Greetings from the President

Dear ATPAC families and friends,

On behalf of the ATPAC leadership and management team, I would like to wish you all a very happy 2015!

I would also like to extend my sincere thanks for your camaraderie, hard work, dedications and contributions to Thailand in 2014.

It is a great honor and privilege for me to have been selected by the ATPAC Board of Directors as your President for the 2-year term from 2014 to 2016. My introduction email to you has been long overdue, and I have to sincerely apologize for the delay. This message will walk you through the progress we had in the past year and the milestones we initiated and try to achieve in the future.

Before updating you with the various matters which might be of interest to you, I would like to acknowledge the great work and achievements of my two predecessors, President Dr. Nisai Wanakule and President Dr. Vichate Ungvichian. I was the executive vice president during their tenures and it was a real pleasure to work under their leadership. I also would like to acknowledge the thoughtful assistance of our ATPAC president advisor Dr. Methi Wecharatana. My deep gratitude also goes to them and the officers of ATPAC and to all of you who have helped ATPAC. ATPAC is in an excellent position as we have successfully gone through our 25+ years. We are currently on track to meet the milestones we set for ourselves in the past and ready to take on new challenges. Now with the high bar of ATPAC achievements that Presidents Nisai and Vichate raised, I feel that it is truly a great challenge for which I shall devote all my possible energy and enthusiasm to move ATPAC forward to its new phase.

We have had an extremely eventful and successful past year. An excellent annual meeting was hosted at Century Park Hotel and Baan Ampawa Resort. There were 4 exciting developments that should be noted. The first is the establishment of the new Siam Cement Group (SCG)’s Center of Excellence at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) for joint research and scholarship management with the emphasis on innovative technologies in material sciences, water resources management and intelligent transportation systems. On behalf of ATPAC, I congratulate Dr. Methi Wecharatana on this initiative, which is already a tremendous success. The second is the development of the newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on exchange of research personnel and research collaboration related to groundwater resources among the Department of Groundwater Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand,  Chulalongkorn University (Center of Excellence on Hazardous Substance Management), and ATPAC. On behalf of ATPAC, I congratulate Dr. Nisai Wanakule on his successful endeavor. The third is the completion of Phase 1 of the investigation on Emerging Technology and Human Resources Development Translational to Thailand: Preemptive Plan, which was reported to the Ministry of Science of Technology, Thailand. The effort was led by Dr. Chuleeporn Changchit. On behalf of ATPAC, I want to thank and congratulate her and the working team. The fourth is the new venue of financial support for ATPAC by Siam Cement Group (SCG) Public Company Limited, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), and PTT Chemical Public Company Limited.

We are working hard to get ready for the new phase of ATPAC. The Board has maintained most of its working structure. Four of the previous Board Members have been retained and Dr. Nisai Wanakule has been selected as a new Board Member. The new ATPAC management team is listed toward the end of the email. Our hard-working team has developed a new strategic plan of ATPAC, which promises to be exciting with an excellent array of new initiatives. This plan will be the primary focus of ATPAC activities in the upcoming two years.

1. An excellent membership reach out program: We will strive for an easier access for members to be involved and contribute. We have launched new FaceBook and LinkedIn pages for ATPAC since November 2014. Within 2 months, we have over 175+ potential new members joining ATPAC’s LinkedIn page. Everyone can help recruit new members. For those of you who have not joined, please visit  the new ATPAC LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6807240&trk=anet_ug_hm.

2. A more extensive industry collaboration: We will reach out and work with a larger group of industry partners. In addition to SCG, EGAT, PTTGC, we have started building working relationships with Microsoft Thailand, BigC, among others. We want to help companies rooted in Thailand with connections to reach the global stage.

3. A work/social network program: In addition to ATPAC’s mission to promote Thailand, we will strive to promote our members. We will use ATPAC as a venue for work/social networking as well as information sharing to various industries and disciplines. Our vision is not only to include scholars and professionals in science and technology but also to expand our ATPAC network to every profession that can be beneficial to Thailand and ATPAC members. We hope that this effort will lead to larger ATPAC connections and more member participation through a wider use of the Internet and Social Networks.

Lastly, the support by the Office of Science and Technology (OSTC) at the Royal Thai Embassy at Washington DC has been tremendous and continues to enable and improve our important activities. On behalf of ATPAC, I want to thank Mr. Krisada Tharasook, the Minister Counsellor of Science and Technology, and his supporting staffs (Mr. Apichai Naksomboon and Ms. Bunyakiat Raksaphaeng). Also, please email any updates, achievements, awards, cross-cutting activity, etc. that we can help advertise and promote our members to OSTC (ostcdc@gmail.com) for inclusion in our website and annual report.

Thank you for being part of the ATPAC family, and best wishes for a joyful holiday season and a boundless New Year.

1. Art Chaovalitwongse, ATPAC President

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Professor
– Industrial & Systems Engineering, College of Engineering
– Radiology (joint), School of Medicine

Associate Director
– Integrated Brain Imaging Center, UW Medical Center

University of Washington
artchao@uw.edu
http://faculty.washington.edu/artchao
http://ibic.washington.edu

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Leadership and Management Team

Board of Directors

• Dr. Nisai Wanakule (Tampa Bay Water)

• Dr. Nongnuch Inpanbutr (Ohio State University)

• Dr. Vira Chankong (Case Western Reserve University)

• Mr. Mongkol Mahavongtrakul (San Francisco Public Utilities Commission)

• Dr. Gaviphat Lekutai (AT&T)

Executive Team

• W. Art Chaovalitwongse, President (University of Washington)

• Sirivatch Shimpalee, Vice President (University of South Carolina)

• Praprut Songchitruksa, Vice President/Treasurer (Texas Transportation Institute – Texas A&M)

• Chuleeporn Changchit, Vice President (Texas A&M – Corpus Christi)