITL and Thailand, which share our culture of excellence," he said.
"Because we solving important research problems we hope to see the research deployed and commercialised and people using it. Then you would impact the economy of Thailand to become the technology hub in Southeast Asia." 
The university would offer three degrees - a PhD in electrical and computer engineering, a masters degree in electrical and computer engineering, and a masters degree in software engineering.
The PhD in electrical and computer engineering would be a research-focused programme utilising advanced knowledge in ECE, including AI, IoT and computer systems to solve industrial challenges. The MS in electrical and computer engineering would be an intensive study in the fundamentals of digital technologies with the opportunity to specialise in algorithms, AI, robotics, devices, communications, or software systems.
The MS in software engineering would develop the understanding and skills needed for graduates to become the architects and project leaders |of complex software systems with applications drawn from real-world challenges.
Chalermpol Toojinda, director of Software Park Thailand, said that the collaborative nature of CMKL University is good news for both education and industry sectors in Thailand. The focus on researching and then deploying solutions to real-world industry problems could result in important breakthroughs, said Chalermpol.
It would help build the resources in Thailand to improve the country's competitiveness, he said.
"We are looking forward to a chance to collaborate or link with them to encourage the country's software industry," said Chalermpol.

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