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Thammasat University wins the regional round of ASCM Case Competition 2021

Posted on by Thammasat University

A team of students from BBA, Thammasat University have won the regional round of 2021 ASCM Case Competition.

The team comprised of students, Tantisuwankul, Phasinee Saengthong, Nutrara Suangthonglang, and Nithid Pongcharoen. They competed with 331 other teams who participated in the competition.

There were only 64 teams in the regional round. In this round, the team solved an 8-hour case about supply chain management and emerged as the winner of the region which consisted of 6 countries: Australia, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The 2021 ASCM Case Competition is organized by ASCM in collaboration with Deloitte Consulting LLP. Participating teams had to present solutions to an exciting end-to-end supply chain management problem, as they competed for prize money and recognition.

ASCM is proud of a rich tradition of student team case competitions. The program began as a grassroots-level event, with many APICS chapters, colleges and universities taking part.

The program challenged students to test the supply chain knowledge with real consulting cases curated by Deloitte. Deloitte is a world leading provider of audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and related services.

Over the years, the Case Competition has evolved into a flagship event touching students at universities across Africa, Asia, Europe, and both North and South America.

 

Thammasat University students among the top 10 semi finalists at ASEAN Inter-Varsity Retail Challenge 2021

Posted on by Thammasat University

A team of Thammasat University students from the B.E. Faculty became one of the top 10 semi-finalists ASEAN Inter-Varsity Retail Challenge 2021 competition held online hosted by the Singapore Management University (SMU).

The “Teletubbies” team representing Thailand comprised of Athicha Korkiertsatean, Pitchaporn Inthisorn, Praewnapa Chaisaengjan, and Thanachote Phokakul.

The team mentioned that participation in the competition significantly improved their hard skills and soft skills, including analytical thinking. data analysis, data structure, communication, and teamwork.

The team also stressed that the competition was a good platform to apply the skills learned in class to real-life situations.

Chula professor successfully converts carbon dioxide to methanol

Posted on by Chulalongkorn University

An Engineering professor, Chulalongkorn University has successfully converted carbon dioxide to methanol via a thermochemical method that consumes less energy and provides more yield, providing an alternative solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate the circular economy.

“Most of today’s methanol is synthesized from natural gas, which normally releases carbon dioxide during the production process. We, therefore, studied the production of methanol directly from carbon dioxide, which means that this helps to reduce carbon dioxide and also brings the gas back to some use and increases its economic value as well,” Asst. Dr. Pattaraporn says.

Dr Pattaraporn revealed the concept of a sub-research project under the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Conversion to Higher-Valued Products with support from the “Research Cess Fund” (RCF) from the Malaysia-Thai Joint Authority (MTJA) for the research team from the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Science, the Metal and Materials Research Institute Chulalongkorn University, and other institutions to study different technologies and methods to recover carbon dioxide.

“In general, methanol is synthesized from natural gas by thermochemical method, which produces one ton of methanol and emits about 0.5-1.5 tons of carbon dioxide.” Asst. Prof. Dr. Pattaraporn explained.

“Therefore, we studied how methanol is produced directly from carbon dioxide, which is a promising alternative to the environment and also enhances its economic value.”

Asst. Prof. Dr. Pattaraporn elaborated that methanol can be expanded into a wide range of environmentally friendly green chemical products, such as Dimethyl Ether (DME), used as heating fuel, and Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC), which is used in many industries such as the paint industry, and adhesive industry.  Dimethyl carbonate is used as a binder and is classified as a type of plastic material. It is also mainly used as an electrolyte in lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, which are becoming increasingly in demand.

“Nowadays, the production of dimethyl carbonate mainly uses phosgene, a highly toxic chemical that can cause death or serious health problems even with low concentrations. Therefore, dimethyl carbonate production from methanol and urea, or even from carbon dioxide directly is an interesting production pathway.”

Asst. Prof. Dr. Pattaraporn elaborated more on the fact that the carbon dioxide management approach that amine solutions are generally used to capture carbon dioxide and then separate it by heat until pure carbon dioxide is obtained. After that, the captured carbon dioxide can be further managed in two ways.

For this research, Asst. Dr. Pattaraporn chose the process of thermochemical conversion to convert carbon dioxide in which she used a reactor to generate heat and pressure, then induce a chemical reaction by adding hydrogen to carbon dioxide (CO2 hydrogenation) until it becomes methanol.

