On the recommendation of the Executive of the WIETE International Academic Advisory Committee (WIETE-IAAC), a new grade of membership, fellowship, has recently been established. This is the WIETE highest membership grade awarded to prominent international academics in recognition of their distinguished contributions to engineering and technology education, outstanding achievements in the globalisation of engineering and technology education through the activities of the WIETE and, in particular, for their exceptional service to the WIETE.

Four distinguished international academics were elected WIETE Fellows on this occasion and were presented with their diplomas at the Conference Banquet of the 3rd WIETE Annual Conference on Engineering and Technology Education, held in Pattaya, Thailand, on Thursday, 9 February 2012, by Dr Dianne Q. Nguyen, WIETE Academic Secretary and Conference Convener, on behalf of Prof. Zenon J. Pudlowski, WIETE Director, who was unable to do the honour due to his sickness.

The first WIETE Fellows are: Professor Adinarayana Kalanidhi, Vice-Chancellor of the Commonwealth Science and Technology Institute, Kandy, Sri Lanka, Vice-President of the Commonwealth Science and Technology Academy for Research (C-STAR), Chennai, India, and President of the  WIETE International Academic Advisory Committee (WIETE-IAAC); Professor David W.S. Tai, Dean of the College of Management, Hungkuang University, Taichung, Taiwan, and WIETE-IAAC Vice-President; Professor Promod Vohra, Dean of the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, USA; and Professor Sławomir Wiak, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Control Engineering, Technical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland, and WIETE-IAAC Vice-President.

In congratulating the recipients on their award, Dr Nguyen pointed out their outstanding contribution to the world of science by conducting research, development and promotional activities in engineering and technology education, and thanked them for their exceptional involvement in the life and activities of the WIETE.

The picture shows (l-r): Prof. A. Kalanidhi, Dr D.Q. Nguyen, Prof. S. Wiak and Prof. D.W.S. Tai.