No.11 Aug. 29, 2013

Japan Society of Civil Engineers
International Activities Center

IAC News No. 11
The 1st MES-JSCE Joint Symposium in Yangon, Myanmar

Republic of the Union of Myanmar has recently been regarded as the final frontierof economic growth in Asia, and is ready to attract huge investment. However,significant lack of infrastructures may limit the potential to enjoy the benefit ofexpected growth. It is important to cultivate local civil engineers, as well as toexpect technology and financial assistance by foreign countries, in order todevelop various infrastructures such as sea ports, roads, railways and electricpower plants in short time and in efficient way.
Tetsuo SHIMIZU
Japan Society of Civil Engineers
ICC Gr. Myanmar Gr. Leader(JSCE) set up “Myanmar Group” inInternational Activity Center (IAC) in 2013 to contribute tocultivation of civil engineers in Myanmar. The group is now
seeking the opportunity to build cooperative relationships with
Myanmar Engineering Society (MES) which is central academic
society for engineers in Myanmar. The first MES-JSCE Joint
Symposium was held on July 26th, 2013 in Yangon as the firststep of this trial. Fifteen JSCE members including President
Kotaro Hashimoto, Ex-president Shigeru Morichi, Prof. Tamon
Ueda, Senior Director of IAC and Mr. Asao Yamakawa, Director of
IAC were dispatched to the symposium. Prior to the symposium, Memorandum of Understandings
between MES and JSCE for future cooperation was signed up by MES President Mr. Win Khaing and theJSCE President in a ceremony. Mr. Kyaw Lwin, Minister of Construction and Mr. Han Zaw, a former MESPresident who won JSCE International Award in 2009, participated in the ceremony.
MES-JSCE MOU Signing Ceremony
H.E. U Kyaw Lwin (center), Mr. Win Khaing(left) and Mr. Hashimoto (right)

There were around 230 participants in the symposium. The symposium started by greetings from Ministerof Construction, MES President and JSCE President, and consisted of three technical sessions dealing“Development of Technical Standards”, “Cultivation of Civil Engineers” and “Emerging Technologies inCivil Engineering”, with eleven presentations, six from MES and five from JSCE. We realized that level ofbridge construction technology is relatively high compared with other infrastructure development
technologies. On the contrary, we also realized that lack of original technical standards is emerging issue
to be solved immediately. Besides, role of higher educational institution has not been large ininfrastructure development. Development of curriculum on cultivation of civil engineers and scheme on
cultivation of academic scholars is also inevitable to increase the role. We will hold the next symposiums
regularly. We would appreciate great assistance by JSCE members to propose solutions to theseproblems.

Mr. Hashimoto delivers a speech.

The Symposium audience U Han Zaw a former MES
president at the front row

Joint Company Information Session in Civil Engineering for International Students
International Students Network Group, JSCE, held a Joint Company Information
Session in Civil Engineering for International Students at the JSCE headquarter inTokyo on 6th July. It aimed to provide international students with information onJapanese construction companies and job opportunities. 13 construction
companies participated and 8 out of them gave a presentation to introduce theirbusiness activities. Also, those companies set up their booths to meet theinternational students. Total 55 international students attended mainly fromuniversities in the Kanto region (area near Tokyo).
Kohei NAGAI, Assoc. Prof.
Int’l Student Network Gr. Leader

The companies participated:
JFE Engineering Corporation, KATAHIRA & ENGINEERS Inc., OBAYASHI CORPORATION, SHIMIZUCORPORATION, CHODAI CO., LTD., Eight-Japan Engineering Consultants Inc., NIPPON KOEI CO.,LTD., OBAYASHI ROAD CORPORATION, Oriental Consultants Co., LTD., East Nippon Expressway
Company Limited, Nexco-East Engineering Co., Ltd, THE NIPPON ROAD
Co., Ltd., TODACORPORATIONIn the first session, a lecture was given by Dr. Phan Huu Duy
Quoc who came from Vietnam as an international student andgot a Ph.D. Now he works at SHIMIZU CORPORATION. He
talked his experience in school and his work in Japan. He
emphasized the advantage of studying and working in Japan
where he could relate to the latest technologies and big projects.
Students gave questions and received useful information fromthe presentations and at the company booths.

A company rep talks his company activity.

