Our History
The institute received a HITACHI-10 computer system from the Government of Japan through a collaborative aid project between the Thai and Japanese governments in the field of computing.
The system was used for teaching, learning, and educational assessment within the Faculty of Engineering.
The system consisted of:
- Main memory totaling 72 KB
- Drum memory with 64 KB capacity
- 7 tape reader/punch machines
- 2 central processing units (CPUs)
The Faculty of Engineering at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (then a branch campus under the Royal Thai Air Force jurisdiction) received technological assistance from the Government of Japan.
As part of this support, the institute received the NEC-300 computer system (running ACOS-4 Release 7.51), which was installed in Room T.102, Telecommunications Building.
Since then, the NEC-300 system replaced the older Hitachi-10 system, which had been in use since 1974.
.
By 1982, the NEC-300 computer system had been relocated and installed on the second floor of the Computer and Electronics Building, which had just been completed at the time.
The use of the NEC-300 system increased significantly, especially for teaching, learning, and research in computer science and computational tasks in administrative systems — such as the development of the student registration processing system.
This was the first time the Faculty of Engineering implemented institutional computing for academic and administrative purposes.
The modern capabilities of the NEC-300 system represented a major leap forward, highlighting the growing importance of computing in education and research.
As a result, the institute officially establishedthe Office of Computer Research and Services to oversee and manage computing resources.
Its roles included providing services, supporting research and development, and promoting academic computing across departments — for the benefit of faculty members, researchers, and staff throughout the institution.
.
On November 26, 1984, the Office of Computer Research and Services was officially established as a faculty-level unit.
Its purpose was to meet the growing demand for computing in education, research, and institutional administration.
In alignment with the university’s policy, the office focused on providing computing services to departments and personnel across the institution, benefiting three core functions:
teaching and learning, research, and university administration.
The unit was also tasked with maintaining computing equipment as essential infrastructure and providing support and guidance for computing applications and research.
This included developing software systems and programming tools to assist faculty members and students within the university.
A new NEC-610 mainframe computer system (running the ACOS-4/MVP XE-AF operating system) was installed at the Office of Computer Research and Services.
This installation was part of the Japanese government's technical assistance under the 5-Year Expansion Project of KMITL (April 1988 – March 1993).
The first phase of installation occurred in July 1989, and the system consisted of the following components:
- Central processing unit with 24 MB main memory and 16 KB cache Magnetic disk drives with a total capacity of 3.8 GB
- Two magnetic tape read/write units
- Two printers
- B4670 LAN and CCITT V.24 data communication controller
- Three NEC APC-III terminals
- Fifty-four NEC APC-IV units
- Graphics output capability
- One plotter
Computer Services
The computer laboratory (located on the 2nd floor of the Somdej Phra Debrat Building) was equipped with 60 NEC PC-8001 mk II microcomputers.In March 1991, the Office of Computer Research and Services installed a dedicated Local Area Network (LAN) using NetWare 386, with 35 NEC APC-IV microcomputers connected to Terminal Room A (2nd floor).
These systems were linked to the NEC-610 mainframe using the NetWare 368 version.
Information System Development The office developed and maintained institutional information systems under the KMITL Management Information System (KMIS) project, supporting key administrative functions such as: Payroll and finance systems, Student registration and academic records, Building and facility management systems, Inventory and materials management, etc.
Research Activities
The office also supported researchers and academics in computing-related fields, particularly in: Computerized Tomography (CT), NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance), VLSI Design (Very Large-Scale Integration), Microprocessor and software design, Computer-Based/Managed Instruction (CBI/BMI), Networking and communication devices, Thai speech synthesis and recognition, Thai-English machine translation, etc.
During 1991–1992, the office initiated a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) equipment procurement project and established a Computer-Aided Design Center to support engineering and design education.
The institute received government funding to implement an open-system computing and network infrastructure under a high-performance computing (HPC) initiative.
The goal was to provide internet and intranet services to students, faculty, and staff within the university, as well as to government agencies and the public sector.
This supported teaching, learning, and advanced computer science research.
- High-performance computing server (“Nawamas”)
- Internet gateway server (“Chaokhun”) – SUN Sparc 2000
- Application server (“Khaesad”) – SUN Sparc 2000
- Database server (“Romklao”) – HP T520
- Faculty-level service servers
- 119 X-terminal workstations
The institute received additional government funding to expand its computer and network infrastructure under the open system project.
The Office of Computer Research and Services emphasized service quality and standardization, applying the ISO 9000 Quality Management System to its operations in support of education and IT services.
As a result, the office received full certification for the ISO 9002 quality management system for all its operations on December 19, 2000.
The office was assigned additional responsibilities to maintain and develop software for the university’s information systems in support of institutional administration.
This included providing technical consultation and resolving issues related to computing and information systems across the institution.
The institute developed a strategic plan to implement the E-University infrastructure project, focusing on both hardware and software upgrades.
The initiative aimed to enhance and replace outdated computing resources, and expand IT services to better support learning, teaching, research, and university administration.
These upgrades were aligned with national information technology policies and included:
- Grid or cluster computing systems
- Licensed software for engineering applications (e.g., CATIA, MatLab, Mathematica)
- Online learning platforms (E-learning)
- Video conferencing systems for remote teaching and meetings
- Campus-wide wireless LAN and access points
- Efficiency and security support systems for computing services across the university
.
On March 7, 2008, the institute was officially transformed into a university under the Thai government, following the Royal Act of Establishment of King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang as an Autonomous University, published in Royal Gazette Volume 125, Part 45 ก, pages 95–124. As part of the administrative restructuring, the former Office of Computer Research and Services was renamed the
Office of Computer Services.The office is responsible for: Maintaining and operating the university’s computer systems, Serving as a centralized IT support center, Providing campus-wide internet and network services, Supporting digital communications and basic IT troubleshooting for various units across the university
he university restructured its administrative framework, transferring the Information Systems Division under the Office of Computer Services.
The Office of Computer Services was tasked with: Managing and maintaining computer systems and infrastructure, Serving as a central hub for IT services, including internet systems and campus networks, Providing technical support and troubleshooting services for various departments within the university, In addition, the office was also assigned responsibilities for planning, designing, and developing administrative information systems to support university operations.
The Office of Computer Services, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), implemented the 100 GB SDN Campus Network for KMITL of Thailand.
This system significantly improved service stability and allowed seamless 24-hour communications. A campus-wide Wi-Fi network with over 3,000 access points was deployed to support university-wide usage.
The project was part of KMITL’s innovation and smart campus initiative to support the institution’s vision of becoming one of the Top 10 universities in ASEAN by 2020.