Pon Tu of Saya Dr. Aung GyiSaya U Min Wun and Saya Dr. Aung Gyi at the Welcome Dinner for SPZP-2000
Born on 1st October 1931
Except for loss of hearing, he is healthy.
Attended SPZPs, mini-PZPs and micro-PZPs in Canada, USA, Singapore & Myanmar.
Matriculated in 1949
First group of engineering students selected to study at prestigious universities in the USA under the Twinning Program
BS and MS from MIT
Upon return, he joined the Faculty of Engineering as Assistant Lecturer.
Promoted to Lecturer & Head of Civil Engineering
Doctorate from University of Alberta
Succeeded U Yone Mo as Rector of RIT in 1971
Left for UN assignment.
Later : moved to Canada
Fondly talks about “the best days of his life at RIT”
DAG 2DAG 3
Contributions
Brief bio for SPZP-2000
Keynote at SPZP-2000 : Talked about Health & Emotional Intelligence
Article covering (a) State Scholarship in the USA (b) experience as Professor and Rector (HMEE book has excerpts from the article)
Introduction to the History of Myanmar Engineering Education ( in Supplement CD of HMEE book)
Coconut Episode (Heard at Saya Allen Htay’s house before SPZP-2000. Transformation of a student from a Coconut thief into a respected 3R teacher. Printed version appeared in “Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung” for a Singapore SPZP.)
Anecdotes on several occasions
Saya and I spent a few days together at Ivan’s house in New Jersey in 2015. Saya would tell us stories from his RIT days.
Ivan, Saya & me
We spent two nights at Saya’s house in Canada during the whirlwind trip hosted by Ivanwith the help of Fred Thetgyi.
At Saya’s house
During my visits to Yangon, I was “Ei Hmyaung” at the gatherings — one for the birthday of Daw Emma and one for welcoming Sayagyis attending SPZP
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) successfully sent Apollo-11 to land men on the moon and bring them safely back to the earth (as envisioned by JFK).
Apollo 11
Neil Armstrong — Civilian Commander; First man on the moon
Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin — Lunar Module Pilot; Second man on the moon
Michael Collins — Command Module Pilot
My Poem
The poem honoring the Apollo 11 Mission was published in the Guardian newspaper.
A copy of the poem was given to Mr. Hall (USIS), who forwarded it to NASA and the astronauts.
Updates
Neil Armstrong became a University Professor
For some time, Buzz Aldrin was depressed for not being the first to set foot on the Moon. He later competed in “Dancing with the Stars”.
Michael Collins reply to interviewers : “The mission needed three astronauts. I am 1/3 of the success.” He wrote a book.
Apollo 13 had a technical problem. The saga was recounted in a book and a movie.
Apollo 17 had a Scientist Astronaut.
A mini-history was published based on the interviews with Astronauts.
Wrote articles, poems, newsletters, translations, study guides and manuals.
9 articles for the Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife. They can be read from Google Books.
Encyclopedia
Broadcast 220 Educational Videos on Facebook and YouTube.
YouTube Channel
History
I love history, encyclopedias, stories and knowledge sharing. My beloved father, relatives, teachers, colleagues, friends, barbers and taxi drivers told me interesting stories. I hope that my posts can supplement the history books and encyclopedias.
I volunteered as a Docent for the CHM (Computer History Museum) for two years.
DTM
I was a member of HMEE (History of Myanmar Engineering) projects. U Ohn Khine (M70) and I served as contributors and proofreaders. We compiled the CD Supplement for the HMEE Book published in 2012.
HMEE BookCD for HMEE Book
Volunteer
I served as Executive Committee member for selected organizations.
I was Treasurer and Vice Captain of RUBC (Rangoon University Boat Club).
RUBC Magazine
I was Class Representative, Joint Secretary and Secretary of RIT EE Association.
RIT EE Association
I co-founded RIT Alumni International, which hosted the First RIT Alumni Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw in San Francisco Bay Area in October 2000.
SF Bay Area Alumni Advisory Group
I volunteered as an Organizer for SPZPs held in USA, Singapore and Yangon.
SPZP-2000
I co-founded NorCal RIT AA and served as BOD (Board of Directors) member.
