2021. 4.1

Japan Society of Civil Engineers
International Activities Center

IAC News No.102
IAC’s Activities in the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic caused enormous influence to IAC’s activities, since itdisabled us to traffic to and from oversea countries. In JSCE, IAC is probably the mostaffected department by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this difficult situation
resulted in promotion of online communication with both domestic and oversea JSCE
members by equipping of information infrastructures in JSCE. Here, let me introduce afew activities during this pandemic period.
A cerebration party for awardees of JSCE International Lifetime Contribution Award Hitoshi Tanakaand JSCE Continuing International Contribution Award had been held every year one(Senior Director, IAC)

day before a JSCE General Assembly in each year. The 2020 party was the first one that has been held online,
by inviting all awardees from oversea countries as well as from Japan.
Meanwhile, although an annual meeting ofoversea branches had been organized during aJSCE Annual Meeting, the meeting in 2020 wascancelled. However, online facility enabled us tohave more frequent and substantial discussions
with overseas colleagues. I jointed a meetingwith Vietnamese branch in September, 2020, inwhichvery

fruitfulandstraightforward

discussions have been made on important issues,FY2019 JSCE Awards Celebration Online

such as a symposium that was going to be heldin Hanoi supported by International Scientific Exchange Fund. In addition, we received strong requests fromthe branch in order to promote their activities in the branch.
For the 2020 JSCE Annual Meeting in Nagoya, international activities have been prepared by IAC such as
International Roundtable Meeting, International Section Meeting, and International Summer Symposium.
During the past JSCE Annual Meetings, such international activities has been incidental to main events forJapanese participants, and accordingly, these international events has been held in parallel with other events forJapanese participants. Considering the importance of international activities and also the necessity ofinternational exchange, JSCE decided to organize an international panel discussion targeting both Japanese andnon-Japanese during the 2020 JSCE Annual Meeting in Nagoya. However, except the Summer Symposium,

1these international events cannot be organized in 2020. We are now preparing similar international events duringthe 2021 JSCE Annual Meeting in Shonan Campus, Tokai University, in September. Looking forward to meeting
you all at the meeting!

JSCE-PII-MCA Joint Seminar (Online)- Recent Advances and Practices of Concrete Materials,Structures, and Constructions in Indonesia, Japan, and Mongolia The Joint Seminar of JSCE, PII (the Institution of Engineers Indonesia – PERSATUAN INSINYUR
INDONESIA), and MCA (Mongolian Concrete Association) was held on March 2nd and 3rd, 2021. In the past
several years, joints seminars between JSCE and PII, and JSCE and MCA, were held in Indonesia and Mongolia,respectively. This joint seminar is the first tripartite seminar of the three countries and also the first online one
organized by our committee. ITS (Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology), fib-Indonesia, and MACE
(Mongolia Association of Civil Engineers) were the co-organizers. Zoom was mainly used for the speakers’
presentation, while listeners could participate either by Zoom or watch the live video from YouTube. The
presenters and their presentation titles of this seminar are shown in Table-1.

Table-1 Speakers and Presentation Titles
Presentation

Speaker

Infrastructure Health Report of JSCE
-Action to get understanding and cooperation of citizenInfluence of reinforcement spacers on concrete durability andmicrostructure
Construction project of a hydraulic power plant in Asahan
Regency, Indonesia
Utilization of low-quality recycled aggregates in concreteProf. Hikaru Nakamura,
Nagoya University, Japan
Dr. Fadhilah Muslim, fib-Indonesia & Universitas
Indonesia, Indonesia
Mr. Toshimitsu Kobayashi, Shimizu Corp., JapanHydration and chloride binding properties of blast furnace slag
blended cement
External reinforcement technique using FRP
Recent guidelines and technical recommendations of mineraladmixtures in Japan
Combination of Microbes, fly ash and bottom ash for High
Volume Coal ash Concrete
Application of fly ash cement to concrete structures in Japan-Dam construction case-

