AIT was established in 1959, by the governments of Australia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as the SEATO Graduate School of Engineering, with Thailand as the host country.  The Institute’s remit was to produce world-class engineering and development professionals equipped to lead nation-building initiatives in their home countries. 60 years on, with ambassadors from 13 countries and the UN on its Board, AIT remains true to its original mission.  In 1989, AIT received the Magsaysay Award for International Peace.

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AIT is uniquely representative of national aspirations, regional diversity and global development priorities.  Its 25,000 graduates span over 100 countries, serving in academia, corporates, government, international agencies and the UN. More than 38,000 public officials, NGO staff, and corporate executives, trained through AIT’s professional courses, contribute to enhancing quality of life in their organizations and communities. 

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The Sustainable Energy Transition Department is the backbone of AIT’s Energy sector expertise. It spearheads an interdisciplinary approach encompassing new technologies, policy, social, and management aspects geared towards grooming next-generation sustainable energy professionals capable of delivering reliable, clean, and affordable energy in response to development demands in the 21st century. AIT Energy faculty are acknowledged for work on low carbon power supply systems, energy intensity reduction, and energy access.

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EDSMAT, the Energy Development: Services, Management, and Technology program at AIT was established in 2012 specifically for skill-development of energy sector practitioners.  EDSMAT has since trained over 1,600 professionals from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, with 180 currently enrolled. EDSMAT is housed within the Development Management (DM) group at the Yunus Center AIT, a trans-disciplinary outreach unit that promotes enterprise-led approaches to community resilience through capacity-building, pro-poor technologies, financial inclusion and social innovation.

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DM is a specialized training management team tasked with the design and delivery of professional trainings and HRD/OD project services for a diverse portfolio of clients across the Indo-Pacific.  DM has extensive experience of working with clients from all SAARC and ASEAN member nations, as well as countries in East Africa and Latin America.

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Given its regional mandate, recognized technical expertise, active engagement with power sector stakeholders in all South Asian countries, and a robust reputation for capacity-building across all sectors, AIT is a natural hub for a collaborative regional effort such as SAR100.  As a member of the LPST Regional Working Group (RWG), AIT is well-placed to leverage its strong linkages with power sector institutions in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, well as Australia and Thailand, to anchor the program and contribute an innovative training design that can build gender diversity in the energy and power sector across the South Asia region.