NorCal RIT AA
I served as Vice President and BOD of TBSA (Theravada Buddhist Society of America). I was a Contributing Editor of Dhammanda Newsletter and the book “Paying Homage to Sayadaw U Silananda”. I was Master of Ceremonies at the Memorial Service for Sayadaw U Silananda.
TBSA
I belonged to several Toastmasters Clubs. I am a DTM (Distinguished Toastmater). I served as Club Coach, Mentor, Ambassador, Area Director, Contest Chair, Test Speaker and Judge.
Toastmaster
My Dreams
U Hla Min & spouse
Jules Verne said, “If one can dream, others can and will fulfill.”
I have realized my dream of getting the Sayas and Alumni connected physically and electronically. I founded the RIT Alumni (International) Newsletter in April 1999. I served as Content Provider and Editor of the inaugural RIT website designed by U Khin Maung Zaw. They helped the implementation of SPZP-2000 in USA and subsequent SPZPs in Singapore and Yangon.
SPZP-2000Newsletter
My second Dream was to help History projects. I served as a member of the HMEE project. With U Ohn Khine (M70), I compiled the CD Supplement for the HMEE book published in 2012.
HMEE-2012HMEE Book
My third dream was to celebrate Three Anniversaries in 2024 : (1) Centennial of Engineering Education in Burma / Myanmar (2) 60th Anniversary of RIT (Rangoon Institute of Technology (3) Silver Jubilee of RIT Newsletter. With the help of alumni volunteers, we were able to record memories of selected Sayas and publish them.
My spouse, sayas and friends suggested that I should share my knowledge and experience while my physical and mental health are reasonably good. Several sayas, colleagues, classmates and some Junior alumni are GBNF (Gone But Not Forgotten).
Request
It takes a lot of time to write, edit and organize posts into quality material that can be transformed into digital and printed books.
I request the collaboration from SME (Subject Matter Experts) and volunteers who share my passion.
World Wide SPZPs (SPZP-2000, SPZP-2002, SPZP-2004, SPZP-2007, SPZP-2010, SPZP-2012, SPZP-2016).
The following is a sample of gatherings.
Welcoming Sayas
San Francisco Bay Area Alumni welcomed several sayas. They include
U Ba Toke (Myanmar)
U Num Kok (Oregon)
Dr. Aung Gyi (Napean, Canada)
U Aung Khin (Windsor, Canada)
U Khin Aung Kyi (then in Thailand)
U Soe Paing (then in Myanmar)
U Maung Maung Win (Australia)
Dr. Hla Myint (Mack, Australia)
U Hla Myint (Charlie, Australia)
U Kyaw Myint (then in Beijing)
Dr. San Hla Aung (then in New Orleans)
U Win Kyaw & U Nyunt Htay (after attending 2015 LA Reunion)
CD
2006
Attended the RIT Alumni Dinner in Sydney, Australia. Met Saya U Hla Myint (M65), Saya U Myo Win (M/Ag65), Daw Phyu Phyu Latt (Christine, A70), U Aye Win Hlaing (Abel, La La, EE7x), U Myo Lwin (Stanley Saw, M71), U Htun Aung Kyaw (EC73), U Kyaw Thu (Dennis Mackey, C73), George Peters (C73), U Thet Htun (Henry, M75), U Wint Khin Zaw (A79), U Htay Aung (EC80), U Sein Win (C80), and several alumni.
Reunion CD
2007
Due to time, resource, and delivery constraints, I do not always get the official CDs. I sometimes get (a) preview versions (b) copy of the “master gold” (c) alternate to the official. It’s better to have something rather than nothing.
Preview CDOfficial CD
2011
The Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65 (aka Class of 70 & 71) had hosted Reunion & Acariya Pu Zaw Pwes for almost two decades.
The group usually published booklets at their main events.
Magazine 1Magazine 2
2012
Thanks to U Aye Myint (EP72), SPZP-2012 was a true Home Coming at the Gyogone Campus.
Pu Zaw Pwe was held at YTU.
Reunion Dinner was held at MICT Park.
PZPDinnerOfficial CD
2014
In November 1964, three batches of students were admitted to 1st BE, 2nd BE and 3rd BE classes.
RIT 69ers celebrated the pseudo Golden Jubilee (50th Anniversary of the Admission to RIT) in 2014. Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe was held at the YTU Assembly Hall. Reunion Dinner was held at Panda.
