NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

Young Professionals Exchange
Programme 2008
-a great success of revitalized YPEP-

Keiichi Kanai
ChairmanProfessional Development Promotion Sub-Committee ,AJCE

Young Professionals Exchange Programme (YPEP)
was established in 1996 to develop good
relationship and friendship between Japaneseand Australian young consulting engineers
through mutually visiting and staying with themember firms of AJCE and its Australiancounterpart, ACEA (Association of Consulting
Engineers Australia). While its primary purpose isto provide young engineers in both countries with
opportunities to experience a different culture, tolearn different engineering skills, and to create an
extensive network of young professionals, we arehoping that in the future we will see joint businessprojects be formulated through the network
established in this programme. In the past
decade, more than 100 young engineers
participated in the programme, and it has been
noted in the FIDIC member society as a good
example of international capacity building effort.
In 2006, after 10 year of mutual exchanges, some
new ideas were infused to YPEP, such as “pre-visit
dialogue” in which a trainee communicates witha mentor from the host company for several
months prior to visiting the company, toexchange information and to prepare for theupcoming on-site training. This new element
proved, in 2007, to be very helpful for the trainees
to get familiar with the host company and jump
start the on-site programme. It contributed a lot
to revitalize the programme.
Last year, AJCE sent 6 young engineers from 5
member companies to Australia. Each trainee

Signing Ceremony of MOU in1995

Trainees of YPEP 2008

No.

Company

Name

Host Company in Australia

Office1

CTI Engineering Co .,Ltd

Shinichiro Kai

GHD

New Castle

2

Chodai Co .,Ltd

Tadashi Hasegawa

GHD

New Castle

3

CTI Engineering Co .,Ltd

Takuya Yagami

Arup

Brisbane

4

Oriental Consultants Co.Ltd.

Yuki Morinaga

Costin Roe Consulting Pty Ltd

Sydney5

IDEA Consultants,Inc.

Masato Ishiyama

Masato Ishiyama

Brisbane

6

P.T.Morimura & Associates,LTD Hidechika Nakamura

Simpson Kotzman

Melbourne

14NEWS LETTER 2009
stayed with one of the ACEA’s member
companies for 3 weeks in October. We are very
grateful that all the trainees were well taken care of
by ACEA and five host companies, and we would
like to thank them for their hospitality and kindness.
Upon the trainees’ return, AJCE held a review
session in which all the trainees presented thesummary of their experience in Australia.
According to what I saw and heard in thesession, YPEP2008 was a great success. I believethat they spent wonderful three weeks full ofdiscoveries, new knowledge, suggestions,discussions, arguments and friendships. In
addition to regular training activities such as an
exchange of professional opinions on certain
themes, working on an actual project, site visit
and seminar, their first-hand experiences of reallife of Australian consulting engineers must havebeen very valuable.

Traineers’ and their hosts in YPEP 2008 at Sydney

The trainees’ fresh experiences from Australia andother participants’ broad knowledge and different
perspectives made the discussions very active andproductive. It was a wonderful opportunity foreverybody to review and appreciate the YPEP2008
and its outcome. I truly hope that all six trainees
capitalize on this experience, maintain theestablished human network, and realize the actual
business partnership with Australian engineers someday. AJCE will strongly support their effort to do so.

After the presentations, the trainees and otherparticipants including members of AJCE’s Young
Professional Group had discussions in small
groups on three topics:
1) Work style of Australian engineers
2) Possibility for Japanese consultants to thrive inoverseas market
3) Relationship among consultants, contractors,
governing bodies and civilians

We have already started preparing for this year’s
YPEP, in which AJCE and its member firms
welcome Australian young engineers in October,and we firmly believe that it will be another successin the history of this outstanding programme.

15NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

2008 YPEP Exchange Program Report

Shinichiro Kai
YPEP2008 Trainee
CTI Engineering Co., Ltd.

Introduction
I had training at GHD Newcastle in Australia.
GHD is an international consultant based inAustralia. Newcastle is a second biggest city in
New South Wales country which is 150km off from
Sydney. Newcastle thrives for exporting coalsfrom Newcastle Port.

There was interesting situation. In Japan, if weshowed unjudgeable figure based on criteria forevidence, Japanese road administration will not
agree. In contrast, in Australia, it’s all right asevidence. Australian says “Criteria are criteria!Åh
2. Living in Australia
In a weekend, Daniel brought us to Nelson bay
where big sand exists. We enjoyed riding a four
wheels bike on sand and watched “Tin City” inwhich people live in houses on the sand.

