On March 2, 2022 at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul, President of NSTDA, together with Dr. Julathep Kajornchaiyakul, Executive Director of MTEC, and a representative research team had held a press conference of the NSTDA 17th Annual Conference: NAC2022 under the theme of “Revitalizing Thai Economy through BCG Research and Innovation.” This event will be held during March 28-31, 2022 through an online platform: www.nstda.or.th/nac.
Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul, President of NSTDA, said that this year, NSTDA would organize ‘NAC2022’ through an online platform to be in line with the New Normal Style, which all activities, such as seminars, exhibitions, and open house will be held during March 28-31, 2022 via www.nstda.or.th/nac. NAC2022 will consist of 3 groups of activities, i.e., as online exhibitions with 102 topics, online seminars with 45 topics, and an online open house with 61 topics.
NAC2022 will be held for 4 days providing valuable knowledge sharing for all groups of people to learn and state-of-the-art technology and innovation from researchers and laboratories so that science and technology will be used to enhance the quality of products and services. This event will receive grace from Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to preside over the opening ceremony on March 28, 2022, which will be broadcasted live on Channel 11 (NBT) from 09.00 am onwards.
Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul said that this year’s theme follows the policy of the Prime Minister who had announced the BCG Economy or Bio-Circular-Green Economy as a national agenda on July 13, 2021. The goal of this policy is to help boost up Thai economy and create stability and higher incomes for people under the 6-year strategic plan to drive Thailand with the BCG (2021-2027). This strategic plan consists of 4 major areas, namely, (1) Agriculture and Food, (2) Health and Medicine, (3) Energy, Materials, and Biochemicals, (4) Tourism and Creative Economy. The selection of these areas reflect Thailand’s strengths in biodiversity and cultural diversity. As NSTDA is an agency under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, therefore, the BCG policy will involve all the ministries and agencies.
NSTDA has implemented this policy, is focusing on science, technology, and innovation to respond to the BCG in various fields, namely, (1) Agriculture and Food, such as the utilization of local resources for the production and value-added of local pumpkins at Na Noi District, Nan Province, Smart Farming System (HandySense), Plant-based egg, and Peroxide Test Stripe, and (2) Health and Medicine, such as the development of the ‘PETE’ (Patient Isolation and Transportation Chamber), ENcase (an innovative electrolyte disinfectant generator), the development of nasal spray vaccines, and various types of COVID-19 testing kits. All of which are the results of research and innovations that will help create stability for Thai’s economy and reduce the dependence on imports.
Dr. Julathep Kajornchaiyakul, Executive Director of MTEC and Chairman of the 17th NSTDA Annual Conference, said that NAC2022 will be held through an online platform so that all participants can learn the knowledge and technologies that NSTDA has acquired. The seminars can be accessed anytime and anywhere. There will be 45 topics of online seminars, i.e., the challenges of improving Thai tourism through health tourism, BCG Economic Model in the field of medical devices, the progress of Thai medical device industries under the cooperation of the public and private sectors, Food Waste and Circular Economy Concept, Genomics Thailand: the future of Genomics medicine and the applications of Genomics Technology, and workshop on STEM activities conforming to competency-based courses with BCG Model, as well as International Webinar on COVID-19.
There will also be 102 topics of online exhibitions divided into 4 groups following the key actions of driving the BCG Economic Model and the AI action plan of NSTDA, namely, (1) Agriculture and Food, (2) Health and Medicine, (3) Energy, Materials, and Biochemicals, and (4) Digital and Electronics. Each exhibition will be presented by its related researchers who develops the technology. Both online exhibitions and online seminars can participate via Cisco VDO Conference and Webex Meeting. The participants can register to attend the seminar via www.nstda.or.th/nac by selecting the interesting topics on their convenient date and time. After registering, the system will send a URL link via the participant’s email. The participant can attend the selected seminar via Webex meeting program, which can be easily installed both on a computer and smartphone. More over, if some participants cannot attend the selected seminar, they can also register to participate and watch the video on demand.
Another interesting activity is the Open House activity for entrepreneurs and investors to participate via an online platform. NSTDA will present 43 laboratories, totaling 61 topics. Each laboratory will be presented closely through various equipment and if the participants have any questions, they can ask the orthopedist directly through a chat message of the online platform. The Open House activity aims to create opportunities for the target group, i.e., businessmen, industrialists, and investors to expand their business with science and technology.
In this event, MTEC will present samples of the research results, namely, a Low-Protein Natural Rubber Gloves (enR/Prox), which was developed by reducing the total protein content and allergenic protein conforming to the ISO 11193-1:2008, EN 455, and ASTM D3578-05 standards, and are thus suitable for general users and people with protein intolerance in natural rubber, as well as helps enhance the quality of natural rubber glove products to be competitive with synthetic rubber glove products and maintain Thailand’s leadership in the production of rubber and natural rubber products in the world.
Furthermore, there will be the 3D Circularity model for sustainability be applied in the construction industry, thus building the sustainability for this industry, used resource management, and the waste management that occurs in the construction industry throughout the supply chain. Thus, from the acquisition of raw materials used in the construction process, planning and design, construction process, and waste collection until the reuse of the materials, and recycling process with the effective and efficient way.
This device can be used as a decision-making tool for product designers and buyers to consider choosing materials that meet the circular economy concept with the efficient use of resources. That is, all raw materials used must come from recycled components or recycled materials without compromising on recycling (100% recycling efficiency), as well as no waste generated during the production process, and when the products expire, they could be reused or reused without a loss (Zero Waste).
Lastly, ENcase is an innovative electrolyte disinfectant generator employing the principle of electrochemical reactions that use only a mixture between salt and purified water to make a solution of sodium chloride (NaCI) before using electrical processes to do chemical reactions and produce 2 types of solutions, which are acid and alkali. The acid consists of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) which is a naturally weak acid similar to the immune system in human leukocytes and an effective oxidizer that helps inhibit and kill most bacteria and viruses. The development of ENcase had received funding support from the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) for efficient use during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Those who are interested in attending NAC2022 can view more details and register to participate in the event at www.nstda.or.th/nac. For more information, please contact 0-2564-8000.
