The Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) educational framework is growing in Asia. In a regional CDIO exchange in March 2017 hosted by the Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT) and Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, educators from around the world witnessed its impact – four years after the institutions adopted the framework with support from Temasek Foundation International. Today, lecturers and professors thrive with a new sense of purpose: empowering students to take charge of their own learning.

Text by Wong Shu Yun.

*More of such stories can be found in Temasek Foundation International's 10th anniversary commemorative book 'Leading Journeys: Inspirations for Asia and Beyond".

RMUTT Industrial Engineering students giving a demonstration of their robotics model in a workshop.

Thai Traditional Medicine College student Orada Anusakpitaya (left), 20, presents her project, where she used traditional herbs to make tarts. Orada not only conceived the idea of healthier pastries, she also convinced her classmates of it through presentations, which trained her communication skills.

Tarts, using traditional herbs, made by students from the Thai Traditional Medicine College.

Natha Kuptasthien (left), who leads CDIO in RMUTT, interacts with participants at the 2017 CDIO Asian Regional Meeting. Temasek Foundation International, which supports CDIO in Thailand, is a supporter of the framework because of its focus on addressing real-world situations.

Professor Natha sharing her experience of using the CDIO framework, which RMUTT has implemented since 2014. RMUTT together with Chulalongkorn University now take the lead in advancing CDIO in Thailand. In the next phase, RMUTT will develop students who meet – more acutely – the industry’s needs. The goal is to make every RMUTT student highly employable and open to a world of opportunities.

As part of CDIO’s active learning, students design and build real-world solutions. Industrial Engineering students Takonkiat Arirob (centre), 23, and Udomsak Wattanagool, 22, carry out a demonstration of the robotic arm they created with supervision from their lecturer Sakchai Chantasri (right), 54.