Dr. Batmunkh Narantuya, Mongolian Universityof Science and Technology, Mongolia
Dr. Yao Luan, Saitama University, Japan
Prof. Han Ay Lie, Diponegoro University,Indonesia
Dr. Yasutaka Sagawa, Kyusyu University, Japan
Dr. Januarti Jaya Ekaputri, Sepuluh Nopember
Institute of Technology, Indonesia
Mr. Takeshi Torichigai, Kajima Corp., JapanThe title of the joint seminar is Recent Advances and Practices of Concrete Materials, Structures, andConstructions in Indonesia, Japan, and Mongolia. It was determined according to the current conditions and2

demand of the industries in the field of cement, concrete, and constructions after discussing with researchersand engineers from Indonesia and Mongolia. At present, both Indonesia and Mongolia are achieving faster
economic growth, leading to high demands for infrastructure development. It is highly valuable and helpful that
JSCE could share the experience and recent advances in Japan with our counterparts of Indonesia and Mongoliain the fields of concrete materials, structures, and constructions. In addition, it is also important for Japanese
researchers and engineers to learn about the recent advances and practices in Indonesia and Mongolia for thesake of further improvement of technologies and international communications in Japan. We hope that thetechnical communication and cooperation of Japan, Indonesia, and Mongolia can be strengthened and improved
through this joint seminar.
In the seminar, five presenters from Japan, three speakers from Indonesia, and one speaker from Mongolia,
made their presentations. Prof. Hikaru Nakamura, Nagoya University, introduced the health report of JSCE for
the infrastructures in Japan and the work of taking actions to get understanding and cooperation of citizens. Mr.
Toshimitsu Kobayashi, Shimizu Corporation, is currently working in the construction project of a hydraulicpower plant in Asahan Regency, Indonesia. He introduced the outline of the project as well as the technologies
and management during the construction. Dr. Yao Luan, Saitama University, introduced his current research on
the hydration and chloride binding properties of slag blended cement. Dr. Yasutaka Sagawa, Kyusyu University,
introduced the recent guidelines and technical recommendations in Japan relating to the utilization of mineraladmixtures, such as blast furnace slag powder and sand, fly ash, and copper sand. Mr. Takeshi Torichigai, KajimaCorporation, introduced a dam construction project in Japan involving the application of fly ash blended cement
concrete. Dr. Fadhilah Muslim, Universitas Indonesia, introduced her current research on the influence ofreinforcement spacers on concrete durability and microstructure. Prof. Han Ay Lie, Diponegoro University,
introduced the experimental strengthening technique of concrete structures using FRP and its application inIndonesia. Dr. Januarti Jaya Ekaputri from ITS introduced the combination of microbes, fly ash and bottom ash
for high volume coal ash concrete. Dr. Batmunkh Narantuya from MUST introduced the current utilization of
low-quality recycled aggregates in concrete in Mongolia.
The joint seminar gained a lot of attentions from Japan, Indonesia, and Mongolia. More than 450 listeners fromuniversities, institutes, and construction companies attended the seminar via Zoom for the two days. Some others
watched the live videos on YouTube. The listeners expressed great interest in the presented topics. In the Q&Asession, they asked a lot of questions ranging from material compositions, practical construction work, qualitycontrol, and durability. The presenters had a warm discussion with the listeners. It can be said that the joint
seminar is successful. More and deeper technical communications are expected in the future.
※This joint seminar is founded by International Scientific Exchange Fund.

Prof. Hamada Addresses Opening Remarks

Zoom Online Webinar

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Prof. Nakamura Delivers the Presentation

Prof. Han Delivers the Presentaiton【Reported by JSCE Concrete Committee】

8th Joint Company Information Session forInternational Students (Online)
Since 2013, the International Student Network Group of the International Activities
Center held a Joint Company Information Session for international students studying inJapan for the purpose of providing information on the businesses of Japanese civilengineering-related companies, overseas projects, and recruitment. The event has been
held every year in Tokyo and every other year in the Kansai area. It is the eighth Joint
Company Information Session this time. It was originally planned to be held in personin Tokyo as usual, however, in consideration of circumstances surrounding the COVID-Ji Dang（International19 pandemic, it was instead held online on Saturday, December 12, 2020. It was the first Student Network Group,IAC）

time we held the event online.

By holding the event online, those located a good distance from Tokyo could now participate, with the numberof international students participating increasing from 54 last year to 84 this year from 19 universities in Japan.
The number of different nationalities taking part this year was 23. The participating companies showed a similar
trend, with 9 participating last year increasing to 13 companies this time. The fact that both the number ofparticipating companies and the number of international students increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic is nodoubt due to the fact that the event was held online.
【Participating Companies】
Eight-Japan Engineering Consultants Inc., HAZAMA ANDO CORPORATION,
JAPAN-CHINA CONSULTANT CO., LTD., KAJIMA CORPORATION, Kawakin Core Tech Co., Ltd.,
Matsuzawa Kawaraten Co., Ltd., Nippon Koei Co., Ltd., Obayashi Corporation,
Oriental Consultants Global Co., Ltd., PENTA-OCEAN CONSTRUCTION CO., LTD.,
TODA CORPORATION, TSUCHIYA CORPORATION, Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd.