1. Overview of Training
After meeting at ACEA meeting, my training at
GHD started for two weeks. I was assigned toroad planning and designing group.
My mentor was Daniel O’sshaunessy. He works in
GHD for four years after graduating Newcastle
University.
I joined the work for making a study of traffic
impact when overtaking is closed forconstruction of Minimbar Project.
Minimbar Project is constructing third tracks ofrailroad for reinforcement of coal freight. This
project is near completion.

Fig.1 GHD Newcastle

3. Conclusion
It was a first time for me to go abroad for training.
It was different from just a traveling abroad. I
experienced not only difference in culture
between Australia and Japan but also working
style and technical criteria.
I enjoyed Australian’s living and working style. I
would like to thank GHD and ACEA for their kind
hospitality.

Fig.2 in Daniel’s home

16

Fig.3 Tin City on the sandNEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

YPEP2008 REPORT

Masato Ishiyama
YPEP2008 Trainee
IDEA Consultants, Inc.

OutlineFor about 3 weeks from October 7, to October 25,
2008 I visited Brisbane Branch of "OPUS QANTECMcWILLIAM" for visit-training. In "OPUS", I actively
participated in the professional training and theweekend life, and it was very stimulating.
Pre-visit training
Prior to visit-training, I had three months of pre-visit
training. It started with each other's selfintroduction, a company profile, thencommunication by email such as to finalise
training schedule with Nathan Scott, my mentor.
Because of the pre-visit dialogue, I was able toperform the visit-training in Australia smoothly.
Visit-training
In the visit-training, building site inspection and thetraining in the office were main contents.
Regarding building site inspection, I could visit
various construction sites such as apartment,
supermarket, hospital, and bridge. As the site
inspections, buildings in particular, were my firstexperience, I was very pleased and inspired.
During the training in office, I took charge of load
calculations of building structures and design of abridge. In the course of training, I had a chance todiscuss about difference in "Professional
Development of engineers" between Japan andAustralia.

Life in Australia
Living environment
in Japan is not so
stimulating as I live
there for long time.
In turn, Brisbane isquite comfortablecity to me. In theoffice, there were a few telephone calls during
office working hours, thus office environment wasquiet. Situation in Japan is contrary, frequent phone
calls keep us busy and make working environment
uncomfortable.
In the visit-training, I commuted office from rental
apartment. However, I stayed at Nathan andJason's house in the weekend and at time ofbusiness trip to the Sunshine Coast office.
Because of heartfelt hospitality of their family, I could
enjoy home stay. I would like to express millions of
thanks.
Nathan took special care of me in week days andweek ends despite of his busy working schedule. He
took to Brisbane city sightseeing, soccer games,
zoo, and restaurants that were quite excellent
guidance to experience Australia in various ways.
Thank youThrough the training, I could experience not only
professional practices but also differnce in culture
and work environment between Japan andAustralia This will broaden my way of thinking as
consulting engineers.
I would like to thank everyone in OPUS QANTECMcWILLIAM and structure group members; Mark,
Aaron and Jason. I woe special thanks to Nathan
for his kind hospitality. I extend my thanks to Davidof "ARUP"

17

NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

YPEP2008 in GHD (Newcastle)

Tadashi Hasegawa
YPEP2008 Trainee
Chodai Co., Ltd.

About exchange program
Working time of GHD is 8:30 to 17:00 including
lunch time (1 hour, we can select free time).
Project scale is larger than Japan. One project
integrates many parts, for example bridge design,road design, system design, environment.
On 2nd Friday at Newcastle office, one project
was finished and we had lunch party. I attended
the party and found out that many people were
engaged in the project.
I compared Australian bridge design criteria withthose of Japan and made a report. My specialty isbridge substructure design and seismic design.
I found out the bridge designs are similar, but seismic
design force in Australian is quite smaller than that ofJapan. I guess that
Australia has never had
big earthquakes in thepast.

Summary
In three weeks of 07/10/08 to 23, I attended YPEP
2008 as a trainee. Purpose of YPEP exchange
program is to learn and understand thedifferences in businesspractices and life styles
between Australia andJapan,
andmaketrustworthy relationshipbetweenAustralian
young professionals andJapanese young professionals.
This year, six Japanesetrainees visited Australianhost companies.
About pre-visit dialogues
Before the visit to Australia,
Pre-visit dialogues took
place for smooth implementation of theexchange program. These dialogues took placewith E-mail between host company and trainee.

About life in Australia
I met many Australianpeople in three weeks during the program. All ofthem were very friendly and I could spend very
comfortable time.
In one weekend, I experienced 4WD drive at the
Stockton Beach and drove to Hunter Valley,
known for wineries.

