Page 19 - MSU Campus Tour Guide eBook

18 Mahasarakham University Campus Tour Guide

3. Center of Excellence for Silk Innovation

MSU has a firm belief in promoting the silk industry of northeastern Thailand,
and with this in mind has established the Center for Excellence for Silk
Innovation in 2000. Being in the geographic center of the region amid the
rich silk culture, the center plays a leading role in conducting research and
preparing personnel to support the industry throughout Thailand.

Back in 2000, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pawit Thongroj, was the originator of the silkworm
development project. He discovered that a lot of people in the Isaan region at
that time worked with mulberry and silkworm in their houses. Back then, ninety
percent of all farmers’ families in the region earned additional income from silk
production. Like the fossil stepped on 1 million times before being marvelled at
once, silk is another thin but impossibly strong string that connects our past and
future.
True to our roots and the original president’s commitment, MSU has dedicated
itself entirely to working on silk research. In keeping with that commitment, the
University established and developed a “Sericulture” center at MSU in
collaboration with Japan’s Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT).