Professor N. T. Kim Oanh was awarded in the category of Senior Research Leader, while Associate Professor Sangam Shrestha won the award in the Junior Research Leader category.
A Vietnam national, Prof. Kim Oanh lectures in the Environmental Engineering and Management field of study at the AIT School of Environment, Resources and Development. Assoc. Prof. Shrestha, who hails from Nepal, teaches in the Water Engineering and Management field of study at the AIT School of Engineering and Technology.
Both AIT Distinguished Researcher awardees receive a full doctoral scholarship and will be presented with a certificate of recognition at the May 2015 AIT Graduation Ceremony.
Launched last year, the AIT Distinguished Awards series is a new yearly award program that recognizes excellence amongst the institute’s faculty and researchers in seven categories.
This particular award is intended to provide motivation to faculty and staff to get more involved in conducting sponsored research projects that benefit the Asian region and provide solid research infrastructure for AIT graduate students. The new award also honors AIT faculty and staff for their indirect contributions to the institute which emerge from their projects.
According to AIT Vice President for Research Professor Kanchana Kanchanasut, the award evaluation committee considered four candidates among the senior category and five candidates from the junior category. The evaluations were conducted using external evaluation committee members.
Awardee Citations:
Senior Research Leader Category
Professor N. T. Kim Oanh
AIT School of Environment, Resources and Development
Professor Kim Oanh is a well-established professor who has clearly demonstrated scientific leadership in the field of air pollution, environmental monitoring and modelling. Her scholarly contributions are truly outstanding. In 2014, she published 1 book, 11 book chapters and 6 peer-reviewed journal articles. She is currently running seven research projects, four of which started in 2014. Owing to her very high-level networking and visibility activities, and by conducting training workshops, she is highly recognized amongst the international scientific community. She has demonstrated high quality research leadership adapting to changes, seeking integrated solutions and providing high quality scientific answers to local problems. Prof. Kim Oanh’s proposed future research on regional air pollutant assessment and emissions reduction will likely have high impact for the Asian region.
Junior Research Leader Category
Associate Professor Sangam Shrestha
AIT School of Engineering and Technology
Assoc. Prof. Shrestha has obtained significant research and other technical service grants from a number of international agencies. He has particular strength in working cooperatively with international partners. His expertise is focused on water resources management and climate change impacts. Apart from conducting many policy-oriented researches and studies, he has also been instrumental in delivering a number of capacity building programs in this area. Assoc. Prof. Shrestha’s proposed future research on “Assessment of climate change impacts on water, food and energy security” is a very important topic. Moreover, he is a prolific publisher who has authored numerous international refereed journal papers and book chapters since joining AIT in 2009.
Photo Caption: Dr. Sangam Shrestha (left) with Prof. N. T. Kim Oanh.