About host company
I visited Newcastle for the exchange program.
Newcastle is a city ofbeautiful beach andhistoric architecture.
My host company GHD isa big firm and employs
7,000 people in the world.
GHD Newcastle officehas 160 employees.
I found difference with Japan that is many woman
employees work in office (25% of all employees). I
thought this point is associated with working time
and work environment.
In addition, office space is very large andcomfortable, which made me envious.

Acknowledgment
I am profoundly grateful to the all members of hostcompany GHD,
ACEA, AJCE,
and members of
Chodai Sapporo
branchwho
generously
supported myparticipation to
the YPEP08.

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NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

YPEP2008
Takuya Yagami
YPEP2008 Trainee
CTI Engineering Co.Ltd

1. Summary
I had an opportunity to stay at ARUP for three
weeks in October 2008. Before visiting Australia, I
experienced pre-visit dialogue with my mentor in
ARUP for two months. Because of this dialogue, I
could get into the training in Australia smoothly.

3. Work-life balance
Working Hours
Employees can choose work hours in a week aslong as the total work hour per week is satisfied.
Therefore one of the employees leaves office at 2
p.m. on Wednesday and Friday. I’d like to propose
this system to my company. Office becomesalmost empty at around 18 p.m. But during busy
time, some employees bring work to their homes. It
is similar to Japanese consulting engineers.

2. Training in ARUP
Technical TourI participated in two-day Technical Tour for
Young Professional. I studied the water supply
projects in South East Queensland. The mostimpressive thing for me was that the“Networking” time was set in the Tour. During thistime, participants could get to know each other.
It is not common in Japan.

Holidays
Employees have 20 day holidays in a year. Theirbosses insist that they take all of them.
In addition, employees can earn 10 more holidays
by sacrificing their salary. My company gives also
20 day holidays to employees, but we actuallycannot take them all.

WorkshopDuring this training, I experienced a meeting witha client. The relationship with the client and ARUP
seemed very good. Workshop with the client that I
joined was very constructive. This workshop gaveme very good ideas as how decisions are madetogether with clients.

4. Life in Australia
During this training, I andanother trainee weresharing an apartment near
the office. We sometimesbought groceries at a supermarket. Therefore I got
to experience what it’s like living in Australia.
Thanks to friends in ARUP, I also enjoyed watchinga soccer game, playing
with koalas and kangaroos,fabulous beach, and a lotof delicious foods.

Capacity Building for Young Professionals
ARUP and CTI have similar training programs such as
OJT, presentation training, software skill training. But
there is one big difference. ARUP has many offices
around the world. Therefore, ARUP can promotetransfers of engineers to overseas offices. This brings
advantages over the company because it canbuild effective networks of consulting engineers
around the world.

5. Acknowledgment
Thanks to everyone in ARUP and ACEA, I spent a
fruitful time in Australia. I hope this training
program will continue and more people
experience this valuable training. I really hope that
this “networking” will contribute to further
development in the good relationship between
the Japanese and Australian consulting engineers.

Presentation
I gave a presentation about rivers in Japan, and
ARUP also presented about their water related
projects. Through these presentations I could learn
the differences between Australia and Japan
regarding policy and enforcement on riverplanning.

19NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

REPORT of YPEP2008

Yuki Morinaga
YPEP2008 Trainee
Oriental Consultants Co., Ltd.

1. Introduction
The Young Professionals Exchange Program(YPEP) is the program of mutual visit and thetraining of the young engineers in Japan andAustralia. It has started in 1996 based on thememorandum of understandings between AJCE
and ACEA I 1995. The purposes of this program
are in the skill improvement and the view
expansion of the trainees themselves, and in theconstruction of an excellent relation to keep thedevelopment in the future into the business withthe maintenance of networks cultivated in the
training programs.
This report is on visit-training and pre-visit training
in 2008. The visit-training was carried out in
Sydney and Newcastle, Period of the program
was 7th - 25th / October.

provide services in structural designs in the
Residential, Commercial, Industrial, and civilengineering fields as well as the maintenanceand repair of housing complexes so-called“Strata Engineering Solutions“. Though they aresmall-scale organization of about 20 employees,
they have a variety of business results from smallscale projects like structural inspection ofindividual house to large-scale projects that
require diversified technology like design andmanagement of compound facilities.

2. Pre-visit training
In this program, trainees had obligation toprepare for the visit-training in advance bycontacting mentors in the host companies. We
exchanged profile of trainees, specialized fields,
and the plan of the schedule of visit-training by Email. Through the information exchange, I could
spend time in Australia effectively. Mr. James
Disher, my mentor and Mr. Mark Wilson took careof me for training and home-stay. They applied
their experience as the YPEP2007 trainees andplanned my program enthusiastically andfriendly.

