2017. 11. 1

Japan Society of Civil Engineers
International Activities Center

IAC News No.61
2017 JSCE Annual Meeting Report I
International Roundtable Meeting“Implementing ICTs within the Construction Industry andInfrastructure Maintenance”
The 2017 International Round Table Meeting(RTM) “Implementing ICTs within theConstruction

Industry

andInfrastructure

Maintenance” was held at Inamori Center, Ito
Campus, Kyushu University on September 11,
2017, organized by the Japan Society of Civil
Engineers International Activities Center.
Five Agreement of Cooperation societies:
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE),
Chinese Institute of Civil and HydraulicMr. Ohishi (in the center) and RTM speakers

Engineering (CICHE), The Institution ofEngineers, Bangladesh (IEB), Korean Society of Civil Engineers (KSCE), and Nepal Engineers’ Association(NEA), and JSCE Turkey Section dispatched a speaker to participate in the RTM. The program below shows thesix speakers and their presentation titles.
<Program>
Chair

Prof. Shinichi Akutagawa (Kobe University Graduate School, Task Force Chair in Subcommittee of JSCE Tunnel Engineering Committee)

KeynoteProf. Kazuyoshi Tateyama (Ritsumeikan University, Chair of JSCE Robotics Committee
in Construction)
Title: A New Stage of Construction in Japan i-Construction

SpeechPresentations

1. Ms. April J. Lander （ASCE）
Title: ASCE and ICTs
2. Dr. Lian-Jenq Leu (CICHE)
Title: Implementing ICTs within the Construction Industry in Taiwan
3. Dr. A.F.M. Saiful Amin (IEB)
Title: Infrastructure Maintenance: Bangladesh Scenario
4. Dr. Beyza Taskin (JSCE Turkey Section)
Title: A General Review of ICT Applications in Construction & Recent
Developments in Turkey
5. Dr. Hyoungkwan (KSCE)
Title: Construction Information Technology for the Post-Information Age
6. Mr. Kishore K. Jha (NEA)
Title: Scope of Implementing ICT for Road Maintenance in Nepal

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Professor Shinichi Akutagawa of Kobe University
Graduate School conducted the RTM as a moderator. At
the beginning of the meeting, the JSCE President
Hisakazu Ohishi delivered an opening speech, followedby the keynote speech “A New Stage of Construction inJapan

i-Construction”

byProfessor

Kazuyoshi

Tateyama of Ritsumeikan University. “i-Construction”
is a new policy promoted by Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, which aims to
improve the productivity of entire construction andproduction systems, and make construction sites more

Prof. Tateyama delivers a keynote speech.

attractive by introducing “full-scale application of ICT” to the construction site. In the keynote speech, social
problems such as a decrease in the number of skilled engineers due to an aging population, and a declining laborproductivity across civil engineering and construction sites were explained. In the present civil engineering andconstruction industry, which a reform should be brought about, the introduction of ICT technology was shown
to be a method of solving various problems, along with examples including the utilization of three-dimensional
data and UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) in survey, design and construction, the application of Machine
Guidance Systems (MG: technology to provide operators with construction positioning support by means ofsatellite positioning systems), and also the actual examples of the introduction of bulldozers and diggers
equipped with a Machine Control System (MC: technology, in combination with MG, to automatically control
a hydraulic pressure on construction machinery). Those examples showed reducing working time, improving
productivity and securing safety of workers.
Next, the speakers introduced the actual examples of introduction of ICT technology in their countries. For
example, the KSCE speaker discussed the introduction of “Google Glass” into field in South Korea that would
make possible to predict and visually inform workers of possible risks and dangers, and the NEA speaker
explained the user application, “Mero Sadak” for road maintenance in Nepal, in which users would share
information concerning dangerous sections and defects on roads, and the shared information would help todetermine the priority of road maintenance works.
In the latter half of the RTM, a panel discussion was carried out among Prof. Tateyama and the six speakers,
being led by the chair Professor Akutagawa. They exchanged views and opinions about the topics such aswhether or not cooperation between civil engineering and other fields could be made regarding ICT technology,
how civil engineering education should respond to the introduction and utilization of ICT, in what way evolving
and miniaturizing ICT devices would change daily lives in the future, and what the future architectural and civilengineering industries would be in the society in that people were threatened by terrorism.
A large audience attended the RTM. In the panel discussion, the speakers and the audience exchanged opinions
and ideas about from the introduction of ICT to further current issues in society and emerging or possible
technical challenges in the future. They ran out of time as the discussion was getting interesting.
【Reported by Ryosuke Takahashi (Akita Univ.), Leader of Information Group, IAC】

