Head, Disaster and Risk Management Information Systems Research Group, Chulalongkorn University
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011 and the Thailand Floods of the same year were among the most destructive natural disasters in Natt Leelawat s lifetime.
For Leelawat who began graduate studies at Tokyo Tech as Japan and Thailand reeled from these disasters the year 2011 would mark a turning point in his life and career. What I learned from Tokyo Tech and being in Japan helped me clarify my interests, create new research on disaster risk reduction, and communicate my knowledge to a new generation of engineers and technologists, he says.