Microsoft and Faculty of Engineering Chulalongkorn University Announce the Inaugural Partnership for Innovation through Chula Engineering Innovation Hub

 |   Pornravee Suramool

Enhancing innovation with technology, driving socioeconomic development in Thailand to 4.0 era, and also accolading team PH21, the world winner of Imagine Cup 2016, as a role model
Associate Professor Dr. Supot Teachavorasinskun (2nd from above-right), Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University and Siriporn Pajharawat (2nd from left), Director of Developer Experience & Platform Evangelism (DX) Group, Microsoft Thailand announce Partnership for Innovation: Imagine Today, Build Tomorrow – the company’s first partnership with an institute of higher education through Chula Engineering Innovation Hub. Team PH21, a team of students from Computer Engineering at Chulalongkorn University whose game titled “Timelie” just won Microsoft Imagine Cup 2016 world championship in Games category, also represent as the Faculty’s innovative engineers.

Bangkok  31 August 2016 Microsoft (Thailand) Limited joins forces with Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University to announce Partnership for Innovation – the company’s first partnership with an institute of higher education through Chula Engineering Innovation Hub. The partnership aims to enhance technological innovation and to drive socioeconomic development and support the Government’s Thailand 4.0 strategic plan. Team PH21, a team of students from Computer Engineering at Chulalongkorn University whose game titled “Timelie” just won Microsoft Imagine Cup 2016 world championship in Games category, also represent as the Faculty’s innovative engineers.

Under this collaboration through Chula Engineering Innovation Hub, Microsoft aims to equip students at the Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University with technological skills as well as access to software and various tools via Microsoft Imagine program. Its main objective is to enable students to gain knowledge beyond classrooms in order to pick up the pace of technology and be innovative engineers in the near future. For those who have potential and aspire to further become startups, Microsoft will provide access to world-class software, tools, and other useful resources through Microsoft BizSpark. This partnership is the first of its kind cooperation with Thai educational sector. With strong collaboration and support from related parties, Microsoft hopes to help nurture and grow outstanding software innovations into new potential businesses.

Microsoft BizSpark is a global initiative that empowers and supports new software developers or startups to kick-start their businesses with confidence. Microsoft will grant them 3 years of access to the Microsoft software and Microsoft Azure cloud platform, which is worth to 120,000 USD or 4 million baht per year. Through BizSpark, Microsoft has already supported more than 400 startups in Thailand.

Associate Professor Dr. Supot Teachavorasinskun Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, said, “The Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University is very pleased to join Microsoft, the world’s leading IT company, in driving forward innovations by focusing on baseline development of digital and IT skills for students and the Faculty personnel –which is the main pillar of Chula Engineering Innovation Hub. The Hub’s mission is to fully support students, lecturers, university officials and the IT industry in their capacity to innovate in response to the needs of Thai society and the world. The Faculty of Engineering at Chulalongkorn University is committed to creating an ecosystem suitable to foster skilled innovators in hope that they will become the main driving force for Thailand’s economic growth and take the nation forward.”

Siriporn Pajharawat Director of Developer Experience & Platform Evangelism (DX) Group, Microsoft Thailand, said “One of Microsoft’s core strategies is to support the educational sector in developing IT professionals and technologists for the country. In Thailand 4.0 era, professionals and technologists with IT expertise are in high demand to raise the country’s competitiveness and advance the IT industry.”

“Microsoft is proud to be a part of this initiative to develop quality IT talents. We have done many programs in the pipeline such as Imagine Cup, Microsoft BizSpark and Partnership for Innovation through Chula Engineering Innovation Hub. The Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, one of Thailand’s most highly regarded institutions, is our first partner in this “Partnership for Innovation” ambition and we intend to expand the partnership to other universities and institutes across the nation in the near future,” added Siriporn.

Parimeth Wongsatayanon – a member of Team PH21, the global winner of the Games category in the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2016 competition – said, “Imagine Cup 2016 competition is a great opportunity for us to showcase not only our own capability in gaming technology but we also the whole process of making great ideas come alive. From technical aspect, we were confident that Timelie could win. However, we had to build on some soft skills to win over the judges and make the whole design more complete in terms of business potential. For this, we received support and care from Microsoft throughout our stay in Seattle for the World Finals round. This was a very valuable experience that could not be had from anywhere else. Once we learned about the Partnership for Innovation, we were very excited that our classmates will be empowered to create great innovations with the help of Microsoft’s world-class technologies and learn directly from their specialists.”

Microsoft is a world-class IT company that has continuously supported innovation development in Thailand for more than 20 years. Up to date, over 400 startups have received grants from Microsoft BizSpark, and more than 10,000 students have taken part in the Imagine Cup Thailand competition. The country maintains an impressive record on the world stage in Imagine Cup with world championship victories in 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2016. According to the latest information from SIPA, the market for software development and services in Thailand continues to grow with an expected total value of 54,984 million baht this year – up 4.4% from the previous year with expectations of hitting 4.3% growth and 57,257 million baht in value by 2017.