3-2. Activity of the consultant engineer in Australia
In Australia, the consulting engineers promote
activities that will contribute to the improvementof status of their profession besides their regular
practices.
By the request from ACEA secretariat,
professionals visit high schools where the students
who refrain from entering into college gather.
The professionals explain subject like “What is theoccupation of consulting engineer?". ACEA

3. Visit-training
3-1. Outline of the host company
Costin Roe Consulting Pty Ltd. is a consulting firm
mainly working for private customers. They

20

NEWS LETTER 2009
4. Difference in Professional Development Programs
between Japan and Australia
4-1. Internal Course
There are On-the-Job Training and mentoring
program in Costin Roe. The system has many
common features about the education methodfrom the young to senior. Study meetings are
regularly carried out in the office.

pursues this approach to contribute to theimprovement of engineering education andhelping to raise the level of interest & ability inengineering from a long-term aspect. This would
encourage them to enter into colleges,
eventually into consulting engineering industry.
Mr. James Disher ,my mentor also contributed tothis activity in the past. It is encouraging to see
promotion of similar initiatives by ACEA.

4-2. External Course
There exists master’s degree acquisition and seminar
participation activities outside of the company. In
Australia, as for the master’s degree acquisition, theemphasis seems stronger than Japan, and thesystem of support from a company is moreadvanced than that of Japan. As for seminar
participation, the system is similar to Japan as theContinued Professional Development system isapplied. But its function is quite different. In Japan, it
is offered basically to hear specialist's presentations.
Participants leave soon after the presentations
without networking. In Australia, participants
exchange opinions positively and make efforts to
expand their networking and knowledge before
and after presentations. We should follow this kind ofgood practices in Japan.

3-3. Home-stay in Newcastle
I basically stayed in the condominium in Sydney. I
also stayed home of Mr. Mark Wilson who is senior
engineer of Mr. James Disher, and works in
Newcastle office. It was a precious experience
for me to be able to touch Australia’s uniqueculture and lifestyle through the home-stay withhis family, and to watch Japan from anotheraspect.

5. Acknowledgment
I wish to express my gratitude to ACEA and AJCE
for their support and encouragements. Special
thanks to everyone in Contin Roe Consulting who
welcomed me and made my training fruitful andmemorable. I would like to extend my thanks tomanagement of Oriental Consultants who gladly
sent me to this program. I woe special thanks to
my family for their warm support.
Hereafter, I will try further promotion of the YPEP
for the improvement of the consulting engineer's
status and recognition, by taking the experienceand networks obtained through this program.

3-4. Young Summit
We had the Young Summit (Reporting Seminar)
at ACEA office with Australian professionals on
October 24th. In the seminar, Japanese trainees
reported on the content of the training each. We
exchanged the opinions about the difference of
the Young Professionals Development System inJapan and Australia.

21NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

YPEP2008 in SIMPSON KOTZMAN PTY LTD(Melbourne)
Hidechika Nakamura
YPEP2008 Trainee
P.T.MORIMURA & ASSOCIATES, LTD

1. Prologue
I joined the Japan-Australia exchange training
program YPEP2008. In the pre-visit period of 4months, I exchanged information with the
SIMPSON KOTZMAN, the Australian firm thatprovides similar services as ours. I was least fluent inEnglish among the participants but tried my best.
Visit-training in Australia was just for 3 weeks.
However, I gained a lot of invaluable experiences.

3. Content of Visit-training Program
3-1. Training in Engineering Services
I was assigned to support lighting system design.
Using standard design calculations, I assisted indesigning lighting and Control systems.

3-2.Site Visit
I visited construction site locating outside ofMelbourne. Difference with Japan is thatengineers can not conduct site supervision without
the license named “RED CARD”, which will be
issued after safety training.

2. Host Company Description
My host company “SIMPSON KOTZMAN”(herein
after referred as SK) is a consulting firm in building
engineering services in mechanical, electrical and
ESD engineering fields. Their main works cover
shopping centres, office buildings, large
apartments and schools.
SK has main office in Melbourne and branch
office in Sydney whose staffs are around 30 to 40.

3-3.Participation in seminars
During training, there was a seminar on BIM. 3D
Design is important issue in Japan. I found that it
has not yet introduced in Australia.
Additionally, I participated in a seminar using
lunch break which serves as a useful reference. I
thought that efficient time management like thisshould be introduced in our company.

Site visit- Swimming pool enclosure

Internal seminar

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NEWS LETTER 2009
4. Capacity Building of Young Engineers
In the field of mechanical and electricalengineerings, SK places importance in capacity
building of young engineers in• Communication skills,• Early involvement of YEs in projects as good Onthe-Job Training,• Attend industry events, seminars, and• Networking in education.
Method of training for young engineers seems
almost the same in Japan and Asutralia.
Regarding networking in Japan, we gain
experience through projects not from preliminary
education. System of building engineering services
is different in every project in Japan. With this inmind that building engineering services in Australia
keep consistency, thus well established.

