I completed my undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at Kasetsart University (KU) in Thailand. I then obtained my master’s and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. After this, I returned to Thailand where I am currently working as a full-time Associate Professor and Vice Dean on Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Engineering at KU. 

Although my academic focus has been on chemical engineering, I have always been interested in finance. I learned about the CQF program from a colleague in computer engineering, who completed the program about 10 years ago. I learned that our university is connected with the Capital Market Development Fund (CMDF) of Thailand, an organization that provides a full scholarship to support university staffs who wish to obtain the CQF certification. For the January 2024 cohort, five KU faculty members from Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Business Administration received the scholarship and all graduated last November. I would like to acknowledge and thank the CMDF for their support.

The CQF program is very challenging but has expanded my knowledge of finance considerably.  Coming from a chemical engineering background, I have worked on the development of mathematical models based on partial differential equations, machine learning, and Monte Carlo simulation. However, I did not have a strong background in finance. I benefited a lot from the curriculum, particularly through immersion in the Primers from the very beginning. I also discovered many intersections with my current works. For example, in modules 4 and 5, we focused on machine learning. This is an area I have been working on in chemical engineering. The core concepts are the same, but the application and the way we implement those concepts are different. There are definitely ways to bring chemical engineering and finance together. The mathematics background that you acquire in chemical engineering studies is definitely applicable to finance as well. 

In the future, I will be involved with a new initiative at my university. I was truly delighted to receive the CQF First in Class Award and hope to share my enthusiasm for quantitative finance to my students in the future.

When I look back at the logistics for the CQF, I think the most important thing would be time management. I completed the program while working full time, and it was essential to follow the lectures regularly. Given the time zone differences, it was almost impossible for me to attend the live sessions, so I followed along with the video lectures. I allocated time in the evenings and on weekends for additional studying. Some people might not have used math or programming tools for quite some time; if your skills are rusty, then it is best to brush up on them early in the course.  In addition, I would recommend planning ahead for the final project. It can be wonderful, inspiring work that enables you to explore certain areas more deeply, depending on your interests. However, it will go more smoothly if you have focused hard on the Primers and Python labs and thought about your areas of interest. The CQF is a comprehensive, intensive course that will encourage you to engage actively with the material and I recommend it highly.