By Danielle Duan
Head, Emerging Markets International Cooperation / OIPA
A delegation from the Asian Institute of Technology led by President Prof. Kazuo Yamamoto, visited the University of Saint Joseph in Macao (SAR) on 14 March 2024 to establish a new partnership in the Greater Bay Area of China.
The visit was a part of an eleven-day strategic mission to China and Macao led by President Yamamoto which included Mr. Shawn P. Kelly, Executive Director, Office of International and Public Affairs, Dr. Chaklam Silpasuwanchai, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Information Management and Ms. Danielle Duan, Head of Emerging Markets International Cooperation, Office of International and Public Affairs.
The University of Saint Joseph is a Catholic university founded in 1996, and is connected by structural, academic and social bonds to the special administrative region of Macao, mainland China, Portugal, and broader Portuguese-speaking areas of the world. USJ offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs ranging from the humanities to the social and technological sciences.
The AIT delegation was warmly received by Prof. Keith Morrison, Vice-rector for Research of USJ. Prof. Morrison recalled the reports from USJ colleagues on an earlier visit to AIT, and commented that USJ and AIT share a similar size, common interests, international perspectives and are a good, complementary fit to collaborate.
President Yamamoto agreed, emphasizing AIT’s mission for promoting sustainable development and social impact, and its emphasis on research, and outreach to support communities to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed between AIT and USJ will lead to academic and research cooperation, and facilitate internationalisation and exchanges for USJ and AIT in Southeast Asia, the Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China, and promising emerging markets, officials of both partners said.
Prof. Alexandre Lobo, Head of the Department of Business Administration and Head of the Laboratory of Applied Neurosciences, Prof. David Gonçalves, Dean of the Institute of Science and Environment, and Prof. Karen Tagulao, Programme Coordinator for the Master of Environmental Sciences and Management and Chair of the USJ Green Committee, guided the AIT delegates on a tour of the USJ green campus facilities, as well as their labs and research facilities.The respective faculty members share the idea and emphasis on addressing real world problems with hands-on experiments and studies in their teaching. Interested faculty members from the two institutes have begun discussions on joint research and joint supervision opportunities focused on digital technologies, environmental sciences and business analytics.
