2021. 5.6

Japan Society of Civil Engineers
International Activities Center

IAC News No.103
Japanese Civil Engineers the Global Leaders Symposium Series17

East-West Road Improvement Project (N-70), Pakistan
On March 2, we held the Japanese Civil Engineers the Gloal Leaders
Sympsosium Series No.17, East-West Road Improvement Project (N17), Pakistan online. That project received the JSCE Outstanding Civil
Engineering Achievement Award for 2019 fiscal year.
At first, Mr. Nobuhiro Kawatani, Director of South Asia Division 2,
South Asia Department, JICA, made a presentation on the projects
implemetnted in Pakistan, suppoeted by JICA. Next, Mr. Akio
Okazaki, from CTI Engineering International Co., Ltd. talked oftechnical aspects of the project. After that, lecturers from Taisei
Corporation, Mr. Taketo Matsumoto, Mr. Masaru Hirano, Mr.
Shigeharu Sawada, and Mr. Katsunori Yasui, made presentations on
execution of the construction works, technical features, difficulties
faced such as security problems, and life at the construction site camp.
The unfamiliar scenery of Pakistan and the appearance of mountainroads constructed in steep areas using Japan’s road construction

Japanese Civil Engineers the Global
Leaders Symposium No.17

technology were very impressive.
The symposium online had as many as 227 viewers, much more than the capacity of the 2nd-floor auditoriumof the JSCE Headquarters. The interest in Pakistan, the high technical quality of the project, and the specificityof the project seemed interesting and attracive for many people. About 40% of the audience was from outside
the capital area, and two of the speakers were from overseas. The online style used this time was started to copewith the COVID-19 situation, we’ll continue to respond to the social environment flexibly, and convey theJapanese civil engineers who take a leadership in overseas projects and make contribution to the developmentof infurstrucutre to the wider world.
Last but not least, I would like to thank Dr. Hitoshi Ieda, the JSCE president, for his closing remarks in the endof the symposium.
The next symposium, on “New Ulaanbaatar Airport Project”, will be held on May 31. Please check the details
on the webiste https://committees.jsce.or.jp/kokusai/node/215.
【Reported by Masaru Suzuki, Leader, Project Group, IAC】

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The Japan-Vietnam Information Exchange ConferenceWebinar 「Possibility of Utilizing New Technology inInfrastructure Development」
In Japan, the use of new technologies such as ICT istaking further strides in the field of social infrastructuredevelopment. In the field of infrastructure developmentin Vietnam, just like in Japan, there has been a great dealof interest shown in efficient and effective infrastructuredevelopment and maintenance using new technologies inrecent years. That is why the Vietnam Group of theInternational Activities Center’s International Exchange

Online ConferenceGroup, the Vietnam Section, and Vietnam Japan
University joined forces to hold the Japan-Vietnam
Information Exchange Conference on February 27, 2021. We initially planned to hold a seminar-style event in
Hanoi that would include speakers from Japan, but due to the impact of COVID-19, we decided that it was an
inappropriate time to travel to Hanoi and engage in activities in which we would invite a large number ofparticipants, and so we changed the event to a webinar format instead. Efforts to encourage people to participate
in the webinar were led by Professor Phan Le Binh of Vietnam Japan University, with more than 80 people
applying to take part. On the day of the webinar, 60 people participated despite the fact that it was held on
Saturday. During the webinar, three experts provided topics for discussion.

ProgramMany students and young trainees, especially from the Vietnamese side, attended the conference, and by having
one academic expert and one field expert from Japan, and one academic expert from Vietnam introduce thelatest case studies on the use of ICT technology, it created an opportunity for the attendees to learn many newthings. The attendance of professors affiliated to Vietnam Japan University from the Japanese side as well madeit possible to have fruitful discussions, and the event functioned as an opportunity for regular exchanges at a2

time in which engineers from both countries tend to beestranged from others due to the impact of COVID-19. It will
be a good idea to continue holding webinars next year as ameans of connecting busy academic and field experts fromboth countries.

