2023 SATU Presidents' Forum Steering Committee Meeting Convenes in India on November 17th-18th
Written by Elysee Chung. Image credit to Office of International Affairs.
A group photo of the participants at the SATU Steering Committee Meeting.
The Annual Steering Committee Meeting of the Presidents' Forum of Southeast and South Asia and Taiwan Universities (SATU) took place on November 17th-18th, 2023, at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay in Mumbai, India. The meeting was attended by representatives of the steering committees from multiple countries, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
From left to right: Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director of the co-hosting institution IIT Bombay; Abhay Karandikar, Secretary of DST of the Indian Government; and Chen Hong-Chen (陳鴻震), Executive Vice President and Vice President for International Affairs at NCKU.
The meeting took place on November 17th, which was chaired by Chen Hong-Chen (陳鴻震), the Executive Vice President and Vice President for International Affairs at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU). Chen highlighted the forum's critical role as a significant international alliance, crediting its growth to the steadfast support from member universities and the steering committee. Notable collaborative endeavors, such as the Joint Research Scheme (JRS) and the SATU Mobility Action for Regional Talents (SMART) Program, have substantially enhanced cooperation among member universities, particularly in faculty and student interactions, contributing to SATU's progressive development. In a bid to enrich diversity in development and collaboration, amendments to the SATU Constitution were proposed this year, which aimed at infusing new elements into the alliance and aligning it with future developments.
Interaction among participants at the SATU steering committee meeting.
Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director of the co-hosting institution IIT Bombay, underscored SATU's role as a vital link connecting universities across Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Taiwan. He emphasized that the network not only enabled member universities to improve the quality of education and research through shared resources, it could also facilitate mutual support in boosting members’ international visibility, enhancing SATU's international influence in the long term.
Mohd Fadhil Bin Md Din, Director of UTM Campus Sustainability delivered a keynote speech.
During the meeting, the 2023 SMART International Innovation Competition ceremony was also held online. Director Chaudhuri and Vice President Chen were invited to present the awards. Six winning teams attended the ceremony in real-time to receive their awards and share their participation experiences. In the afternoon of the same day, there was a series of lectures. S. Sudarshan, the Deputy Director (Academic and Infrastructural Affairs) at the IIT Bombay, and Sachin C. Patwardhan, Dean of Research and Development (R&D) , provided an overview of the institution. It was followed by the keynote speech by Abhay Karandikar, the Secretary of Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Indian Government, sharing insights on how collaboration can foster national scientific research development. The second keynote speech was given by Mohd Fadhil Bin Md Din, Director of UTM Campus Sustainability from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). He shared valuable insights from their journey and experiences in the development of a sustainable campus.
On the 18th, meeting participants visited the campus and some of the featured research facilities of IIT Bombay. NCKU also took the opportunity to discuss with the university representatives from Vietnam on potential collaboration.
Initiated in 2003 by NCKU and a number of esteemed university leaders in Southeast Asia, the SATU Presidents' Forum was officially established in 2006. Its primary aim is to establish an exchange platform, encouraging the sharing of experiences and fostering international collaboration among universities in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. Presently, the forum comprises 102 member universities across 10 countries in Southeast and South Asia.
Provider:
NCKU News Center
Date:
2023-11-29
