Brief History
- In January 22, 1962, Field Marshall Sarit Dhanarajana, Thailand’s prime minister and the there president of the committee for the development of the Northeastern region of Thailand, agreed to found a high-level institution in the fields of Engineering and Agriculture in the city of Khon Kaen named “Khon Kaen Institute of Technology” (K.I.T.). Later, Field Marshall Sarit Dhanarajana transferred the institute to be affiliated with the national educational system and changed the name of the institute to “Northeastern Regional University” in order to get special funds from the United Nations.In May 17, 1963, Mr. D. J. Rohner from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the agent from the UNESCO, surveyed and reported the need to have an academic institution in the field of engineering for the development of the Northeastern region of Thailand. In October 15, 1963, the Canadian government sent Professor R. M. Dillan from the University of Western Ontario to help establish the Faculty of Engineering at Khon Kaen University.
- In June of 1964, the first group of 58 students were enrolled and taught by the Department of Medical Science, Medical University (now Mahidol University). Dr. Vithya Pienvichitr was the first dean of engineering.
- In 1965, Prime Minister Poj Sarasin and the cabinets had the resolution to found the university and enrolled the second group of students. This time, students were taught by their own faculty, but still used the location and infrastructure of the Department of Medical Science, Medical University (now Mahidol University). The cabinets had a consensus to change the name of the university from the Northeastern Regional University to “Khon Kaen University” following the name of the city in which it is located. The Faculty of Engineering established departments and offered degree programs as follows:Establishment of Bachelor’s Degree Programs:
- 1964 Establishment of the Department of Civil Engineering and offering the bachelor’s degree program in Civil Engineering
- 1965 Establishment of the Department of Electrical Engineering and offering the bachelor’s degree program in Electrical Engineering
- 1967 Establishment of the Department of Agricultural Engineering and offering the bachelor’s degree program in Agricultural Engineering
- 1971 Establishment of the Department of Industrial Engineering and offering the bachelor’s degree program in Industrial Engineering
- 1975 Establishment of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and offering the bachelor’s degree program in Mechanical Engineering
- 1983 Establishment of the Department of Environmental Engineering and offering the bachelor’s degree program in Environmental Engineering
- 1984 Establishment of the Department of Chemical Engineering and offering the bachelor’s degree program in Chemical Engineering
- 1990 Establishment of the Department of Computer Engineering and offering the bachelor’s degree program in Computer Engineering
- 2017 Offering four bachelor’s degree programs (International programs) consisted of Chemical Engineering, Logistics Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, and Digital Media EngineeringEstablishment of Master’s Degree Programs:
- 1980 Offering the master’s degree program in Structural Engineering and offering the master’s degree program in Water Resource Engineering
- 1988 Offering the master’s degree program in Agricultural Machinery Engineering and offering the master’s degree program in Electrical Engineering
- 1993 Offering the master’s degree program in Mechanical Engineering
- 1998 Offering the master’s degree program in Chemical Engineering
- Offering the master’s degree program in Environmental Engineering
- Offering the master’s degree program in Computer Engineering
- 2000 Offering the master’s degree program in Soil and Water Engineering
- 2002 Offering the master’s degree program in Industrial Engineering
- 2003 Offering the master’s degree program in Civil Engineering (Regular/International)
- 2006 Offering the master’s degree program in Agricultural and Food Engineering
- 2007 Offering the master’s degree program in Energy Engineering (Regular/Special Program)
- Offering the master’s degree program in Environmental Engineering (Special Program)
- 2008 Offering the master’s degree program in Computer Engineering (Special Program)
- 2009 Offering the master’s degree program in Hard Disk Drive EngineeringDoctoral Degree programs:
- 1999 Offering the doctoral degree program in Water Resource Engineering (International program)
- 2002 Offering the doctoral degree program in Mechanical Engineering (International program)
- 2003 Offering the doctoral degree program in Agricultural Engineering
- 2003 Offering the doctoral degree program in Civil Engineering (Regular/English language program)
- 2003 Offering the doctoral degree program in Mechanical Engineering
- 2004 Offering the doctoral degree program in Electrical Engineering
- 2006 Offering the doctoral degree program in Environmental Engineering
- 2009 Offering the doctoral degree program in Industrial Engineering