Tram and City

5. Life in Melbourne
Melbourne is the 2nd biggest city in Australia and old
buildings are blended with modern and traditionalbuildings. There were many parks throughout the citywith plenty of green spaces. The streets are built ingrid lines and TRAMs run on main streets.
SK has friendly atmosphere. They communicate
well and joke regardless of senior or young which
was very impressive.
I was very surprised that many people left theoffice at 6 o’clock. On Friday, some of them startdrinking from lunch!
SK’s Young Engineers

I had opportunities of seeing animals indigenous
to Australia with young engineers and enjoyedwalking on nearby beach. I was invited to homeparty and enjoyed the gathering.
6. Summary
Through the training, I could learn building
engineering services in Australia.
In addition, I learnt their working style, time
management and way of living. All of these,would be of valuable help in my life.
I would like to thank those who supported thetraining program; ACEA, AJCE, SIMPSON
KOTZMAN and P.T.Morimura & Associates. I
apologize for not able to fully respond to thetraining program due to my poor English.
I would like to express special appreciations again
to all the staffs of SK for their heartfelt hospitality.

Enjoyable Home Party

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NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

Report of Official Function

Tadashi Hasegawa
YPEP2008 Trainee
Chodai Co., Ltd.

Welcome Reception
After 10 hours of long flight from Narita to Sydney,trainees and mentors gathered at the ACEA
main office in Sydney and welcome reception
took place in the afternoon of 7th October.
At first, trainees were somewhat stiff inconversation because of fatigue after long flight,
stress and language barrier. But cheerful mentors
and Ms. Frances Lemon at ACEA made our stiff
mind open up gradually.
We introduced ourselves. I initiated talking but
felt nervous because of rather poor English.

Sydney Sightseeing
Before we moved to host companies, we had ashort time to visit Sydney Opera House, locating ina harbor where we enjoy watching beautiful town
and the Harbor Bridge.
While visiting the Opera House, we were
impressed hearing about fascinating story about
construction of the Opera House. Unfortunately,
we could not take pictures inside because ofstage preparation but it was very beautiful. A
huge pipe organ surprised us.
Then we departed for host companies by
airplane, car and other means.

After the reception, we moved to scenic
restaurant in Sydney. It started with selfintroduction, and then lunch with pizza and beerfollowed. Rare foodstuffs like crocodile, emu andkangaroo meat were on the pizza! They weremuch delicious beyond imagination. And somebeers made us cheerful.

Farewell Party
After three weeks of training, trainees and mentors
gathered at ACEA main office in Sydney again on
24th October.
At Young Summit (details: refer to another report),
we made presentations regarding achievements
made in the training program.

Lunch party

Inside of Sydney Opera House

24

NEWS LETTER 2009
After the Summit, we moved to farewell dinner at
Thai restaurant facing the Sydney Harbor.
Succeeding with exchange of opening addresses,
trainees and mentors had pleasant drinking time.
We all became congenial company after a full of
stimulating conversation. Nobody could expect
this at the welcome reception. Of course dishes
were excellent!

illuminated in red and screen showed only letters.
Japanese Karaoke rooms are softly lighted andletters on a screen come together with motion
pictures.
We sung favorite songs and spirited up
passionately.
The Karaoke singing was supposed to last for 1 hour,
but the date has changed when we left there.

After Party
After dinner, we moved to bowling alleys andKaraoke party followed. Australian bowling alleys
have different illumination and mood from thoseof Japanese. But once games have started, thatwas not a problem at all.
The games were really exciting. We were one
family.
We went to Karaoke after bowling! We got slightculture shock. Not like in Japan, room was

Acknowledgment
I had a little hesitation at the beginning of the visittraining.
However, it was overwhelmed by super hospitalityof everyone in host companies as well as ACEA.
We felt quite safe and comfortable throughout
the training and social programs.
I am profoundly grateful to the all mentors,
members of ACEA especially Frances and AJCE
staffs.

After young summit

Farewell dinner

Strike Bowling

Karaoke25

NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

YPEP2008 Young Summit Report

Hidechika Nakamura
YPEP2008 Trainee
P.T.MORIMURA & ASSOCIATES, LTD

In the followings are brief summary on the Young
Summit held on the last day of YPEP2008.

the presentations regarding the training program.
In addition, differences in the young professionals
training program between Japan and Australia
was selected as a topic.

