ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT (EEM) at AIT began in 1964 with the need for sanitary engineering to address the problems of providing adequate water supplies and sanitation facilities. This pioneering environmental engineering program has grown into a range of fields needed to tackle the environmental issues facing Asia today.

Environmental Engineering and Management Field of Study is part of the School of Environment, Resources and Development. The overall program looks for solutions to environmental problems, water supply and sanitation, wastewater treatment and disposal systems, air pollution, solid and hazardous wastes, waste minimization, and life cycle assessment, environmental impact assessment and management and environmental toxicology.The three major focal areas are

• Environmental Technology and Management
• Environmental Toxicology, Technology and Management
• Water and Wastewater Engineering

Environmental Technology and Management

This area of specialization takes a system approach to managing the environment and includes the interrelated roles of industry and government agencies. Environmental engineers and scientists enrolled in this field, study the environmental impacts of development projects. The reckless exploitation of natural resources in developing countries has been at the cost of severe environmental pollution and subsequent degradation. Understanding and management of air, water and land resource deterioration requires that a wide range of disciplinary perspectives are included in the curriculum.

The focal areas of ETM include:
• Air pollution: Integrated monitoring and modeling for photochemical smog, particles, POPs and other air toxics; Dispersion and receptor modeling; Long range transport; Effects on health, Ecosystems and climate; Exposure assessment; Air pollution control systems
• Industrial environment management; cleaner production, waste auditing, industrial waste abatement and management, waste minimization
• Water quality management: surface water quality monitoring and modeling, microbiology
• Solid and hazardous waste technology and management
• Solid pollution and remediation engineering and management
• Integrated multimedia environment management and risk assessment
• Ground and groundwater quality assessment

Environmental Toxicology, Technology and Management

This area of specialization is jointly offered by Chulabhorn Research Institute, Mahidol University, and AIT with assistance from a team of international experts from the United States, Europe and the United Nations Environment Program. This multi-disciplinary, inter-university program is a combination of toxicology and toxicology related health sciences, biotechnology and environmental engineering. The goal is to train students to deal with discharge of toxic chemicals from an international and regional perspective and to conduct research and development in areas of environmental and industrial toxicology, hazardous waste treatment and environmental management. Remediation techniques of polluted sites focusing on local plant species in combination with native soil flora and fauna are also focused.

The focal areas of ETT&M are:
• Monitoring of the level of oil and petrochemicals at the work place, storage tank, marine and soil/sediment environment
• Development of technologies for clean-up (biological and phytoremediation) of hazardous waste sites (heavy metals and inorganics including POPs, VOCs and PAHs)
• Ecological risk assessment of organochlorine pesticide residues in the natural environment and in selected living organisms and used as bio-indicators
• Evaluation of acute and chronic toxicity of environmental pollutants in human using cell lines and animal models.
• Determination of accumulation and contamination of toxic heavy metals (Cd, Hg, As, Pb, Cu etc,) in selected industrial areas of Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Cambodia. Indonesia).

Water and Wastewater Engineering

This program is for engineers specializing in planning, design, operation and management of water supply, wastewater treatment and disposal systems. Specializations include water supply and sewage system engineering, water quality management, water and wastewater treatment systems, groundwater contamination, waste recycling/ and resource recovery.

The treatment technologies are developed/employed for both conventional and hazardous waste/wastewater from domestic and industrial sources.

The focal areas of WWE include:
• Biological treatment processes
• Physio-chemical treatment processes: ozonation, membrane techniques
• Advanced water and wastewater treatment
• Natural and ecological systems for wastewater and sludge management
• Appropriate environmental sanitation systems/services
• Control of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Micro pollutants, pharmaceuticals and personal care products

Two-Phase Master’s Program with AITCV

The Environmental Engineering and Management in collaboration with AIT Center in Vietnam (AITCV) offers a Two-Stage Master Program in Environmental Technology and Management for Vietnamese and interested candidates in the region. This program is designated to meet the needs of professionals working in the field of environmental engineering and management, planning, design, operation and management of water supply, wastewater treatment and disposal systems. The first batch of the program was officially launched at the AITCV-Hanoi in July 2004 and is offered annually since then. The program offers 1 semester in Vietnam, which is taught by regular AIT faculty, and qualified students join to continue the study at AIT in Thailand starting from the second semester. The students are from industries, organization and universities in Vietnam. Scholarship providers are Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), Vietnam, Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Petro Vietnam and Industrial Zones like Sonadezi, Vietnam.

Cleaner Production

The Asian Industrial sector is facing two conflicting trends; global competition and increasing environmental awareness. Raw materials, energy and labor are becoming expensive, and the overall capital and operating costs are rising due to measures introduced to minimize and control air and water pollution, and solid waste generation. The industrialized nations have responded to pollution and environmental degradation by cleaner production approaches that help prevent pollution and waste generation at the source of production rather than end-of-pipe treatment. This interdisciplinary specialization is designed in collaboration with all the three schools of AIT to educate students on the need for both technical and management skills to implement cleaner production concepts into their work environments.

DEGREE PROGRAM

Master Program

The curriculum for the master program consists of required courses and elective courses, culminating with a thesis or research study. The thesis or research study is the final requirement for the master degree. It presents an opportunity for students to apply concepts, theories, methods and tools learnt during coursework to practical situations. It also provides an opportunity for the students to specialize in a particular area of research interest and professional expertise. The duration of master program is 22 months (4 semesters).