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2017 JSCE Annual Meeting Report II
The 19th International Summer Symposium (The 19th ISS) andInternational Workshop for Young Civil Engineers
The 19th International Summer Symposium was held fortwo days, on September 11 and 12, 2017, at Inamori
Center and other buildings on Ito Campus, Kyushu
University in Fukuoka.
This symposium was the opportunity for young civilengineers to present their research projects, organized aspart of international meetings including international
workshop and networking reception. It worked well forthem to build communication and friendship with theirinternational peers who were studying and working inJapan.

The 19th International Summer Symposium on Kyushu
University Ito Campus

Since 2012, the symposium has been held in JSCE
Annual Meeting every year. Its participants consisted of international students studying in Japan and theparticipants in Study Tour Grant (STG) program, which is supported by the JSCE International ScientificExchange Fund, who are nominated by JSCE’s Agreement of Cooperation societies.
The 19th symposium accepted 72 presentations
including six STG participants’ presentations, and thosepresentations were delivered in the total 9 parallelsessions in the mornings of the two days. The
participants avidly engaged in discussions and freely
exchanged views and ideas. It should be an informativeand meaningful experience for them.
In the 11th afternoon, the International Workshop for
Young Civil Engineers was held with 34 participants
under the theme “Innovative Construction Methods – aCase of Cut-and-Cover Tunneling Method”, and theparticipants studied the innovation of construction

Group discussion at the International Workshop for Young
Civil Engineers 2017

technology.
The workshop was carried out by active learning
method under the guidance of Dr. Shunsaku
Komatsuzaki (The University of Tokyo). Two highly
experienced specialists in the field of tunnelingtechnology, Dr. Shinji Konishi (Tokyo Metro) and Mr.
Toshiki Takahashi (Obayashi Corporation), contributed
their expert opinions and supports to the workshop.
Many innovative ideas about reducing a cut-and-coverconstruction period were proposed in discussions. In
sharing ideas with each other, the participants built
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Participants in the International Workshop for Young Civil
Engineers 2017

mutual understanding. From the viewpoint of international students and young civil engineers, the symposium
and workshop should be the best opportunity to acquire hands-on experiences of creating innovation in civilengineering technology.
【Reported by Masato Saitoh (Saitama Univ.), Leader of Int’l Student Network Group, IAC】

Report on “11th Joint International Symposium on Disaster Risk
Management in Fukuoka, Japan”
11th Joint International Symposium on Disaster Risk Management (DRM) was held at Kyushu University,
Fukuoka (Japan) in the morning of September 13, 2017, with the collaboration of Japan Society of Civil
Engineers (JSCE), Architectural Institute of Japan (AIJ), Japan Federation of Engineering Societies (JFES), and
WFEO-CDRM, supported by Science Council of Japan (SCJ). The symposium has been held annually since2009 in order to disseminate the significance of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) that is the key concept topromote disaster prevention and reduction. The symposium attracted approximately 50 participants. Seven guest
speakers discussed their great expertise and valuable experiences relating to natural disasters. They were invitedfrom five countries. Three Japanese professors (Dr. Mazda, Dr. Shimizu, and Dr. Shimatani) reported thesituations of severe earthquake-, or water-related disasters that recently occurred in Japan. Dr. Mujumdar (USA)talked about the framework for resilience and sustainability. Dr. Saber (Egypt) and Dr. Sutcu (Turkey) introduced
the updated technologies locally developed to respond to disasters. Dr. Lai (Taiwan) showed severe landslide
hazard mapping. The audience showed much interest in their talks and gave several questions and comments to
those speakers. For example, one member of the audience exchanged opinions with Dr. Mazda about specificbreaking mechanism with the examples of broken bridges over highways which were caused by Kumamoto
Earthquake. The symposium, which had greatly valuable talks by the speakers and their constructive discussions
with the audience, ended successfully.
※ The WFEO-CDRM is a standing technical committee consisted of worldwide professional engineers group(WFEO) that discusses and addresses disaster risk management.

