UGRNOEKQuarterly Newslettervol.25

Headlines

Special Committee on Globalization of Education & Research, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Iwate University

Featured !!
Promoting Exchange with Vietnam !!
Research Internship at National
Chiayi University in Taiwan !!
Participation in Thailandʼsinternational training program !!

Promoting Exchange with Vietnam !!

Featured

令和４年
3 月31,31 2024日発行
Issuedon Mar

Techno Hall will become " Mirai
AIO Hall " from April 2024 by thenaming rights project!

Iwate University has been promoting international student and academic exchanges by concluding inter-university or interdepartmentalagreements with overseas universities and research facilities. In Asia, student and researcher exchange with Thailand, South Korea, China, Mongolia,and Taiwan are particularly active, but exchange with Vietnam is extremely limited. As seen in the increase of technical trainees from Vietnam, thenumber of Vietnamese students studying in Japan has also been increasing in recent years, and it is said that the number of students coming to Japan
will double in four to ﬁve years as the population in the middle class rapidly grows. We introduce the Japan Study Abroad Fair held in Vietnam inNovember 2023 and the voices of Vietnamese students studying in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at our university in this featured section.

P romoting Iwate University at the Japan Study Abroad Fair !
The Japan Study Abroad Fair is an event held annually in several Asian countries

and provides information of studying in Japan, especially targeting high school anduniversity students in Asia who want to study in Japan. In the academic year 2023,
four representatives from our university, Mr. Yamashita and Mr. Nakamura from theInternational Affairs Office, Professor Masahiro Daibo from Electrical, Electronic, andCommunication Engineering Course in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and aVietnamese student, Ut, in the same Faculty, participated in the Japan Study Abroad
Fair held in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam on November 25 and 26 to promote
the university. The total number of visitors to both venues was 1,995, with 54 visiting
our university's booth. Most visitors were proﬁcient in English or Japanese, but Ut gave
detailed explanations in Vietnamese as well.
According to the survey results (34 respondents), 60% of them showed an interestin undergraduate school and 40% of them did in graduate school respectively,and approximately 70% of them showed an interest in science, engineering, andagriculture ﬁelds. In particular, in the ﬁeld of science and engineering, strong interest
Designed by Freepik
was confirmed in mechanical engineering and digital media. Whereas numerous
inquiries about the availability of undergraduate and master's programs taught inEnglish or possibility of graduation by using English were asked. For the Faculty of
Science and Engineering that has not established curricula in English, this appears to
be a future challenge.
In the academic year 2023, there are 5 Vietnamese exchange students at ouruniversity, 2 of whom are studying in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. Although
the number of exchange students from Vietnam is typically low, they are likely highly
capable students. In addition, recently many of them tend to find a job in Japan(particularly in Iwate!) after graduation. We aim to promote strengths of Iwate and ouruniversity to Vietnamese while actively working towards establishing inter-university
and interdepartmental agreements to enhance mutual exchanges.

(Right) Giving explanations to visitors
in the Iwate University booth at
the Japan Study Abroad Fair. Theadmission system of the Faculty ofScience and Engineering (that does
not require individual exams and isbased solely on document screening)received positive feedback. There
were also several inquiries about
exchange program.
(Left) The day before the Japan Study
Abroad Fair in Ho Chi Minh City, ourschool paid a courtesy visit to Vice
Dean Nghia from the Faculty of Applied
Sciences at Ho Chi Minh University ofTechnology. Discussions were held
regarding collaborative research andacquiring doctoral program exchange
students. Agreement will be signed inthe future.
(Right) After the Japan Study Abroad Fairin Hanoi, we paid a courtesy visit to Hanoi
University of Science and Technology.
Discussions were held with professors
from MICA International Research Instituteand staff from the International Affairs
Office regarding short-term training,exchange programs, and agreements.
There are also staﬀ members in charge ofJapan at their International Aﬀairs Oﬃce.

