Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology 5.2

Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology is a semi-autonomous institute of technology established in 1992 within Thammasat University. It is located in Pathum Thani, Thailand. One of Thailand's research universities, it offers science, technology and engineering education, as well as related management programs. All are international programs, with English language as a medium of instruction. The institute is part of the Links to Asia by Organizing Traineeship and Student Exchange network, an international consortium of universities in Europe and Asia.Although it is an academic unit of Thammasat University and its graduates receive Thammasat University degrees, the institute is self-administered and -financed Since it is a research-focused academic institution, the academic year 2003 performance evaluation showed has the highest number of research publications of any academic division in the university. In addition, a 2007 assessment of research publications by Thailand Research Fund put SIIT at the top of all engineering faculties in the kingdom in terms of equivalent international journal papers per faculty member and in terms of impact factor per faculty member.HistoryDuring the ninth Japan-Thailand Joint Trade and Economic Committee Meeting held in Kobe, Japan in 1989, all the delegates from the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) realized that 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.