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The event was made up of two parts. In Part 1, the purpose of the event was explained at the beginning. Thiswas followed by Ms. Luisa Santa Spitia (HAZAMA ANDO CORPORATION), who plays an active part at aJapanese company, giving a lecture entitled “Your Senior's Experience” in which she talked about research
activities at a Japanese university, job hunting efforts in Japan, and her work at a Japanese company (Photo 1).

Photo 1 Senpai’s Speak from Ms. Luisa Santa Spitia (HAZAMA ANDO CORPORATION)

This was followed by a “1-minute pitch” segment
where the representatives of each participatingcompany gave an outline of their company and thecontents of their company session held in Part 2 (Photo2).
Part 2, the company sessions, then got underway. From
14:00 to 17:15, each company held 4 sessions (1session, 20 minutes), with international students able to

Photo 2 Company Representatives Giving a 1-MinuteCompany Pitch and the Participants

participate in up to 8 sessions. By notifying theinternational students of the company session timetable and the links to each company session beforehand, theinternational students could enter and leave company sessions smoothly, where they participated in the sessionsof the companies they were interested in to gain more information. Although the number of participants

Table 1 The Timetable of Company Sessions and Senpai Sessions

5fluctuated depending on the time of day, there were participants in all of the sessions right up to the end at 17:15(Table 1).
At the same time as the company sessions, 4 former international students consisting of Ms. Santa (mentionedabove), Mr. Zuo (Kawakin Core-Tech Co., Ltd.), Mr. Amir (Nishimatsu Construction Co., Ltd.), and Mr. Shi(JAPAN-CHINA CONSULTANT CO., LTD.) held “Senpai Session.” They answered questions frominternational students, explained their experiences looking for a job in Japan, skills necessary for getting a job,and work at a Japanese company. They also actively talked back and forth sharing views with the international
students.
When deciding to hold the event online, we had concerns that it would be difficult to enter and leave the online
conference rooms and carry out proper time management, but on the day, we were able to manage the runningof the event a lot smoother than we initially anticipated. Also, there were a lot more international students than
we had expected. By posting company profiles and videos on the web page before the event, participants wereable to research the companies they were interested in and actively participate in the company sessions.
Although it was decided to change the original in-person format of the event to it being held online instead, theparticipating companies prepared carefully, the international students took a great interest in the Japanesecompanies, and the event proved to be a useful communication opportunity for both the companies and students
involved. To end, I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the lecturers, participatingcompanies, and participants for support in this Joint Company Information Session.
【Reported by Ji Dang, International Student Network Group (Saitama University)】

Updates◆1st JSCE Concrete Committee Webinar "Frontiers of Concrete Technology"
Webinar Title: Use of FRP Composites for Sustainable Concrete Structures (16th April)https://www.jsce-int.org/node/705◆The International Infrastructure Archives– A Compilation of Japan’s Greatest Projects in Transfer of Civil
Engineering Technology in Service –http://www.jsce.or.jp/e/archive/◆9th Civil Engineering Conference in the Asian Region (CECAR9) inGoa, India(Sept 21, 22, and 23, 2022): http://www.cecar9.com/

Associate MemberRegistration
Click here!
Associate Member | Japan
Society of Civil Engineers(jsce-int.org)◆PIANC Asian Seminar 2021 (Webinar)- Coastal Disaster Prevention (Tsunami, Storm Surge/High Waves) https://committees.jsce.or.jp/kokusai/system/files/PIANC%20Asian%20Seminar%202021%20Flyer.pdf◆IAC YouTube Channel
https://youtube.com/channel/UCGIs6DHrzX_cGD-mHUrRlkA◆9th International Conference on Experimental Vibration Analysis
for Civil Engineering Structures (EVACES2021)
https://ec-intl.co.jp/evaces2021/◆IAC “News Pick Up!!” on the JSCE Japanese website
https://committees.jsce.or.jp/kokusai/iac_dayori_2021

6◆Summary of featured articles in JSCE Magazine Vol. 106, No.4, April 2021
http://www.jsce-int.org/pub/magazine◆Journal of JSCE: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/journalofjsce§ IAC News Subscription §The IAC News is one of the communication tools to share information and ideas with the members. We would like to invite
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