KMUTT

 The view when you enter KMUTT!

 

So I figured I would take a post to explain what the academic purpose of my study abroad trip is. So far I have been blogging about my traveling adventures and just skimming over the fact that I am here on a STUDY abroad trip! Well the university I am doing said studying at is King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT). It is an academy that focuses on technology. There are 3 campuses in Thailand and I am studying at the main campus here in the suburb Bangmod.There are many different types of schools in the KMUTT system for undergraduate degrees and graduate level programs. The school I attend in called The Joint Graduate School for Energy and the Environment (JGSEE for short). Currently I am just taking one course in a summer school format. I have Environmental Chemistry every day for 2 hours and then in the afternoon we have an informal class in Thai language. My Environmental Chemistry course has been a conglomeration of calculus, geology, chemistry, and physics. We have our first test this week, so wish me luck! The Thai class has been dominated by food vocabulary and restaurant etiquette because right now there are no Thai students in our class so our interaction has been limited to food pathways.

Starting in August I will take three classes at JGSEE and those will have both Thai and foreign exchange students. So far all of the students I've met have been really nice, so I can't wait to meet more in my classes! I'll take Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Pollution Control Technology, and Energy and Management in Buildings. I realized I was doing the right study abroad program when I starred 15 of the 17 classes that I could chose from, marking them as ones I was interested in. All of them were right up my alley! I just wish I had more time to take them all. Classes work differently here and I will have each class once a week for 3 hours. We'll see how my hyperactive brain handles that come August...but I will definitely need to practice some serious concentration techniques if I'm going to last in a 3 hour lecture!! Another huge component of this study abroad experience will be my capstone research project. I think I have decided on a project that will look into bio fuels and how to effectively incorporate them into Thai energy policy. I will write more on that when I start to do research.