1. Agenda of Young Summit

3. Training Program
As the details of training programs are presented
in the separate section, summary of thepresentations and discussion are reported.

DATE: Friday 24 October, 2008
Time Schedule:
2.00pm~ Opening address
2.10pm~ Presentation by Trainees & Discussion
3.20pm~ Afternoon Tea
3.35pm~ Presentation by Trainees & Discussion
5.00pm End(1) Similarity in Training and Education• On-the-Job Training• Young engineers submit reports and have theopportunities to present in periodical seminars
on technical and operational aspects.
• There are several educational programs such as“ PDP and CPD ” for professionals offered by theInstitution of Engineers and Institution ofProfessional Engineers in Australia/ Japan. And
similar programs by other organisations.
• Advanced or expertise engineering study in
Universities

Venue: Meeting room, ACEA main office, Sydney
2. Contents of Young Summit
In the Young summit, there were 14 participants.
They were 6 trainees, 6 young engineers from hostcompanies and 2 ACEA staffs.
The contents of reports from trainees weredifferent from the past because no specific topics
were given by ACEA. Discussions were based on

Young Summit Participants

Presentation by Mr. Yagami

26NEWS LETTER 2009

4. Summary
I observed that training programs for young

professionals in Australia are provided mainly by Onthe-Job Training. The fundamental methodology
and contents of training programs seem similar inAustralia and Japan.
However, interaction between senior and juniorprofessionals in Australia appeared much active
than Japan. This also applies to implementation oftraining program for young professionals.
Furthermore, system of Networking in Australia
seems far advanced than that of Japan.
I strongly feel that we should introduce thispractice in Japan.

Presentation by Mr. Ishiyama

Presentation by Mr. Hasegawa

Presentation by Mr. Kai

Presentation by Mr. Morinaga(2) Difference in Training and Education• The way of On-the-Job training. Senior engineers
involve positively in the course of practices carriedout by junior engineers when it is appropriate.
• The style of seminar is different from Japanconsiderably.
• Young professionals are encouraged to obtain
Postgraduate degree, such as Master’s degree.
• Networking is considered as important practice .

Memory of YPEP2008 in ACEA

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NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

Round Table Discussion at YPEP 2008
Reporting Conference
Yoshihisa ASADA
Professional Development Promotion Sub-Committee, AJCE
Young Professional Group, AJCE

1. Introduction
The reporting meeting for the young professional
exchange program (YPEP) between AJCE andACE was held at the conference room ofOriental Consultants Co., Ltd. on 7th November,2008. The main speakers were the six trainees
who had received three months of pre-training
before leaving for Australia and three weeks with
the Australian host company from 6th October to
26 October. Another 20 young professionals also
participated. The discussion covered: (a) an
outline of YPEP activities, (b) reporting of the YPEP
activities in 2008, (c) round table discussion and(d) introduction of FIDIC-YPF / AJCE-YPG
activities.

the consulting engineer professions in Australia
and Japan with respect to processes andprocedures, the working environment, andhuman resource development.
2. Topics of round table discussion
The round table discussion was designed as anopportunity to discuss the differences between
Japan and Australia reported by the participants
and their implications for the future professional
development of young Japanese consulting
engineers. The discussion topics were formulatedby the core-members of the young professionalgroup with reference to the trainee’s requests.
The table below shows the three selecteddiscussion topics.

Date:

7th November, 2008 (Friday)

Venue:

Oriental Consultants Co., Ltd.

Topic 1 Working style for consulting engineers in Australia

13:30-13:35

Opening remarks

13:35-13:45

What is the YPEP?

Topic 2 Possibility for penetrating overseas markets by
Japanese consulting engineers

13:45-15:05

Reporting of YPEP 2008(official events

Topic 3 Relationships between consultants, clients andthe publicheld, each trainee, Young Summit)
15:05-15:20

Tea break

15:20-17:15

Round table discussion

17:15-17:25

ntroduction of FIDIC-YPF, AJCE-YPG

17:25-17:30

Closing remarks

17:45-19:00

Networking

The discussion was proceeded by dividing into
three groups and two trainees were allocated toeach group, creating a dynamic atmosphere.
Trainees were assigned to play the role offacilitating the discussion, compiling the points
raised, and presenting the outcome to the wholegroup after the round table discussion.

This report presents details of the round tablediscussion.

The outcomes of the discussions on each topic
were as follows.

