S. Vishnu Sharma
IIT Guwahati was the cynosure of all eyes when a delegation from Thailand visited it.
The academic delegation highlighted the position of Assam as strategically very important to Thailand.
Delegation
The team was led by Ms. Sasirit Tangulrat, Director General of the Department of South Asian, Middle East, and African Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It included distinguished professors and scholars from over 13 Thai institutions, say sources from IIT Guwahati. There is more to it than meets the eye.
Director of IIT Guwahati
Director of IIT Guwahati spoke about the visit of Thailand delegation.
This visit marks a significant step in fostering closer academic and research collaborations between our institutions, said director of IIT Guwahati.
Given Assam’s strategic location and the growing importance of Indo-Thai relations, we believe that this partnership will play a pivotal role in advancing innovation, knowledge exchange, and skill development in both nations, he said.
We are particularly excited about the potential for faculty and student exchange programs, as well as joint research initiatives, which will create new opportunities for growth and collaboration, said IIT Guwahati director Prof Devendra.
Visit
The delegation visited the Central Instruments Facility and the Supercomputing Facility at IIT Guwahati, expressing their impression of the facilities and calling the experience “eye-opening.”
Dignitaries
Eminent dignitaries present during the visit included Mr. Saran Vajraphai, Director of Global Human Capital, Development Group, Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation; Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), Asian Institute of Technology; Dr. Sarawut Ninsawat.
It also included Professor Dr. Sujitra Wongkasemjit, Vice President of Mae Fah Luang University; and Associate Professor Dr. Pavika Sriratanaban, Director of Chulalongkorn University, Institute of Asian Studies among others.
Cooperation
A meeting was held between the delegates and IIT Guwahati administration to explore potential areas of cooperation, focusing on academic exchange programs, research collaboration, and innovation partnerships.
This meeting was attended by Prof. Devendra Jalihal, along with Deans and Associate Deans from various departments, including Administration, Alumni and External Relations, Academic Affairs, R&D, and Students’ Affairs, as well as Heads of Departments, Schools, and Centers.
Programs
Prof. Jalihal informed the delegation about various skill development programs related to semiconductors and other industries that IIT Guwahati has undertaken.
He expressed enthusiasm for initiating exchange programs for faculty members and students with Thai universities and institutes of higher learning.
Commitment
As part of its commitment to fostering a collaborative academic approach on both national and international fronts, IIT Guwahati aims to strengthen its vision for a global standard of learning through academic and research partnerships.
The visit by the Thailand delegation represents a significant step toward achieving this goal, as the institute works together with international partners to enhance educational opportunities and drive innovation, say sources from IIT Guwahati.
About IIT Guwahati
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, established in 1994, completed 25 years of glorious existence in 2019. At present, the Institute has eleven departments, nine interdisciplinary academic centres and five schools.
They cover all the major engineering, science, healthcare, management, and humanities disciplines, offering BTech, BDes, BSc(Hons), MA, MDes, MTech, MSc, MS(R), MBA and PhD programmes.
The institute offers a residential campus to 455 faculty members and more than 8,600 students at present. IIT Guwahati has retained the 7th position among the best engineering institutions of the country.
It has got 9th position in ‘Overall’ and 10th position in ‘Research’ Categories in the ‘India Rankings 2024’ declared by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the Union Ministry of Education.
IIT Guwahati has achieved rank 87 in the SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) globally in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2024.
It is the only academic institution in India that occupied a place among the top 100 world universities – under 50 years of age – ranked by London-based Times Higher Education (THE) in 2014.
It also continues to maintain its superior position even today in various International Rankings. IIT Guwahati gained rank 32 globally in the ‘Research Citations per Faculty’ category and overall 344 rank in the QS World University Rankings 2025.
Among other frontier areas of research and innovation, IIT Guwahati is working towards augmenting critical science research initiatives in Genomics, Developmental Biology, Health Care and Bioinformatics and Flexible Electronics, among numerous other areas.
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