However, the thermochemical method demands intensive energy for the reaction and the methanol yield is low. Asst. Prof. Dr. Pattaraporn then finds a way to eliminate this drawback with the use of some alcohol as a catalytic solvent with copper-zinc oxide base catalyst (Cu/ZnO) to increase the methanol yield, and reduce energy consumption in the carbon dioxide conversion process.

Despite the research success, there are still many obstacles, such as the relatively high cost of CO2 capture, energy used in the CO2 conversion process, production costs and sources of hydrogen, market size constraints, and lack of investment incentives. So, if it receives support from the government in terms of policy, cost incentives, taxes, etc, this technology will become more competitive in the future.

“We have a plan to work with the industry sector to push forward the research to provide Thailand with new environmentally friendly products, create economic value for waste, and stimulate a circular economy. This is an important issue to which people today need to pay attention. We must try to save the environmental capital as best as possible to pass it on to the next generation so as to assure them of a better life.” Asst. Prof. Dr. Pattaraporn concluded.

 

Thammasat University wins global championship at OpsSimCom 2021

Posted on by Thammasat University

MBA students from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Thammasat University, on behalf of “tbs-cml” team, beat 61 contestants from the world’s top universities and won 1st prize at the Operations Simulation Competition 2021 (OpsSimCom 2021), a global competition organized by MIT Sloan School of Management, the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In this competition, the contestants ran a virtual factory through the Medica Scientific game for 2 days. The duration equated to 388 days, divided into 3 phases: 50 days for data in the start period, 288 days that the contestants are allowed to manage, 50 days for supervision according to their planning but they are not allowed to manage. The results were based on the amount of cash that remained. MBA Thammasat has joined the competition every year since 2009 and won the world championship for the first time in 2016.

Mr. Issara Rungwittayakul, a “tbs-cm1” team member from Thammasat University, explained that the challenging part of this competition was that there were two production lines and market price fluctuation.

“The most important thing that made us win this competition is that we analyzed market conditions, costs and selling prices with high-profit margins. Our team used strategies that focused on short-term loans for investment in the first period then we managed to boost production capacity and cost reduction as much as possible.”

Mr. Puripat Petchdee, a “tbs-cm1” team member from Thammasat University, said, “Knowledge is very crucial in this game. Thanks to Thammasat University, we gained the business knowledge which we have to know what we want our business to be, which direction to go, and what we need to do, for example, Investment Management course will focus on return on investment and risk management as well as computational skills that allowed us to choose the strategy for the most profitability.”

 

Thammasat University launched “The Circular Innovation Challenge”

Posted on by Thammasat University

SDG Lab: School of Global Studies, Thammasat University in collaboration with Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, a world-class chemicals company with a global leader in PET partners including the SEAMEO Regional Centre for Sufficiency Economy Philosophy for Sustainability, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched “The Circular Innovation Challenge” on April 26, 2021, to persuade young people between the ages of 16-30 to present their innovative ideas for general practice and development in order to create a circular economy, improve plastic waste management and solve hygiene problems.

This challenge offered a prize valued at over 200,000 baht together with learning session and workshop by experts from leading international organizations

Prof. Dr. Prapaporn Tivayanond Mongkhonvanit, Dean of the School of Global Studies, Thammasat University as the initiator of the Circular Innovation Challenge held by SDG Lab: School of Global Studies, said that the objective of the Circular Innovation Challenge is to raise awareness of circular economy issues.

In addition, it helps young innovators to enhance new skills to propose solutions concerning our society and the environment. The contest will be held as a hackathon, which is a design sprint-like event in which participants brainstorm to solve waste management issues.

Mr. Yash Lohia, Chief Recycling Officer of Indorama Ventures, said, “We are proud to support ‘The Circular Innovation Challenge’ and hope to provide tools and spaces for new generations to create a circular economy for the future. Moreover, they can learn from various experts directly. We hope this project will provide a better understanding of the circular economy in Thailand and promote the benefits of using recycled products because good innovation makes a comprehensive circular economy like our PET bottles, which still circulate in the economy loop.”

“For example, we are the first Thai company with the success of high-quality PET bottle recycling for the production of medical PPE which can be washed and used repeatedly replacing the single-use one.”, Mr Lohia added.

Recycling is the core element of a circular economy and a clear practice to reduce waste problems. Therefore, the company cooperates with both domestic and international organizations to support a universal declaration to increase the use of recycled products aiming at increasing the PET bottle recycling capacity to 50 billion bottles/year by 2025.

