King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL for short) is a leading research and educational institution and one of Thailand's leading universities. It is in the city of Bangkok, Thailand. KMITL was founded in 1960 in Nonthaburi province as a telecommunications training center under the technical support of the Japanese government; the center was later named the Nonthaburi Institute of Telecommunications. After moving to a new location at Lat Krabang near Suvarnabhumi Airport, the campus became King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang. Engineering began at KMITL in 1960 with a course on telecommunications engineering. In 1982 KMITL launched the nation's first doctoral degree in electrical engineering and awarded a doctorate in electrical engineering to Dr. Chom Kimpan, who also earned the first Doctor of Engineering granted by a Thai university. More recently KMITL has partnered with Thailand Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, a joint effort among Tokyo Institute of Technology, Thailand National Science and Technology Development Agency, KMITL and SIIT to offer international Master's degree in Automotive Engineering.