7 Countries Meet at WACE-ISO@SUT Advisory Board Meeting

Suranaree University of Technology led by Professor Dr Wichit Srisa-an, Chairman of the SUT Council, and Professor Dr Prasart Suebka, Rector, and Assistant Professor Dr Boonchai Wichitsathian, Director of Centre for Cooperative Education and Career Development, welcomed board members and special guests from 7 countries to the 2^nd World Association for Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education Satellite Office at Suranaree University of Technology (WACE-ISO@SUT) Regional Advisory Board Meeting on Thursday 6^th, March 2014 at Wichitpakhiyastan, Nonthaburi.

Apart from distinguished dom board members, international ones included Professor Dr Zakaria Abas, Principle Research Fellow for Centre for University-Industry Collaboration, Malaysia, Mr Shakeel Ori, Director for Co-operative Education, Durban University of Technology, South Africa, and Ms Keiko Saito-Miyakawa, President of NPO Japan Forum for Work-Integrated Learning, Japan. Special guests participating in the Board meeting were Dr Paul Stonely, WACE CEO, Mr Olof Blomqvist, WACE Executive Board member and Senior Advisor, University West, Sweden, and from Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta (UAJY), Indonesia, Dr Mario Antonius Biwono, Vice-president, and Dr The Jin Ai, Head of Industrial Engineering Department, whose 4 engineering students are currently undertaking their international cooperative education at Western Digital (Thailand) Co., Ltd under academic supervision from SUT’s School of Industrial Engineering.

This 2^nd Regional Advisory Board meeting discussed several important issues for furthering the further promotion and enhancement of the operation and activities of WACE and WACE-ISO@SUT. Four key events and activities will take place as a result of this whole day discussion, including

1 .ASEAN Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education (CWIE) Network Establishment Forum organized by Thailand’s Office of Higher Education Commission (OHEC), Thai Association for Cooperative Education (TACE), WACE-ISO@SUT, and possibly Universiti Utara Malaysia, scheduled late 2014

2. WACE-ISO@SUT International Workshop in Thailand organized as a part of SUT’s 25^th Anniversary celebrations in 2015

3. Collaborations between WACE ISO@SUT and WACE ISO at University West, Sweden in terms of both promotion of international CWIE between the two regions and research collaborations of the two universities’ PhD Programmes in Cooperative Education

4. International CWIE Pilot Project between WACE-ISO@SUT, Western Digital (Thailand), and NPO Japan Forum for Work-Integrated Learning, which will see an exchange of CWIE students between Japan and Thailand within this year

The meeting ended with an experience sharing session on ‘International CWIE from Western Digital Thailand, Co., Ltd. and Other Countries’, in which International CWIE students from Canada, Indonesia, and South Africa, and CWIE mentors from Western Digital (Thailand) shared and exchanged views on various issues on international CWIE.

It can be said that this 2^nd WACE-ISO@SUT Regional Advisory Board Meeting, though a small one, is grand in scope and will have an impact that goes beyond Asia and the Pacific Region. SUT is once again acknowledged and hailed as a true leader in international CWIE in the world.