On 2 March 2021, NSTDA President Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul, along with NANOTEC Executive Director Dr. Wannee Chinsirikul and NECTEC Executive Director Dr. Chai Wutiwiwatchai, participated in the press conference announcing the upcoming NSTDA Annual Conference 2021 (NAC2021) to take place from 25-30 March 2021 with the theme “STI Driving BCG Economy for Sustainability”. To embrace the new normal environment, NAC2021 – comprising seminars, exhibition, open house, job fairs and STEM activities - will be held entirely on an online platform at https://www.nstda.or.th/nac/.
Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) has recently been declared the national agenda. BCG is an economic model to drive a sustainable economic growth and improve per capita income. The BCG Strategic Plan 2021-2026 emphasizes on utilizing Thailand’s strength in biological and cultural diversity as a basis for enhancing competitiveness of 4 sectors, namely 1) food and agriculture, 2) medical and wellness, 3) bioenergy, biomaterial and biochemical, and 4) tourism and creative economy.
Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will graciously preside over NAC2021 opening ceremony and deliver a keynote address to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Thailand-CERN relationship. Princess Sirindhorn has initiated the collaboration between CERN - the European Organization for Nuclear Research – and a number of Thai institutes to build up Thailand’s scientific capacity.
The program of NAC2021 consists of 34 tracks of seminars with interesting topics such as COVID-19 vaccine development, nanorobotics research for cancer treatment, R&D on railway safety and social and economic benefits of circular economy. Virtual exhibition presents the Thailand-CERN collaboration and BCG model in eight areas, namely 1) agriculture, 2) food, 3) energy and material, 4) drug and vaccine, 5) medical device, 6) tourism, 7) circular economy and 8) biodiversity.
NSTDA Open House offers virtual tours - and an online live chat for Q&A - to research facilities and services available to support industries, business owners and entrepreneurs. NSTDA Open House will be held on 25-26 March with 8 sessions on offer: modern agriculture, future food, reforming energy, nano cosmetic, tourism after COVID-19, circular economy, regenerative medicine and rehabilitation and business opportunities @Thailand Science Park.
Virtual S&T Job Fair provides an opportunity to meet with 30 leading companies looking for talents to fill 2,000 new jobs, whereas STEM activities consist of online seminar and interactive workshops for teachers and students.
Examples of innovations in the virtual exhibitions are M-Pro Jelly Drink (protein drink made from mungbean), plant-based chicken meat, information system for sustainable development, ZpecSen (smartphone spectrometer) and a solar-powered ultrafiltration membrane water treatment system.
Participation to NAC2021 is free of charge. Please visit the website https://www.nstda.or.th/nac/ for detailed program and online register.