Comment from an International Student: Vo Van Ut, Electrical, Electronic, and Communication Engineering Course B4

I arrived in Japan from Vietnam on March 28, 2018. In order to pass the university entrance exam, I diligently studied not only Japanese but also mathematics,physics, and chemistry for about two years at the Japanese Language Department of Morioka Business College. The hard work helped me to pass the entrance

exams for three universities including Electrical, Electronic, and Communication Engineering Course at Iwate University's Faculty of Science and Engineering. Having
lived in Morioka for two years made me somewhat accustomed to life there, I decided to study at Iwate University since the people in Iwate are kind and warmhearted, plus there was no need to move and ﬁnd a new part-time job.
In April 2020, I enrolled at Iwate University. I was looking forward to attending school, but unfortunately, all classes were held
online due to the impact of Covid-19. There were many things I didn't understand and know what to do. After consulting withmy teacher, they told me about the tutoring program. I applied for it, and when I encountered what I didn't understand, thesenior tutors helped me until I understood. I found the program was truly helpful.
From 2018 until now, I have been delivering newspapers every morning from 4 a.m., going to school at 8:30 a.m., andworking at a convenience store from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. a few times per week. It has been six years passed since I came toJapan, and I am now a fourth-year student. I have been assigned to the Daibo Lab, where I am studying the internal electricﬁeld distribution of shielded spherical vector potential coils. Under the guidance of Professor Masahiro Daibo, I have acquireda variety of knowledge about vector potentials, circuits, electromagnetism, and approaches to research.
In March 2023, I was assigned to the Daisho Denshi Iwate Plant in Iwate Prefecture, and I am joining the company in April
2024. I hope to contribute to the economic development of Iwate Prefecture. I am determined to work harder for my dream(Above) A group photo at the laboratory.
being an electrical engineer.
Ut is in the middle of the front row.

Research Internship at National Chiayi University in Taiwan !!
The Global Researcher Development Division of the Engineering Education Research Center at the Faculty of Science and Engineering provides support
for research internships and participation in international conferences to students considering pursuing a doctoral program in the Global Researcher
Development Program. This article shares the experience of a participant of the program, Kasumi Suzuki, who joined a research internship at National Chiayi
University in Taiwan for about one month in the summer of 2023.

Kasumi Suzuki, Graduate Course in Biological Sciences M2
In order to acquire new knowledge and skills necessary for conducting cancer research, I participated in a onemonth internship at National Chiayi University in Taiwan. I am currently researching the formation process ofexosomes, one of the extracellular vesicles, in the Laboratory of Intracellular Traﬃc (Associate Professor Yoko Shiba).
Exosomes are vesicles secreted by cells that are gaining attention as biomarkers of cancer. I plan to conduct further
research to elucidate how two recently identified proteins in this laboratory function biologically in exosome
formation and to investigate their involvement in the malignancy of cancer cells. Accordingly, I decided to learn
advanced techniques in cancer research from the laboratory of Yun-Wei Lin in the Department of Biochemical
Science and Technology at the College of Life Sciences at National Chiayi University, a partner institution of theFaculty of Science and Engineering.
Linʼs lab conducts research on non-small cell lung cancer, attempting to induce remission of lung cancer by
combining multiple anticancer drugs. During the internship, I learned experiments that require specialized
techniques, such as the evaluation of survival rates of non-small cell lung cancer treated with anticancer drugs,
starting from the basic management of laboratory equipment. Everyday life and research activities werecommunicated entirely in English. Since English is not the native language for me nor for the people of Taiwan,
conveying everything perfectly was diﬃcult, and we were initially struggled. However, by valuing daily interactions
and persistently continuing to engage in communication, we were able to communicate smoothly.
Iʼve been highly curious about biological organisms since childhood, so working as a researcher is the ideal way toconstantly explore questions. To become a researcher, one must demonstrate that they have acquired specialized
knowledge and skills. Therefore, I plan to pursue a doctoral program starting next year to further refine myknowledge and skills. I believe that by interacting with various people, rather than only acting individually, I canconduct better research activities. Through this internship, I was able to discover research outside my specialty byinteracting with people at National Chiayi University, including Professor Lin, and observing and learning about
research conducted on site ﬁrsthand. I aim to utilize this experience to my future research activities and career as a(Above) An experiment on the seeding of nonsmall cell lung cancer used for evaluating
anticancer drugs.