Mr. Renaud Meyer, UNDP Representative in Thailand said, “The poor waste management problem has a very negative impact on the environment and human life, especially the impact on marine resources, onshore biodiversity and public health. During the COVID-19 crisis, we saw the vulnerabilities of the waste management system, infrastructure as well as changes in waste management.”

“However, this crisis allowed us to initiate a more sustainable model of innovation, define green spaces, build resilience to life and develop modern innovations. The United Nations Development Program believes that innovation plays a key role in solving waste management problems. Thailand supports young entrepreneurs and communities by transferring knowledge of the waste management approach through circular economy principles,” Mr Meyer continued.

“The concept of circular economy is not only a guide to more sustainable resource management, but it also helps to achieve other sustainable development goals. One of them is Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.”

For the second straight year, Chula makes it to top 100 for Academic Reputation by QS WUR 2022

Posted on by Chulalongkorn University

The results for this year’s QS World University Rankings 2022 have Chulalongkorn University holding the prestigious ranking as one of the one hundred best universities in the world in terms of Academic Reputation. This is the second straight year that Chula has occupied number 96 and once again it is placed as the best university in Thailand.

The university also takes pride in being recognized as the top university in Thailand for the 13th consecutive year (since 2009) and for placing among the 215 best universities in the world.

This year’s rankings show that Chula still retains its prime position as first in Thailand for academic reputation which serves as the indicator with the highest-ranking value. It is a reflection of the level of confidence that Chulalongkorn University enjoys from the perspective of more than 100,000 representative academics, entrepreneurs and academic institutions around the world.

Apart from that, Chula ranks 101st in the world in terms of Employer Reputation, an improvement from last year where it was at 125 in this category. The same goes for the Faculty-Student ratio and International Student ratio where Chula also sees an improvement from last year as well.

The latest rankings are a reflection of the success in the developments implemented by the University known as “Innovations for Society” which have brought about significant recognition in both academic and industrial circles at the international level.

A novel strip test kit to detect 5 Types of prohibited meat in halal food in one go

Posted on by Chulalongkorn University

An all-in-one Strip Test — a fast, easy and accurate test kit to detect the DNA of 5 meat in a single test is the latest innovation from the Chulalongkorn University‘s Halal Science Center.

Food with certain types of meat is forbidden by Islamic dietary law and is a major concern for Muslims around the world.  Chula Halal Science Center’s strip test can detect such foreign meat contamination which consumers and food manufacturers can perform by themselves.

“This innovation certainly addresses the concerns that Muslim consumers and the general public have.  The Strip Test detects targeted DNAs, so it can yield a 100%-accurate result within 3 hours, which is much faster than sending the samples to the lab that normally takes 1-5 business days.  Moreover, it is also easy to use, cheap and convenient,” said Anat Denyingyote, Assistant Director and Head of Science and Technology Services Group, Chula Halal Science Center.

Anat Denyingyote, Assistant Director and Head of Science and Technology Services Group, Chula Halal Science Center
Anat Denyingyote, Assistant Director and Head of Science and Technology Services Group,
Chula Halal Science Center

Apart from cutting processing time and cost, the Strip Test also detects traces of the 5 prohibited meat in food (pork, dog, cat, rodent and monkey) in one single test. The test kit can be used with raw and cooked food, as well as other ingredients.

“We want Muslim consumers, the public, and food business operators to be able to perform the test on their own at a reduced cost for safety and their peace of mind,” Anat said while detailing the rationale behind the development of the Strip Test based on the HRMA (High-Resolution Melting Analysis) technology.   HRMA is used in halal forensic laboratory to detect contamination of the 9 banned meat (pork, dog, cat, rodent, monkey, donkey, snake, crocodile, and frog). The Center also offers other services to the public such as gelatin contamination test, fatty acid profile test, and ethyl alcohol test, etc.

Currently, Strip Test users are limited to business operators, halal inspection agencies, and a few consumers with a science background.  In the future, with the support of funding from the Agricultural Research Development Agency (Public Organization) or ARDA in collaboration with Tallenome DNA Professional Co., Ltd., the Halal Science Center, led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Winai Lahlan, and Prof. Dr. Suwimol Kiratipibul hopes to make this innovation widely accessible.  The plan is to make the Strip Test kit available at 300-500 baht, which is 10 times cheaper than a forensic lab test.

“Next, we will further develop Strip Test into a comprehensive test kit capable of yielding faster results and can be used for on-site detection.  It’s also easy for consumers to use. They can just follow the manual and perform the test,” Anat said.