Presentation by Professor Hyodo【Reported by Yosui Seki, President of the Vietnam Section ofthe Japan Society of Civil Engineers (ALMEC Corporation)】‐ Student Voice ‐“My Journey from the Middle East to the Far East (Planet Nihon)”

Hi! I'm Mohamed from Egypt. I've been a teaching assistant at the Egyptian National
Institute of Transport (ENIT) since 2014. I graduated from Banha University,
majoring in highway and traffic engineering. I gained my master's degree from Cairo
University. In April 2019, I was granted a scholarship funded by JICA as a doctoral
student in the field of road and bridge asset management for three years in one of
the respected Japanese universities, Nagasaki University.I am very grateful to mysupervisor Nishikawa Sensei and JSCE for giving me this opportunity to share someof my thoughts about Planet Nihon (as Egyptians call it) since I was a child till myMohamed Saied Gharieb

arrival in Japan. All I know about Japan when I was a child are Japanese anime (Nagasaki University)
movies. After that, in my youth, I became more familiar with technology, and thename of Japan was related to high-quality technological industries
like robots, cars, household electronic appliances, video games,… etc. It has been two years since I arrived in Japan, especially
Nagasaki city. I was shocked when I reached the city for the firsttime as I found it clean, modernize, and has a fascinated nature,unlike what I expected of a city bombed in the second world war.
Nagasaki prefecture has many tourist and historical spots, which
I've visited, like; Hashima Island, Huis Ten Bosch, Inasa-Yama

3While Climbing the Mountain, Nagasaki

Park, Atomic Bomb Museum, and Peace Park. During the school
holidays, I've visited many other prefectures like Tokyo, Osaka,Ibaraki, Chiba, Saga, Gifu, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. I used toparticipate in many outdoor activities like swimming, fishing,jogging, and hiking. I remember a pleasant time here in Nagasaki
this winter since I saw snow for the first time as it doesn't snow inEgypt. Also, the lights of Tokyo neighborhoods like Shibuya andGinza are really something to miss. For me, every day is new,exciting, and offering me lots of new experiences. Japanese

Short-term Training Program, JICA, Osakapeople are ultra-polite, punctual, and workaholics. The longer you
spend in Japan, the more you adapt to the Japanese lifestyle.
Since I'm a Muslim, I have some food restrictions
that encourage me to cook and prepare my meals.
But I also like Japanese cuisines like: Sushi, Onigiri,Takoyaki, Gyudon, Tempura, and Sashimi. It is also
important to say that after reservation, the university
provides Muslim students with a place where they
can pray, talk, and celebrate their holidays freely andsafely. I really appreciate their respect for ourField Data Collection, Laosreligious beliefs. I should say that my daily life was
not easy without speaking Japanese, so I decided to take Japanese language classes almost after a year, which
helped me deal in school, city hall, bank, and shopping malls.
COVID-19 has been harsh on all of us, and we became accustomed to a new way of living full of challenges.
One of these challenges for me is travel restriction that did not enable me from taking a vacation for nearly twoyears which sometimes makes me feel homesick. But I should say that the way the Japanese government dealt
with COVID-19 was gorgeous, which kept everyone safe. I am fortunate to live in Japan during that difficult
time.
Regarding school life, I successfully passed all doctoral courses in the first year. After a long discussion withmy supervisor Nishikawa Sensei, I finalized my research plan about developing pavement deterioration models
for Laos National Road Network. The proposed models help decision-makers in planning, setting priorities formaintenance and rehabilitation of deteriorated roads. Also, I have participated in many short-term training
courses organized by JICA, where I've got much valuable information about road and bridge asset management
techniques. During weekdays, the university provides many amusement facilities to relieve studying stress likefootball court, tennis court, gym, badminton court, and fun music activities where I participated in them all.
After graduation, I'll come back to Egypt. I'll work on initiating a new diploma and short-term training courses
at ENIT in the field of Road and Bridge Asset Management, in which the knowledge acquired in Japan will betransferred to the future engineers at ENIT.

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Finally, I wish to express my sincere respect and profound thanks to JICA and my supervisor for giving me thisopportunity to complete my higher studies and provide me with all facilities to complete my research
successfully. Overall, Japan is somewhere I think everyone should visit not only for studying but forentertainment too. It's like nowhere else on the planet, from futuristic skyscrapers to forests, beaches, shoppingmalls, and temples. It's a wonderful cultural and educational experience that I'll never forget in my whole life. I
do encourage all international students to come and study in Japan.

【Reported by Mohamed Saied Gharieb, Nagasaki University】

Updates◆【Movie Available on YouTube】
1st JSCE Concrete Committee Webinar "Frontiers of Concrete Technology"
Webinar Title: Use of FRP Composites for Sustainable Concrete Structures
https://youtu.be/IP65Dudd6tk◆Salon for International Students and Engineers in Japan
http://www.jsce.or.jp/event/active/information.asp◆The International Infrastructure Archives– A Compilation of Japan’s Greatest Projects in Transfer of CivilEngineering Technology in Service –http://www.jsce.or.jp/e/archive/◆【Abstract Deadline: May 31】9th Civil Engineering Conference inthe Asian Region (CECAR9) in Goa, India(Sept 21, 22, and 23, 2022): http://www.cecar9.com/

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Notes on the history of civil engineering
published by ECCM（http://www.ecceengineers.eu/）◆Journal of JSCE
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