<Program>
Opening remarks
Toshimitsu Komatsu (Chair, WFEO-CDRM; Vice President, JFES; Emeritus Professor,
Kyushu University)

Earthquake disaster session
1. “Overview of damage due to the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake.”
Taiji Mazda (Professor, Kyushu University)
2. “The recent developments in seismic isolation and response control technology andresearch in Turkey.”
Fatih Sutcu (Assistant Professor, Istanbul Technical University in Turkey)
3. “A framework for resilient and sustainable communities.”
Vilas Mujumdar (National Member, WFEO; Consulting Engineer; Vice chair, WFEOCDRM)

Water & landslide disaster session
4. “Heavy rain-induced disasters in Hokkaido, August 2016.”
Yasuyuki Shimizu (Professor, Hokkaido University; Chair, Committee on HydraulicEngineering in JSCE)45. “Torrential rain-induced disasters in Northern Kyushu, July 2017 - preliminary report.”
Yukihiro Shimatani (Professor, Kyushu University)
6. “Hazard mapping and disaster management of large scale landslides in Taiwan.”
Wen-Chi Lai (Professor, Taiwan National Cheng Kung University)
7. “Wadi flash floods integrated management in Egypt by considering climate change forsecured development in Wadi basins.”
Mohamed Saber (Assistant professor, Assiut University in Egypt; Senior researcher,
Kyoto University)

Closing Remarks
Kenichi Tsukahara (Secretary, WFEO-CDRM; Professor, Kyushu University)

Guest speakers and organizing committee’s members (© 2009 - 2017 WFEO-CDRM. All rights reserved)【Alumni of DOBOKU Series】“How My Education and Experience in Japan Transformed
My Life”
Madan Tandukar
Director, Technology, Höganäs Environment Solutions
My younger son is 13 years old now. We are going to apply for his passport. In theapplication form, we have to mention the country he was born in…. he was born inJapan…. while I was pursuing my Ph.D. at Nagaoka University of Technology. My
son started asking me why we went to Japan and what we did there. This broughtback all old but good memories.
My Student Life at Nagaoka University of Technology
I am originally from Nepal, a country full of nature. But due to recent urbanization,
the small country was suffering from localized pollution problems. As a result, I
decided to study environmental engineering and do something to fight the pollutions

Madan Tandukarof air, water and soil. After I completed my undergraduate studies from Kathmandu University, I was granted a
6-year Monbu Kagaku Sho Scholarship to pursue my graduate studies in Japan. For one reason or the other, I
chose Nagaoka University of Technology as my destination university. I was placed in Niigata University for 6
months to study Japanese language. I started my Masters at Nagaoka University of Technology in 2001.
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I was very lucky to be in Professor Harada Hideki’s research group. Professor Harada’s team is renowned inwastewater treatment. I was able to take advantage of a very rich knowledge available for me in his team. During
my Masters and Ph.D. studies, every day was a learning day. I was either learning new things related to thesubject matter or cultural aspects of Japanese life. Learning how to create a project, how to plan it, how to execute
it and how to close it was very valuable for me. Ph.D. is not only about being expert in your subject matter. Ph.D.
is about learning how to learn new things in a systematic way. Ph.D. is about critical thinking and analysis ofproblems and solutions from several different angles and perspectives.
After I graduated from Nagaoka University of Technology, I was able to utilize both aspects of the knowledge I
learnt from Professor Harada. Professor Harada’s team was very competitive and he provided us with lots ofopportunities, freedom to carry out our projects and studies. We never had any shortage of resources. We wererequired to attend and present to at least two domestic conferences and two international ones per year. Thisboosted our confidence, presentation skills, and networking in the academic and scientific community as well.
Journey to the World
After I completed my Ph.D. at Nagaoka University ofTechnology, I moved to Tohoku University withProfessor Harada as a JSPS* post-doctoral fellow. At
Tohoku University, my learning curve was very steep,coming right out of the school. I had even more
opportunity to sharpen my knowledge on subject matterand beyond. By this time I had eight scientificpublications in renowned international journals andseveral conference presentations. I was invited as a JICA
expert to deliver a lecture on wastewater treatment inIndonesia. I was able to make a bigger network of