It was the first event for the JSCE to hold the Joint Company Information Session. Although it has beenrecognized that the globalization of Japanese construction companies is indispensable and many
companies are interested in employing international students, there are few opportunities that
construction companies and international students directly meet and discuss with each other. Manycompanies in other industries have started hiring international students actively, and there are many job

fairs nowadays. The International Students Network Group first conducted a questionnaire survey toconstruction companies to see their interests in the event, and then decided to hold it. Also, someinternational students wanted to get information or job in Japanese construction companies.
Therefore, it was a nice opportunity for both those international
students and companies. However, the information of Japanesecompanies such as international business activities, job information,and required Japanese language levels for working is not well given
to the international students.
JSCE will hold the session annually to provide international students
and construction companies with the chance to learn and talk witheach other.
Int’l students meet company reps.

IAC Current News
There are five working-groups- Information Networking Gr., International
Cooperation and Collaboration (ICC) Gr., International Student Network Gr.,
Professional Education & Education Program Gr., and task-based groups inthe IAC, headed by Prof. Tamon Ueda, the IAC Senior Director.
The Information Networking Gr. is responsible for collecting and disseminating
information within Japan and abroad, and is expected to fulfill this
responsibility, making positing influences upon the JSCE and its members’
activities. The International Student Network Gr. is developing an international

Kotaro Hashimoto
The 101st JSCE President

students network to create a social platform, hosting the annual International
Summer Symposium, and will be able to link to the networks which colleges, universities and othereducational institutes have not so long before. And the ICC Gr., under the leadership of Mr. Asao
Yamakawa, the group leader, takes a major role in developing JSCE’s international activity with elevensubgroups which members consist of experts from the academic, public and private sectors. The ICC Gr.
also works closely with nine International Sections which are placed in Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia,
Indonesia and others.
As one of the international activities, JSCE works with the international organization Asian Civil
Engineering Coordinating Council (ACECC) as one member. The ACECC, being consisted of ten civilengineering related organizations, promotes cross-border collaborations in that region, and currently is
inviting Cambodian Society of Civil Engineers as an observer. The ACECC hold triennale Civil
Engineering Conference in the Asian Region (CECAR). The 6th CECAR was held in Jakarta in thisAugust.
In sum, we have to strengthen and maintain the firm cooperation among the ICC Gr., subgroups,
International Sections, the ACECC members, the networks of international students, civil engineers
dispatched to work on overseas projects, and foreign embassies. That is essential for us to enhance thecooperation with overseas civil engineering professional organizations.

I would like to add that the 1st joint symposium between Myanmar Engineering Society and JSCE wassuccessfully held in Yangon this July. Prof. Shigeru Morichi (the 92nd JSCE President), Prof. Ueda, Mr.
Yamakawa, and two Myanmar Gr. members Prof. Tetsuo Shimizu (Tokyo Metropolitan University) and Mr.
Shinri Sone (National Institute of Land and Infrastructure Management, MLIT), and I myself represented
the JSCE and engaged in discussion with H.E. U Kyaw Lwin Minister of Construction, U Win Myint Deputy
Minister of Construction, U Win Khaing MES President, U Han Zaw MES Immediate-Past President andother significant figures in Myanmar.
One more thing. Mongolian Association of Civil Engineers (MACE) held its annual meeting in June. Prof.
Eiki Yamaguchi (Kyushu Institute of Technology), Mongolia Group Leader, attended and made theexchanges of information, ideas and opinions with MACE members.
These are a few examples of the IAC’s international exchange activities. We do hope that the IAC will
make more effort to further develop the communication and cooperation between JSCE and its overseas
counterparts.
Thank you very much.

The JSCE delegation visits a bridge construction site.

The JSCE delegation and project members of MoT forthe bridge construction.

2013 JSCE Directors in charge of International Affairs Division

Tamio SHIMOGAMI, Chief Director,

Shinich HINO

Kiyohiro IKEDA

Chairman, Construction Services in Kinki Region

Kyushu UniversityTohoku University

What’s HappeningOct. 9-12 : ASCE 143rd Annual Civil Engineering Conference (Charlotte, N.C) :http://content.asce.org/conferences/asce-annual2013/
Oct. 23-25 : 2013 KSCE Annual Conference & Civil Exposition at High 1 Resort, Gangwon-do

Updates

The summary of feature articles in the JSCE Magazine is available on the JSCE website.
http://www.jsce-int.org/pub/magazine
Concrete Committee International Newsletter No. 34
http://www.jsce.or.jp/committee/concrete/e/newsletter/Newsletter.htm

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Staff’s Mumbling
An extremely hot summer is gradually fading into autumn, and it is getting cooler in the mornings and evenings.
In this issue, there are two reports: the joint symposium in Myanmar and the other on joint company session. I
read in them that keeping our efforts to hold those events in the future time is necessary, and am aware ofbeing true for the IAC News as well. We promise that we will not fail the readers, and make this newsletterinteresting and useful to attract more readers. Thank you.

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