(Above) Group photo with Prof. Yun-Wei Lin (frontrow, left) and laboratory students (upper row). Suzuki
is in the middle of the front row.

Participation in Thailandʼs international training program !!
The Faculty of Science and Engineering oﬀers various short-term international training programs in Thailand, South Korea, Canada, and other locations toundergraduate students. The training program in Thailand especially led by the Business School Graduate School oﬀers an opportunity to learn the basics ofsupply chain, logistics, and sustainability while learning the activities of global companies by visiting various factories. This article features the experience ofYumeka Hashimoto, who participated in the training program held in Thailand from August 27 to September 9, 2023.

Yumeka Hashimoto, Electrical, Electronic, and Communication Engineering Course B3

Since the beginning of my studies, I have been deeply interested in improving my English skills and learning about foreign cultures, eagerly desiring toparticipate in overseas programs. During the pandemic, I participated in online English training oﬀering interactions with foreign individuals. However,I always felt something was missing. Then I found out this program and headed to Thailand with the hope of finally fulfilling my desire to directly
communicate with locals in a foreign country.
As soon as I arrived, the two-week program began, including factory tours, lectures from business experts, and visits to research labs. Through thefactory tours, we visited various types of factories such as those belonging to Ajinomoto and packaging companies, allowing me to directly see Japanesecompanies making a successful business in a foreign country. Not only did I listen to explanations in English, but I also surprised myself by asking
numerous questions in English. The lectures were diﬀerent from the typical passive listening style in Japan, providing ample opportunities to actively
present my ideas and enjoy the thrill of expressing myself in English. One of the distinctive features of this program is the casual communication in
English among non-native speakers, which adds to its allure.
At King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), I visited laboratories in various ﬁelds such as biology, physics, and electrical engineering. I
learned cutting-edge research and facilities in Thailand, which provided new inspiration to me majoring in an electrical engineering. I also deepened myconnections with Thai students through short trips to the Historic City of Ayutthaya, ﬂoating markets and temples.
Not only did I practice English, but I also unexpectedly gained othervaluable insights. This program included students from the Universityof Tokyo and Showa Women's University. By interacting with Japanesepeople having different backgrounds, I was able to discover various
perspectives and ways of thinking. After each day's program activities,
I went out to Chinatown and night markets with Thai and Japanese
students, creating unforgettable memories together.
Through this program, I not only improved my English communication
skills but also had the opportunity to experience diﬀerent cultures andvalues that I could not have encountered in Japan. That gave me thesigniﬁcant opportunity for personal growth.
(Above) Factory tour at KRUGER Company Limited, anair conditioning equipment manufacturing company.

Notice★ Renovation of the International Exchange Public Relations Corner !

Do you know that there is an International Exchange Public Relations Corner on the 1st ﬂoor lounge of Building 1 in the Facultyof Science and Engineering? It exhibits the information about overseas exchange partner universities associated with the Faculty ofScience and Engineering, as well as souvenirs we have received in the past. The area will be renovated in the coming year, featuring
introduction of newly established exchange agreements with universities. Itʼs located right in front of the main entrance, so pleasefeel free to drop by. We hope that seeing world maps and photos of various universities will spark your interest in studying abroad.

(Above) At the Historic City of Ayutthaya.

Editorʼs Oﬃce:
Special Committee on Globalization ofEducation and Research
Email: kenguro@iwate-u.ac.jp
TEL: 019-621-6405

http://www.kenguro.iwate-u.ac.jp/