Fig. Educational and professional transformation of Dr.
Madan Tandukar

researcher and academics. One important opportunity
was to get to know Professor Spyros Pavlosthasis of Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. I was given an
opportunity to be a research engineer at Professor Pavlosthasis’ research team at the prestigious Georgia Instituteof Technology. I worked at Georgia Institute of Technology for 5 years as a research engineer, where I not only
carried out several research projects related to anaerobic and aerobic treatment of waste and wastewater, but also
had opportunity to teach several graduate and undergraduate level courses. This was the first time I consciously
utilized all my knowledge and skills I acquired and gathered during my student life in Japan. I was able to create
my identity in my new work place. I went back to Professor Harada and my team mates for any help andassistance I needed for my new work and new life. On the other hand, I was also able to help my old team matesfrom Professor Harada’s group. I invited Dr. Onodera (my junior at Nagaoka University of Technology) for ayear to my laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology to conduct a 1-year research. Dr. Onodera successfullycompleted his one-year tenure at the institute and published three high impact scientific articles. He was able tocreate his own unique identity among his peers.
My life and responsibilities in corporate world
In 2012, I received an opportunity to move on with my career to Industry. North American Höganäs, NAH (now
Höganäs Environment Solutions, HES) invited me to join them as a senior engineer. At NAH, I was responsible6

to developing new products and technology for water and wastewater treatment. Soon, I was promoted to a
manager and then to a director in the environmental business area of the organization. Now I have 15-20 people
reporting to me. My responsibility extended to business development as well. Planning and strategy for current
and future business is my day-to-day responsibility. I was also able to receive additional education from Harvard
Business School, MIT and Stanford Graduate School of Business on leadership, business and organization
management.
I am very happy to be able to serve the human society in the way I thought I should, which was only possible
because of the vast education, knowledge, skill and experience I acquired in Japan. I hope to expand mycontribution to developing world including my own country, Nepal. Only then I would think that I have fully
leveraged the Japanese education.
Thank you Professor Harada, thank you Japan. You are my second home.
*JSPS: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Profile: Author is born in Nepal and has PhD in Environmental Engineering from Nagaoka University of Technology. The author
then worked for Georgia Institute of Technology as a Research Engineer for 5 years before taking the current job as a Vice Presidentof Technology at Höganäs AB. The author is also an alumni of Harvard Business School after completing PLD program at theinstitute. The author currently resides in the U.S. with his wife and two sons.

《Column》Hideki Harada, Professor, Tohoku University, New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe)
Dr. Madan Tandukar, an international student from Nepal, has completed his MsS degree (2001—
2002) and PhD degree (2003—2005) while I served Nagaoka University of Technology. I asked
him to conduct a new research topic as his thesis study, which our lab had just launched. His topic
was rather challenging and even ambitious, regarding a novel sewage treatment technology withminimum energy requirement, which aims a new global standard technology for replacement of
conventional Activated Sludge Process. He exhibited an excellent potential for a research career andachieved a great advancement in his study, and successfully made it one of the most principal themesin our research group. He has also friendly and cheerful nature and shows an outstanding leadershipin our lab, and well relied upon by all around him.
In 2006 he moved, together with me, from Nagaoka University of Technology to Tohoku University while he was a post-doc
fellow of JSPS. Besides energetic research activity, he devotedly helped me to set up a new lab there for two years (2006—2007). Afterward, he was invited to a research fellow by the distinguished Georgia Institute of Technology, US. After 5 years
academic life at GIT, he challenged to change his engineer’s course by joining a private company, North-American Höganäs.
I was pleased to hear of his promotion in this July to the vice president of such a big company with 1,700 employees andannual turnover of one billion US$. It is definitely utmost delightful for a teacher to watch his former students spreading theirwings in the sky to maximize their potential in their fittest world.
※Alumni of DOBOKU Series is in collaboration with Editorial Committee of JSCE Magazine.