Preferred background for master’s program:

For ETM, ETTM, and WWE, undergraduate degrees in biochemical or chemical engineering, civil engineering, environmental engineering or related applied sciences, or health science and biomedical science. For ENEX, undergraduate degrees in civil and environmental engineering, architecture, economics, geography, law, natural science, public administration, sociology or urban and regional planning or related applied sciences.

Doctoral Program

The doctoral program consists of course work and a dissertation. The dissertation is the final requirement for the doctoral program. The doctoral dissertation requires a high level of academic performance: mastering different theoretical approaches and methods, and contributing to the advancement of knowledge and the solution of practical problems. It requires the student to put forward original and innovative ideas and synthesize is/her knowledge in considerable depth. The program normally takes three years (six semesters) of full time study.

Preferred background for doctoral program:

Master’s degree in a relevant field and detailed dissertation research outline must be submitted with the application.
Diploma Program
The purpose of the program leading to the award of the Diploma of the Asian Institute of Technology (Dip. AIT) is to offer advanced training on defined topics. A student must complete all the requirements of the Diploma within two years from the date of enrollment.

Certificate Program

Certificate students are expected to fulfill all requirements of each course, be assessed and receive a grade recorded on an official transcript. They are registered as full time students of the institute.

Career Opportunities

Graduates have an excellent opportunity for employment in private as well as government and international agencies, university teaching and research organization involved in Environmental Technology and Management, Environmental Toxicology, technology and Management and Wastewater treatment and Management. Moreover, the graduates also can develop their career as consultant for abatement of air, water and soil pollution.

Financial Aids

AIT scholarships are awarded only to qualified candidates for Master’s and Doctoral programs. Applicants for the master’s program scholarship who already hold a master’s ‘degree are usually not eligible for AIT scholarships. Selection of students for scholarship awards is made on the basis of academic criteria and, where appropriate, on practical experience. Compared with other universities, the possibility of scholarships fo Asian candidates with exceptionally high academic qualifications is greater. In addition, there are sources of fund for students to conduct their thesis research in their home country. The program is supported by Swedish International Development cooperation Agency (Sida), Canadian International development Agency (CIDS), Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA), German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)< Asian development Bank (ADB), Swiss National centre of Competence in research (NCCR) North-South Program, Government of Japan, Government of France ad Government of Thailand.

Research Laboratories

Our Laboratories consist of the Main Laboratory, Ambient Laboratory, and Environmental Research Station. These laboratories are well equipped with facilities for technical and practical outreach activities in teaching and training. The laboratories can be used to analyze physical, chemical and microbiological environmental sample and a full-range of environmental parameters in water and wastewater quality, solid wastes, air pollutants and noise level. The laboratories also include microbiological and biotechnology facilities for studying pathogenic characteristics and recovery of by-products industrial wastewaters. The waste stabilization ponds and constructed wetlands facilities which treat sewage from the AIT campus have been designed to facilitate experiments as well.

The Main Laboratory includes teaching and research laboratories for thesis and sponsored project research projects. It is equipped with advanced instruments such as GC/FID, GC/ECD, GC/TCD, UV-Vis spectrophotometer, atomic absorption spectrophotometer with flame, graphite and cold vapor operations, hydride formation system, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), FPLC, SFE, TOC analyzer, IC, ICP-OES, distillation unit, microtox analyzer, microbalance, microwave digester, ozone generator etc. New sets of equipments such as FISH, PCR-DGGE are being added in the laboratory for “Molecular Technique for Biomass Characterizations”. Sampling equipment for particulate air pollution (Hi-Volume, dichots, MiniVols, OPC), for gaseous air pollutions, and for stack emission (Auto-5™) are available.

The Environmental research Station, situated in an outdoor field, is equipped with pilot-scale experimental set-ups for aerobic and anaerobic biological wastewater treatment units, constructed wetlands, waste stabilization ponds, and a hazardous wastewater treatment plant. The transportable container pilot plant has different aerobic and anaerobic reactors varying from 2 to 12m³, and is also equipped with on-line measurement devices for pH, temperature and gas.

Teaching and research Collaborations

EEM has research collaborations with several national-regional and international universities and research institutions:
• ARRPET: The Asian Regional Research Programme on Environmental Technology (ARPET), coordinated by AIT is one such program engaged in research on environmental issues relevant to Asia. Funded by Swedish International development Cooperation Agency (Sida), ARRPET involves 18 National research Institutions (NRIs) from 8 Asian countries, namely, china, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam,. The programme’s major research themes include: (1) Wastewater Treatment and Management; (2) Sustainable Solid Waste Landfill Management in Asia; (3) Improving Air Quality in Asian Developing Countries; and (4) industrial and Hazardous Waste Treatment and Management.
• WHO Collaborating Center: EEM is recognized by WHO as collaborating center in the field of water supply & waste disposal.
• SACWET: southeast Asian Center for Water Environmental Technology (SACWET) was established in November 2002 to promote research activities on water environment in Southeast Asia under collaboration between AIT and the University of Tokyo, Japan. EEM is taking the leading role for the operation of SACWET, including implementation of collaborative research and organization of symposiums.
• Collaboration with Universities: EEEM also has research as well as teaching collaborations with several international universities. These include collaborations with University of Tokyo, technical University of Denmark, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Uraban-Champaign, Clarkson University, Royal University of Phnom Penh and several others.

To apply, click here to go to Admissions Process and Application.

For more information on EEM, contact:

Environmental Engineering and Management
School of Environment, Resources and Development
Asian Institute of Technology
P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang
PathumThani 12120 Thailand
Tel: +66 2 524 5642
Fax: +66 2 524 5625
Email: suchitra@ait.ac.th