CD 1CD 2
2016
SPZP-2016 : Full day event at Gyogone Campus; Free Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Entertainment
SPZP-2016
Aug 2016 : Birthday Soon Kyway at Dhammanda Vihara, Half Moon Bay; Received Alumni Appreciation Award
Birthday Soon KywayAward 1
Sept 2016 : NorCal RITAA Annual Dinner; Received Alumni Appreciation Award
First classes offered in 1924 to two sets of students : B.Sc. graduates for a “compressed” 3-year course and eligible I.Sc. passed for a regular 4-year course. Details can be found in the article by U Hla Maung (1928 grad) for RU Golden Jubilee Magazine in 1970; and the History of Myanmar Engineering Education book published in 2012. The early sayas were British and Indian.
RIT Alumni Newsletter
RIT Alumni Newsletter and ex-rit.org published several articles by Civil alumni & sayas. They include articles by U Aw Taik Moh (C54), Dr. San Hla Aung (C58), Mr. Allen Htay (C58, GBNF), U Myint Khine (C63), Dr. Aung Gyi, U Min Wun, …
Civil Engineering Sayas
U Ba Hli
U Ba Hli
First native Dean of Engineering
Former Professor of Civil Engineering & Principal of GTI
Proposed “Twinning Program” between Faculty of Engineering and prestigious US Universities
U Mya Han
Professor before moving to industry
His company interned & hired Civil Engineers
Dr. Aung Gyi
BS and MS from MIT, and his doctorate from University of Alberta.
Retired as Rector
Gave a key note speech at SPZP-2000 emphasizing the importance of Health and Emotional Intelligence.
I was an Ei Hmyaung at two dinner gatherings in Myanmar given to Saya and Daw Emma.
Hosted us during our visit to Canada.
U Min Wun
Taught Surveying in our 2nd BE class in 1964
Retired as Professor & Head of Civil
BS from MIT; MS from Cornell — Photogrammetry
Founding member & VP of BARB. His expertise include Astronomy and Astrology.
Early supporter of RIT Alumni Newsletter
C58
Saya Allen Htay (GBNF), Saya Dr. San Hla Aung and Saya Dr. Win Thein (GBNF) are C58
AllenHtay
MS from Harvard University
Leader, SF Bay Area Alumni Group
President, RIT Alumni International
Organizer, SPZP-2000)
His article “Brother, can you afford $500?” resulted in Golden Sponsors & Donors for SPZP-2000.
President, RIT Photography Association
Retired & unretired twice in the USA.
Dr. San Hla Aung
MS from MIT
Doctorate from Tulane University
Taught until the age of 80.
Line Judge at RUBC regattas.
President of RIT Rowing
President, RIT Swimming
Dr. Win Thein
Retired as Professor & Head
Several batches of students donated medical expenses for Saya
His sister donated most of the Garawa money to charities in Saya’s memory
C61
Dr. Aung Soe (C61)
Led Practical sessions for our 2nd BE Surveying
Saya soccer team
Attended SPZP-2000
U Myint Lwin (C61)
Younger brother of Saya H Num Kok
Rowed for Engineering
Attended SPZP-2000
C62 – C63
U Tauk Lin — moved to USA
U Kyi (C63) — moved to USA
Kyi Kong Tham (C63) — moved to USA
Christopher Maung
U Tin Maung
U Ngwe Tun (GBNF)
C64
U Thein Tan (C64)
Rowed for Engineering
Retired as Rector of MTU
U Khin Maung Phone Ko (C64)
Phone Ko — famous cartoonist
Patron of RIT Cartoon Box
Dr. Ohn Myint (C64)
Moved to Irrigation
Worked for World Bank
U Win Maung (C64, GBNF)
Organizer, Lanzin Lu Nge
C65 – C68
U Myint Soe (C68, GBNF)
U Myat Htoo (C68) — moved to USA
Organizers
Saya U Hla Myint Thein (C69), Saya Dr. Myo Khin (C70) and U Saw Lin (C71) served as Secretary of the RIT Civil Association.
U Hla Myint Thein entered family business. He is Advisor to Hse Mile Gone monastery.