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Introduction to the Activities of
Robotics Committee in Construction
The population of Japan, which had been continuously increasing over many years,
peaked and began to decrease around 2008. This is a social phenomenon being
experienced for the first time in Japan, and it is feared that its effects will begin toappear in various societal contexts. There are concerns that shortages of personnel inthe construction field, especially in the productive age range of 15 to 64 years, will
become increasingly serious.
Meanwhile, in recent years, there have been remarkable technological developments
in ICT etc. and, through their active introduction, productivity in field of construction Prof. Kazuyoshi Tateyama
Chair of Robotics Committee

has been improved dramatically, with efforts underway to make reforms necessary to in Constructionbuild a sustainable industry, even in a society that is seeing a decreasing in its number. (Ritsumeikan Univ.)
The introduction of robots for construction is an example of this.
For more than 30 years, beginning in 1985, Robotics Committee in Construction has been engaged in thedevelopment and dissemination of robotic technology for use in the field of construction. Over those years, in
response to remarkably changing social trends, the committee has reviewed its management system flexibly: its
activity is now focused on the work of the following subcommittees: 1) “Disasters and Accidents Subcommittee”
aims to develop and disseminate technologies for life-saving and reconstruction in a period of continuallyintensifying natural disasters; 2) “Maintenance Management Subcommittee” aims to introduce and advancerobotic technology in the maintenance of civil engineering structures while the issues of deterioration and aging
are becoming serious; 3) “Construction Operations Subcommittee” aims to introduce robotic technology in
general construction for labor-savings and improvements in construction quality; 4) “New Technology
Subcommittee” aims to introduce various new technologies being developed in a wide range of fields into
construction robots.
As robots for construction are equippedwith various types of ICT equipment,
their cost is generally higher incomparison with existing machines,
which stands as an obstacle to a morewidespread use of robots. For thisreason, the Committee is currently
focusing on discussions, aiming to makerobotic technology easier to introduce
forgeneralconstruction

purposes,

Unmanned construction technology used in disaster recovery

through positive construction costs andbenefits achieved when introducing robotic technology, such as labor-savings, improved efficiency and safety
improvements.

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Updates◆Summary of feature articles in JSCE Magazine Vol. 102, No. 11, November 2017 is available on the JSCE
website.
http://www.jsce-int.org/pub/magazine◆Journal of JSCE
The Journal of JSCE is the collection of research papers which can be viewed on the JSCE website.
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/journalofjsce◆CECAR8 Call for Abstract has started on August 1st.
http://www.cecar8.jp/◆Concrete Committee International Newsletter No. 50
http://www.jsce.or.jp/committee/concrete/e/newsletter/newsletter50/index.html◆Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council (ACECC) International Newsletter archives
http://www.acecc-world.org/newsletter.html◆ [Previous Announcement] Japanese Civil Engineers the Global Leaders Symposium Series No.11 “theConstruction Project of Osman Gazi Bridge in Tukey – one of the world’s longest suspension bridge”(tentative
title) will be held on January 24, 2018.
http://committees.jsce.or.jp/kokusai/◆IAC Students and Alumni Network
http://www.jsce-int.org/IAC_network§ 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
you, your friends and colleagues to join the communication and to subscribe the IAC News. Please register online:(http://www.jsce-int.org/node/150). We look forward to meeting you.
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