 

Chula opens Gender Health Clinic to serve the transgender community

Posted on by Chulalongkorn University

The King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital of the Thai Red Cross Society has founded a “Gender Health Clinic” in collaboration with faculty members from the Gender Medicine and Menopause, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University to provide a comprehensive health clinic to underline the importance of transgender in Thai society today.

In addition, this Gender Health Clinic is also a specialized learning center for doctors, medical students, and interested medical personnel. It is also an international research centre on transgender health in conjunction with the Center of Excellence in Transgender Health (CETH).

“The establishment of a Gender Health Clinic is meant to provide medical services specifically for transgender patients who previously could find no specialized clinics in this field. Patients use hormones, self-inject hormones, or take birth control pills haphazardly or wrongly do what their friends do.  Some people go to underground clinics and are not treated by specialists which is even more dangerous,” Associate Professor Krasian Panyakhamlert, M.D., Head of Gender Medicine and Menopause, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of  Medicine, Chulalongkorn University and founder of Gender Health Clinic elaborated.

Dr. Thanapob Bampenkiatkul, MD. Special Lecturer in Gender Medicine and Menopause,  Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, and a specialist at the Gender Health Clinic explained,” Consultation depends on the way an individual patient wants to change his/her body to feel good. We provide information on the safest and most appropriate ways to become the person he/she wants to be.”

Regarding Hormone replacement therapy for a sex change, a popular method used by transgender people to transform their physique into their desired gender, Amarin Suwan, M.D., a lecturer of Gender Medicine and Menopause, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, and a specialist at the Gender Health Clinic, opined, “Every person’s body is different and requires different drugs/doses to suit the body. Some people are better suited for pills taken orally, while others are better with topical drugs, or they may get the same drug but at different dosages, which the doctor will recommend the best.”

Most importantly, hormone replacement therapy is not for everyone.  People with breast cancer, myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease (CAD), coagulopathy, polycythemia vera, or patients with abnormal liver or lipid profiles, etc. are barred from hormone therapy.

Dr. Thanapob said, “Transgenders have diverse needs.  For instance, most trans men want their ovaries and uterus gone because they don’t belong to their body, while some people don’t mind them as much.  Some may want to get pregnant or have vaginal sex, so they don’t have a hysterectomy, while only 3-4 per cent of all-trans men worldwide undergo penile reconstruction surgery. So, to each his own.”

The Gender Health Clinic offers gender reassignment surgery services for both transgender men and women, by working with a transgender surgery clinic.  The types of surgical procedures include breast reduction and breast enlargement,  hysterectomy, removal of ovaries, and fallopian tubes, penile and vaginal reconstruction, as well as castration, and other surgeries including hips augmentation, Adam’s apple sharpening, jaw sharpening, face shape change.

Adolescents under 18 years of age are treated on a case-by-case basis. The clinic has specialized endocrinologists and child and adolescent psychiatrists from the Integrative Adolescent Health Clinic. All of this is for service recipients to have a better quality of life and mental health.

Among other services, the Gender Health Clinic also offers counselling services for gender-related health problems, such as menopause, vaginal dryness, endocrinological disorders related to sex hormones, and the consequential unsatisfying sex, such as lack of sex drive, pain from sexual intercourse, etc.

Thammasat University conducts joint research on “Thailand’s One Year After Covid-19”

Posted on by Thammasat University

At Pridi Banomyong International College, Thammasat University, academic scholars from Thai studies, Chinese studies and Indian studies collaborated in conducting research under the topic of “Thailand’s One Year After COVID-19” to study the effects and analyze results to offer solutions and policy proposals that provides benefits to Thai people and community as follows.

Assistant Prof. Dr. Yi Lin from Chinese Studies Program found that focusing on cultural and traditional tourism would contribute to more success for Chinese tourist market to allow social and cultural exchanges between Chinese tourists and Thai people. The key to a positive attitude between Thai and Chinese people is that both of us have long-standing social and cultural integration.

Dr. Thomas Bruce, Head of Thai Studies Program, who highlighted the study of “The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Food Retail in Bangkok”, found that government measures against COVID-19 had a direct impact on the food retail and public transportations that remain available, such as MRT, are the crucial factors to the survival of Chinatown’s food retails because despite loss of foreign tourists, they were replaced by Thai customers.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Shweta Sinha from Indian Studies Program conducted a comparative study of the effects of COVID-19 on the agricultural sector of India and Thailand. The results showed interesting facts; during the pandemic, India increased rice exports by 44% compared to 2020. Vietnam also ordered rice from India for the first time in decades. However, Thailand rice exportation decreased by 31%due to its high price resulting in lack of competitiveness. According to Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), Thai farmers had a household debt of 54% and 50% of Thai farmers had debt over 200,000 baht per household and another 20% owe more than 400,000 baht per household.