Dr. Myo Khin and Daw Mya Nwe (C73) donated K100 lakhs for YTU Library Modernization.
U Saw Lin was a Core Organizer for SPZP-2012. He wore multiple hats : Head of Security & Logistics, Chief Editor of commemorative Swel Daw Yeik Magazine, Coordinator for Reprint of 23 RIT Annual Magazines …
Saya U Myat Htoo (C68) served as President of TBSA and BADA. He is a founding member of RIT Alumni international and served as emcee for SPZP-2000. He is also a founding member of Norcal RITAA and Chair of BOD. He wrote, played and sung a parody of “Lost Neikban” at 2015 Alumni Reunion in Los Angeles.
C69ers
Several C69ers joined the faculty. They include U Nyi Hla Nge, Dr. Htin Aung, Dr. Khin Maung Win, U Khin Maung Tint, U Hla Myint, U Hla Myint Thein …
U Nyi Hla Nge — Professor, Rector, Dy. Minister
Dr. Htin Aung — Chinlon selection; Played badminton and soccer; Retired as Professor
Dr. Khin Maung Win — Retired as Associate Professor; Taught in Malaysia
U Khin Maung Tint —- Secretary of RIT Ah Nu Pyinnya Ah Thin; Found a Minthamee as his soul mate
U Hla Myint and U Hla Myint Thein have successful business. They Consult selected monasteries
Daw Myint Myint — Major donor to 69er Health Care Fund & 69er activities; Donated K150 Lakhs to YTU Library Modernization proj
U Han Sein (GBNF) represented RIT in Swimming, Diving, Water Polo and Basketball; Sentenced to 20 years by Adhamma authorities; Served 17 years. Since most 69ers were unaware, he was listed as GBNF in the Group’s Address Book (for the 30th Anniversary of Graduation); Became a Tone Kyaw; Succumbed to Covid
GBNF List
GBNF list include Sayas :
Saya H Num Kok
H Num Kok
Allen Htay
Dr. Win Thein
U Ngwe Tun
U Win Maung
U Myint Soe
U Aye Win Kyaw
Madan Chand
U Khin Maung Maung
…
Miscellaneous
Part time sayas include U Tin U, Percy Lao, Dr. San Lin, U Kyaw San (GBNF) …
Burma selected include Kyaw Htin (soccer) …
U Aye Win Kyaw (C70, GBNF) was a founding member and EC of BARB.
U Aung (C70, Maung Aw) was involved in providing help to selected schools.
Madan Chand (C70) was wrongly assigned to G-hall.
Dr. Soe Thein (C75) was organizer and web master for SPZP-2007.
Saya U Ba HliDr. Aung GyiU Min WunSPZP-2000Saya U Tin USaya Allen HtayDr. San Hla Aung Dr. Win Thein
ဦးသစ် (ကွယ်လွန်) U Thit was Head of the Department. He passed away in Melbourne, Australia.
Met 2
ဒေါက်တာစောဖြူ (ကွယ်လွန်) Dr. Saw Pru received Doctorate from Germany. He succeeded Saya U Thit as Head of Department. He passed away in Yangon. Some believe that he was reborn as the son of his nephew U Khin Aung Shwe.
Met 3
ဦးသန်းတင် U Than Tin : He studied in USA. He served as Interim Head of Department. He moved to the USA (East Coast and later to Southern California). We invited him to SPZP-2000, but he could not attend.
ဒေါက်တာခင်မောင်ဝင်း (ကွယ်လွန်) Dr. Khin Maung Win : He taught at Mandalay University and worked at UBARI. He received Doctorate from USA. He served as Head of Department before becoming DG of Technical, Agricultural & Vocational Training. He passed away in Yangon.
Met 4
ဦးအောင်လှထွန်း (ကွယ်လွန်) U Aung Hla Tun : He retired as Associate Professor. He published two books. He won the National Literary Award for the first book. He was Chief Editor for the RIT Annual Magazine. He was the Leader of HMEE (History of Myanmar Engineering Education) Project. He passed away in Yangon. His former students published a book in his memory.
Met 5
ဦးဖေဝင်း U Pe Win : He was Professor before he became Rector of YTU.
Met 6
Victoria Simon : She retired as Professor.
Met 7
ဦးတင်မောင်ညွန့် U Tin Maung Nyunt : He retired as Professor.