As a part of agenda item (b), each trainee spoke
about their experience from the training programand presented opinions on differences between

Topic 1: Working Style of Australian consulting engineers
Topic 1 was guided by a presentation of trainee,

28NEWS LETTER 2009
Mr. Masato Ishiyama, IDEA Consultants, Inc., thendiscussion involving all participants followed.
Mr. Ishiyama reported that the main characteristics of
the working style in Australian consulting engineersare (a) they work less overtime, (b) they receive
fewer phone calls from clients; quiet officeenvironment helps to concentrate in work, and(c) there are more opportunities for networking in
the consulting engineering industry outside of
their company.
After his presentation, there were questions andopinions expressed by participants. A summary ofthis discussion is as follows.
Opinion/Question
Is the reduced
overtime
reflected
in the salarysystem?

Photo 1. Round Table Discussion

Response from Trainee

background and knowledge (in Australia manyengineers can handle only their own field ofspecialization).
• High capability of solving problems (precise
thinking, good concentration); however,weak on original thinking and creative ideas.
(2) Advantages in technology, engineer’s
capability, or production systems.
• When a Japanese company attempts toenter into overseas market, it would beappropriate to joint venture with Australiancompany.
• Enhancement of sales requires technologies
that do not exist in the target market.
• Have to understand that possession of hightechnology alone does not guarantee highsales. Marketing efforts customized for thetarget country are essential for effective andefficient promotion.
• Overseas projects normally require total
project management.
(3) Problems or challenges that need to be
overcome• Language skills, multi-cultural understanding
and appropriate communication skills; all

In Australia, although the salary system is not clear, monthly
salaries were said to be about $US3,500 for an engineer with 25
years experience, and house rent costs bout $US1,000. They
certainly don’t seem to have higher salaries, but they seem tohave better quality of life.

There are more tangible targets for training and evaluation
What are thesystem. For acquiring qualifications, the company provides thedifferences
opportunity for technical experience and to allow them tobetweensubmit training reports.
Australia andJapan withrespect to onthe-job training(OJT)?
What are thefeatures of
guidance
provided byseniorengineers?

There is frequent checking of the younger engineer’s work
progress and outputs, and guidance given (though it
sometimes feels like they are only being given tasks as a part oftheir normal duties, not for specific purpose of training).
Young engineers are always encouraged to express theiropinions in meetings.

Topic 2: Possibility of penetrating the overseas
market by Japanese consulting engineers
Topic 2 was formulated to discuss the possibility ofJapanese consulting engineers entering into
overseas markets and was conducted by group
discussion. This topic seemed slightly abstract
and broad, so a sub-title was adopted: “Whatkind of Japanese engineering expertise aresuperior to overseas?”
Discussion points
1. What kind of Japanese engineering expertise wererecognized from their training that can be applied tooverseas markets?
2. What are the advantages in technology, engineer’s
capability, or production systems?
3. What are the problems or challenges need to be
overcome?

A summary of the group discussion is as follows.
(1) What Japanese technologies can be proudly
applied overseas?
• High standard engineering expertise (e.g.,
anti-seismic technology) and keeping
project time schedule in time.
• Engineers with a broad engineering
Photo-2. Round Table Discussion

29NEWS LETTER 2009
need to be improved as much as possible.
• We should study and be trained in project
management for high-level engineering
judgment.

engineers can be extremely helpful for careerplanning.
At the end of the group discussion, one
participant suggested that we young engineers
should take the initiative to change the status ofconsulting engineers and our working
environment. We should not expect or dependon clients and our companies to change thesituation.

Topic 3: Relationships between Consultants,
Clients and the Public
Topic 3 dealt with issues and activities
concerning the relationships with contractors,
clients, and the public from the viewpoint ofJapanese consultants.
A summary of the results of the group discussion is
as follows.
1) Contractors - Clients Relationship• The relationship between Japanese
consulting engineers and their clients is like a
relationship between an employer and an
employee (possibly due to the history of thebirth of consulting engineering in Japan).
• Australian consulting engineers have
responsibility for whole projects, from design toconstruction; therefore, the industry has highstatus. Also, consultants have considerable
flexibility to exercise judgment which is built into
their contracts with clients.
• For example how much difference in thestatus of consulting engineers in Japan andother countries. In England, sometimes
consulting engineers request research fromprivate firm such as think-tank. Consulting
engineers have superior role..
2) Relationship with Public• In Australia, public relations activities by
consulting engineering bodies are
conducted frequently and by various
methods (including visits to high schools). As
a result, public gain higher awareness in therole of consulting engineers, similar to theawareness of doctors and lawyers.

3.Conclusion
This discussion provided a precious opportunity
for us to freely exchange opinions based on theexperiences from YPEP 2008. Many thanks go to allparticipants. The exchange program provided agreat opportunity for the trainees to compare
circumstances in Australia and Japan. Participants
had valuable experience in identifying thedifferences in culture and ways of practice andassociated issues, presenting findings, anddiscussing them with other young Japaneseengineers.
Hopefully, more in-depth analyses of the causes ofthe differences between the consulting engineer
profession in Japan and other developed
countries will be continued, thereby identifying
directions and actions for improvement. The
young professional group (YPG) in AJCE willcontinue to organize these kinds of opportunities
for discussion and networking for young
professionals.