“The challenges of the agricultural households are declining income and increase in debt, COVID-19 is also a factor of digital disruption,” noted Asst. Prof. Dr. Shweta Sinha.

Dr. Mohd Faheem, Head of Indian Studies Program, addressed the lessons learned during the lockdown in India which resulted in a massive relocation of labour to bigger cities for works and better income. Most of the migrants suffered from shortages of food, shelters, and money. In addition, they dealt with anxiety, paranoia, and fear of COVID-19 infection. Thus, his research suggested that the most important thing is that the labors should not have been ignored by the government and establishing labour database and distributing opportunities to the countryside would help manage and minimize migration to big cities.

Dr Usanee Lertrattananon, Head of the Chinese Studies Program, found that during the COVID-19 crisis, live streaming technology had become a key to success for several businesses. In addition, it became the people’s means to socialize. There were various successful Chinese websites and applications, e.g., Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok, that was introduced to Thai market. Therefore, COVID-19 offered opportunities and challenges for businesses at the same time.

Dr. Ornthicha Duangrat, Thai Studies Lecturer, focused on the conflicts between the superpowers, China and the United States, and mentioned “COVID-19 pandemic had inevitably intensified the competition between these two nations as well as expanded the influence of their powers. While vaccination currently played an important role. As we could see from Vietnam and the Philippines that they had to compromise and adapt themselves to balance the power of China and the United States. Likewise, Thailand needed to find more approaches for vaccination which might get from the ASEAN cooperation.”

Prommin Lertsuridej, M.D., the Former Deputy Prime Minister, said “The first priority of Thailand at this moment is vaccination and availability of rapid test kit to allow borders reopening so that Thai people would not lose their hope and faith. To be able to find infected patients quickly could save time and cancellation of quarantine measures would increase tourists’ interest in visiting Thailand. The rapid test kit is affordable and Thai specialists are developing it. I would like to see more of the government’s attention on this issue.”

COVID-19 has an impact on various aspects. It is more than a health issue because its impact remains widespread through the economy and society. This crisis is not only a challenge, but it is also a change that allows us to learn and grow at the same time.

Thammasat’s Center of Excellence researchers help durian farmers in Nonthaburi, Thailand

Posted on by Thammasat University

Asst. Prof. Dr. Duangrit Benjathikul Chairungruang, Secretary to the Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) as the ministry spokesperson has led a team of researchers from MHESI organizations: National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) and Center of Excellence in Agriculture Innovation through Supply Chain and Value Chain, Thammasat University, to visit to help Durian farmers in Nonthaburi, Thailand

The farmers encounter the saltwater intrusion resulting in agricultural issues, and using innovations from NSTDA, TISTR and TU including nanotechnology for water purification, water quality monitoring system with the mobile application will allow the real-time monitoring, seawater desalination system as well as fertilizers that give durians sweet creamy flavour and rich and smooth texture with a floral scent and soluble fibres.

The biggest problem was that local farmers had been affected by the saltwater intrusion causing the agricultural problems and they expected assistance from MHESI to bring technology and innovation to solve this issue.

TISTR will use arbuscular mycorrhiza to help improve salt stress and drought resistance. These fungi also enhance durian productivity, along with their own developed desalination filter to desalinate seawater from freshwater in durian plantations. While NSTDA will set up the water quality monitoring system with a mobile application that can be monitored at all times.

TU will regulate the plant root salinity defence mechanism to desalinate seawater from freshwater and allow the plant roots to find the nutrients from the proper areas which would improve the growth and resistance from drought and salt stress.

MHESI Secretary continued that besides solving the saltwater intrusion, MHESI had other technologies that are beneficial for durian cost reduction, productivity and quality enhancement. To help farmers TU and NSTDA would deploy these technologies.

Some of these technologies are IoT-based smart irrigation systems to manage water distribution in appropriate quantity from root transpiration and absorption that is dynamic in terms of temperature, humidity, transpiration and evaporation rate to save water and energy; Basin-Fertigation to increase the efficient use of water and fertilizers to increase fruit yield and give the sweet creamy flavor, rich and smooth texture with floral scent and soluble fibers to durians; Active bagging technology for the highest quality fruit packaging, Water management forecast for plantation according to Global GAP, Technology for fruit packaging materials that allows air flow through the package and smart irrigation controller and sensor via surrounding factors etc.