Met 8
ဦးဝင်းကျော် U Win Kyaw : He taught at RIT before moving to the Ministry of Mines. He represented RIT in Rowing. He attended the 2015 RIT Alumni Reunion in Los Angeles and the gathering hosted by iNapa Winery.
U Win Kyaw 1U Win Kyaw 2
ဦးသိန်းအောင် U Thein Aung : He taught at RIT before moving to the USA. He retired from Lawrence Livermore Lab. He represented RIT in Weightlifting & Body Building. He was Mr. RIT in 1968. His mentor was Bohmu Maung Maung (first Maung Bamar). He is a founding member of RIT Alumni International. He was an organizer and co-emcee at SPZP-2000. He had a reunion with U Win Kyaw & U Nyunt Htay at the 2015 RIT Alumni Reunion in Los Angeles and the gathering hosted by iNapa Winery.
U Thein AungSPZP-2000Hand over Salwei to Mg Mar Ga
ဦးညွန့်ဌေး U Nyunt Htay : He retired as Associate Professor. He is a poet. He is a contributor to “Poetic Art” Series organized by U Aung Myaing (Okpo Maung Yin Maung) and U Myo Myint (Bagyee Myat Myo Myint). He was Chief Editor of RIT Annual Magazine and Myanmar Mudita Sar Saung. He attended the 2015 RIT Alumni Reunion in Los Angeles and the gathering hosted by iNapa Winery. During my visit to Yangon before the pandemic, he hosted a Dinner Gathering for U Ye Myint, U Win Kyaw and me.
During our RIT days, he was a super energetic organizer and a prime mover. As a member of the Gold Flake Cigarette Family, he inherited business acumen and organization skills.
Co-founded “Set Hmu Thadizin Zin စက်မှုသတင်းစဉ်”. Typing and drawing on stencil paper were not easy, but he spent time crafting the stencils into the revered weekly Thadinzin.
Vice President, RIT Mechanical Engg Association. Co-founded Magazine for the Association.
Suggested to name the main gate as “U Lu Paw Gate ဦးလူပေါ ဂိတ်” after the famous cartoon character from “Burma Star”.
Organized mini-festivals for freshers and junior students.
Graduated in 1967 with Mechanical Engineering
Worked for Sittaung Paper Mill and PCIC.
Founded “Ya Tha Cho”.
Did not live long enough to see SPZPs, SDYF, RITAA, HMEE & Shwe YaDu.
Remembering U Win Thein
The following remembered his contributions well.
U Tin Maung Aye (M69) : Member of RIT Ah Nu Pyinnya Troupe, Member of RIT Annual Magazine & Co-worker at PCIC. He gave us two photos of U Win Thein (one at RIT, one at PCIC)
U Aung Min (M69) : Chair of 69er Health Care Fund & Organizer for the Class of 69
U Thein Swe (EP69, GBNF) : 3rd BE Luyechun & Organizer of EE69er Gatherings
U Maung Maung Kyi (Dip Ing, Wales, GBNF) : Co-worker at Sittaung Paper Mill & PCIC
Sayama Daw Tin Tin Myint (Emma, ChE70, Singapore) : Co-founder of Dana Sri Lanka, Minthamee, Organizer of Singapore Pon Chan Chan Group
U Wynn Htain Oo (M72) : Super Fund raiser for RIT-related activities including SPZPs, YTU Library Modernization Project; Patron of RITAA
U Win Thein Zaw (Wai Lu) wrote : နာမည်ချင်းတူ၍သိခြင်း။ ကျောင်းသားချင်း Tuition ပေးခြင်း။ စစ်တောင်းစက္ကူစက်အုပ်စုဖြစ်ခြင်း။ မန္တလေးကုန်စည်ဒိုင်သို့ဆရာဦးလင်းနှင့်ရောက်လာခြင်း။ နေမကောင်းစဉ်ရန်ကုန်အိမ်တွင်တွေ့လိုက်ရခြင်းများကိုသတိရလျက်ပါကိုဝင်းသိန်းရေ
Updates
Mechanical Newsletters for 1968-69 to 1973-74 were scanned and archived in a CD by U Kyaw Thein and Daw Than Than Mu (1974 batch)
