CTS Expanding Asian Facility

Elkhart-based CTS Corporation says it plans to nearly double the capacity of a manufacturing site in Thailand, reports Inside INdiana Business. The company says the expansion of the facility near Bangkok should be completed by mid-2011.

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Indy's Village Exchange

Reporter T.J. Banes profiled sisters Anne and Kelly Campbell in a recent Indianapolis Star. The pair operate The Village Exchange, a boutique in Broad Ripple that sells items made by artisans in underdeveloped countries.

Banes notes that the Campbell sisters are planning a trip -- open to the public -- to Thailand 27 November to 8 December, and are arranging for a group of 25 students from Franklin (Ind.) College to go to Uganda in January.

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Southeast Asian Officials Coming to Purdue

Officials from several Southeast Asia universities will visit Purdue University on Monday (28 June) for a workshop on government-private sector partnerships and the role of intellectual property as an economic development tool, reports the Purdue News Bureau.

The campus event, hosted by Purdue's Discovery Park, is part of a two-week seminar on innovation and intellectual property (IP) protection and enforcement supported by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The visit will include IP officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

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McIntosh Named Rotary World Peace Fellow

Dr. Ian McIntosh (pictured, at right, top), Director of International Partnerships at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis and faculty member in the Department of Anthropology, has been named a 2010 Rotary World Peace Fellow.

As part of this award, Dr. McIntosh will spend three months next summer at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand at the Rotary Center for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution.

The purpose of the Rotary Centers program is to:
· Support and advance research, teaching, publication, and practical field experience on issues of peace, goodwill, causes of conflict, and world understanding
· Inspire people to work for a culture of peace and tolerance while enhancing their capacity, knowledge, and skill by generating interaction between practitioners and academics
· Provide advanced international education opportunities in the area of peace and conflict resolution
· Provide a means for The Rotary Foundation and Rotarians to increase their effectiveness in promoting greater tolerance and cooperation among peoples, leading to world understanding and peace

Dr. McIntosh's research interests focus on issues of truth and reconciliation in global perspective, and he teaches a class at IUPUI that utilizes a unique "reconciliation barometer" to shed light on the quest for reconciliation through treaties, peace accords, apologies, reparations, truth commissions, trials and memorials. In partnership with the Scholars at Risk Network of New York University, and Human Rights Works, he coordinates the “Voices at Risk, Visions of Hope” speaker series at IUPUI. This series provides opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to interact via video-conference with some of the world’s most distinguished scholars who, as a result of their advocacy for human rights and justice in their homelands, have been forced to take refuge in the USA.

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Global Design Thailand Service Learning Project

A group of six students from Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis traveled to Thailand this summer for a service-learning project led by Jan Cowan, Associate Professor in the Architectural Technology Program in the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, and assisted by Timothy Diemer, the school's director of international services, who has wide experience in Thailand.

The IUPUI group's current project is the design for renovation of a traditional canal-side market, reports the IUPUI News Center.

Five of the IUPUI students represent the school's Design and Communication Technology Department: Amy Clifford, Mary Jensen, Stephanie Richard, Chris Savoy and Yodit Weldu. A sixth student, Steve Lingg, comes to the group from the school's program in Computer Graphics Technology and serves as the group's multimedia specialist.

Rajamangala University of Technology in Thanyaburi [RMUTT] is the partner institution in Thailand. The protocol for cooperation between IUPUI and RMUTT was established when a general agreement for cooperation was signed in 2005.

The 2009 Thai project is an activity of Global Design Studio, an international network of students who apply their skills in architecture, interior design, and related fields in service to communities in need. Jan Cowan and his colleague Cluny Way created Global Design Studio in 2004 as a platform for international service-learning projects. In addition to the 2009 Thailand project, Global Design Studio has existing or recent projects in Indonesia, New Orleans, Canada, Hawaii, and Indiana.

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New Castle Native is Ambassador to Thailand

Yesterday (29 March) The Indianapolis Star published a Q&A with Eric G. John, a native of New Castle who has served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand since 2007.

The item was, inexplicably, in the entertainment section of the newspaper.

Asian Festival Scheduled for 10 May

The Asian American Alliance, Inc., and Indy's Garfield Park will host the first-ever Asian Festival on 10 May. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., you can sample food and buy merchandise from vendors from all over Asia – China, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, India and Indonesia – all under one roof in Garfield Park.

Artwork of Asian artists in Indianapolis will also be on display at the Garfield Arts Center. Plus, cultural entertainment and activities will be offered throughout the day. Admission is free.

The festival is held in conjunction with the Asian Pacific-American Heritage Month, the month of May, as designated by the United States Congress.