Due to time limitations, the group discussions
were allocated for only 30 minutes on each
topic. However, participants raised many
interesting points in lively discussions, which weremuch appreciated by the meeting organizers.
One of the participants pointed out that this kindof information exchange between young

Photo-3. YPEP 2008 Trainees and Participants(after the networking session)

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NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

Inauguration of MOU between AJCE and
KENCA
On 22nd July, 2008, Mr. Akihiko Hirotani ,president of AJCE and Mr. Haeng-Rae Cho,chairman of KENCA concluded Memorandum ofUnderstanding between AJCE and KENCA at
Toranomon Pastral Hotel in Tokyo. About 20
people including executive board members fromboth associations participated in theinauguration ceremony.
In the opening address, Mr. Cho expressed that
KENCA hopes to raise capability of CEs through
MOU and share progress and prosperity between
both associations. He stressed strong mutual
cooperation on this regard.

From the left KENCA
AJCE

Mr. Hirotani agreed with Mr. Cho’s address andresponded that AJCE looks for nurturing
constructive and trustful relationship.
Main objective of the MOU is to cooperate andpromote development of CE industry in Japanand Korea. Scope of MOU covers informationexchange, exchange of professionals, cooperative
research, holding joint seminars or workshops, andpromotion of project opportunity.
Three newspaper companies participated in theinauguration ceremony and reported the eventto construction industry.

KIM Yong Gon, Vice President,
CHO Haeng Rae, President,
Hirotani, President,
Shimizu, Vice President

31NEWS LETTER 2009

AJCE Activity 2008

Dialogues with Richard Stump
Former FIDIC YPF (Young Professionals Forum)
chair and vice president of Stanley Consultants,
Mr. Richard Stump visited AJCE secretariat on
July 8, November 11, 2008 and January 23, 2009.
Members of AJCE Professional Development
Committee and ASPAC (FIDIC Member
Associations in the Asia- Pacific Region) subcommittee have exchanged information about
issues as described below. His visit to AJCE
contributes greatly to activities of young
professionals in Japan as well as ASPAC member
countries.

3) Young Professionals
Exchange Program(YPEP)AJCE and ACEA
(Australia)
havebeen implementing
YPEP for 12 years.
Over 100 young
professionals haveparticipated in thisprogram. Six professionals from ACEA had visittraining in host companies of AJCE. It is ourunderstanding that YPEP program initiated an idea
about establishing young professionals activities in
FIDIC.
4) AJCE Young Professional Group (YPG)As a platform for continuous professional
development for young professionals who
participated in YPEP or FIDIC conference, Kunji
Akinaga has established AJCE Young
Professional Group (YPG).
Since its establishment, AJCE YPG has sharedinternal newsletters, translation of FIDIC news inJapanese, and has been supporting activities
of AJCE by on-demand basis. Approximately
40 young professionals are registered for YPG.

AJCE and Richard have exchanged following
information:1) FIDIC YPFRichard reported that the chair of FIDIC YPF will
be handed over to Alex Eyquem in 2008 FIDIC
Quebec conference. Three steeringcommittee members will retire in 2008. Richard
requested AJCE to nominate one steeringcommittee member from Japan. Responding
to his request, AJCE executive board
nominated a candidate, Takashi Nakajima
who was approved to be a steeringcommittee member at FIDIC YPF GAM in
Quebec conference.
2) Establishment of ASPAC YPFRichard requested AJCE for a presentation at
FIDIC YPF Open Forum in Quebec conference.
Responding to his request, AJCE executive
board assigned ASPAC sub-committee
member of AJCE to present a proposal ofestablishment of ASPAC YPF. Following thepresentation at the Open Forum, the idea of
ASPAC YPF establishment was supported by
FIDIC YPF. So-called Pre-steering committee of
ASPAC has formed after the Quebec
conference. Most of them are from FIDIC YPF
steering committee members in Asian region.

FIDIC YPF was established in 2003 to promote
activities of young professionals. This momentum
is about to flourish in ASPAC. AJCE has involved
with establishment of FIDC YPF from its
preparation stage
Richard and AJCE have been keeping friendly
and positive cooperation. AJCE values dialogues
with Richard and hoping it to be nurtured for along time. It is also our expectations that this kindof relationship could be extended to young
professionals in ASPAC YPF as well as FIDIC YPF.

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