III. Cooperation
One of the most important philosophies employed in Green Asia is diligent strenuous
collaboration, which spans not only inside – outside spheres of Kyushu University but also academic– industrial sectors as well as domestic – overseas relations. We have though that bolsteredcooperative ties with those organizations play a crucially significant role in the educational processthat we have designed in the Green Asia Program.
The following scheme shows the fundamental assets in terms of those collaborations.

Figure 3-1. Various Collaborative Ties with the Green Asia Program

1. International Cooperation
Although Kyushu University as well as each of the professors committed to this program haveaffluent world-wide networks, the Green Asia Program has focused on seeking strong, real andconcrete partnerships with major universities and institutions in Asia. Thus, we executed MoUs with
six partner universities, all of which are top-notch research universities in their respective countries;
Mahidol University (Thailand), Malaysia–Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT),
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) (Malaysia), Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) (Indonesia),
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras (India), National University of Singapore (NUS)(Singapore), and the University of Dhaka (Bangladesh). We call this our network of “sixinternational core cooperating organizations”.
As tangible forms of cooperation with them, the Green Asia Program annually conducts thefollowing two events:-

International Advisory Board Meeting (IAB Meeting), to which we humbly invite
counterpart professors from each of the six alliance universities in order to enhance ourcollaboration, also obtain meaningful suggestions from them to make the field provided by
the Green Asia Program a truly internationalized melting pot from educational point of67

view.
-

Short Visit; we take Green Asia students in a live spot to experience what is happening in
Asia in terms of regional industry, research at local institutions, and real environments.
The short visit takes place once a year. We ask one of our allied universities to serve as
host for each visit. In FY2012, we visited NUS in Singapore, and additionally, Mahidol
University in Thailand. In FY2013, we visited MJIIT and UTM in Malaysia. We arethankful that the University of Dhaka has expressed to be willing to host the short visit in
FY2014.

1.1. First International Advisory Board Meeting
When the G-COE program “Novel Carbon Resource Science” held the 9th International
Symposium on Novel Carbon Resource Sciences on November 1 and 2, 2012, program contributors
and department representatives from six core overseas collaborating institutes on this program cameto the university and the first International Advisory Board (IAB) Meeting was held at C-cube in
Chikushi Campus on November 3 (Figure 3-2).
At this meeting, a slide presentation was used to give an overview of the program, forming thebasis for an open discussion on the specific contributions that we would want to solicit from themembers of collaborating institutes abroad. In particular, the recruitment of international students
was discussed. While it is not possible to create fixed slots for collaborating institutes among the 10
international student places (out of the total student capacity of 20 slots) on the grounds of equality,
fairness, and transparency of the entrance examinations, from the perspective of capacity a common
awareness was reached, whereby it was surmised that it may be possible to accept one person fromeach institute on the assumption that only the very best students would be recommended.
In addition, a visiting lecturer division was established within the GA Education Center, withstaff from collaborating institutes invited by the program to take charge of the practical aspects ofthis program. In addition, strong expectations were voiced for the development of a framework thatwould facilitate joint research with Kyushu University.
1.2. Kickoff Meeting and Second International Advisory Board Meeting
On January 25, 2013, the program’s kickoff meeting was held in conjunction with the publicforum “Creating a Green Asia.” Representatives from six core overseas collaborating institutes, who
are mainly the program contributors, were invited to this meeting to give presentations on their
institution’s expectations for the program.
The following day, on January 26, the second IAB Meeting was held at the administrative
office of the Chikushi Campus with the participation of the professors invited from theaforementioned six core overseas collaborating institutes and those connected with the program(coordinator Prof. Harada, assistant coordinator Prof. Tanimoto, assistant coordinator Prof. Hayashi,
assistant coordinator Prof. Sasaki, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences dean
and program head Prof. Nakashima, and office staff) (Photo 3-1).

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Figure 3-2. Handout for the First IAB Meeting69

Photo 3-1. Participants at the Second IAB meeting

Continuing on from the previous meeting, the main points of discussion were as follows: (1)cooperation in recruiting international students; (2) cooperation in creating a template for short trips,
including the visit made to the National University of Singapore at the end of January 2013, andplans to hold such events once or twice a year hereafter; (3) developing a framework for the visiting
lecturer division. With respect to item (2), we have obtained promises of continuing support from therespective institutions. With respect to (3), although discussion on this point will continue at the next
session, we have implemented a pilot case in which a postdoctoral researcher from Thailand
currently at the Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences has been invited as avisiting lecturer from Mahidol University, with efforts now underway to implement a framework forthis relationship. With respect to item (1), the most important of the three, in some cases there are
restrictions in sending graduates from collaborating institutes’ undergraduate programs overseas dueto the various conditions set by universities and countries, and there was a shared awareness that it
would be difficult to make unified requests for cooperation. Following this meeting, the programorganizers visited the respective collaborating institutes at the end of the 2012–2013 academic year.
On this occasion, detailed meetings were held with MJIIT director Megat and vice-director in chargeof teaching affairs Dr. Sabariah regarding actual procedures. These resulted in the drawing up of aframework for Global 30 entrance examinations to be held at the Interdisciplinary Graduate Schoolof Engineering Sciences and Faculty of Engineering and for selecting course students for thisprogram. Application forms and guidelines have now been uploaded onto our website (Appendixes
10 and 11).
1.3. Third International Advisory Board Meeting
In FY2013, we convened the third IAB Meeting on December 1 at Hotel Clio Court Hakata
where totally nine professors and staffs from the Green Asia Program and eight professors fromoverseas partner universities participated. We presented the annual report of what happened in thelast year to hear comments from them. Also we discussed what provisions to be taken to deeply
cultivate our collaboration. On the way of discussion, the representative from the University of
Dhaka expresses to be willing to host the short visit in FY2014. The agenda as well as a participantlist and pictures are shown in Table 3-1, Figure 3-2, and Photo 3-2.

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Table 3-1. Participants List for the Third IAB Meeting

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

Name

University

Megat Johari Megat Mohd Noor
Md. Sekul Islam
Pervin Suraiya
Muthuswamy Kamaraj
Rudy Sayoga Gautama Benggolo
Zeng Huachun
Taweechai Amornsakchai
Pranee Phinyocheep
Akira Harata
Jun Tanimoto
Junichiro Hayashi
Keiko Sasaki
Yasuyuki Nakao
Bidyut Baran Saha
Aya Hagishima
Hiroshi Furuno
Andrew Mark Spring

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (MJIIT)
University of Dhaka
University of Dhaka
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Institut Teknologi Bandung
National University of Singapore
Mahidol University
Mahidol University
Kyushu University
Kyushu University
Kyushu University
Kyushu University
Kyushu University
Kyushu University
Kyushu University
Kyushu University
Kyushu University

Figure 3-2. Agenda of the Third IAB Meeting71

Photo 3-2. Participants at the Third IBA meeting

2. Domestic Cooperation
Yet more than hundreds and thousands collaborations with industry sectors are active in Kyushu
University, the Green Asia Program asked six major organizations to participate as domestic partners
from the non-academic sphere, which we define “six domestic core cooperating organizations”:
Kyushu Electric Power Co. Inc.; Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Cooperation; Ube Industries,
Ltd.; Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd.; Daikin Industries, Ltd.; and several municipal governments
under the joint project of Green Asia International Strategy by Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka andKitakyushu cites.
A wide range of cooperation has been realized, as concretely described in the next section, andis expected to keep our win-win relationships sustainable. One of the typical examples is that someof the firms are willing to offer comprehensive opportunities in which Green Asia students canobserve domestic production lines at a factory of the firm, active mining spot; those are followed byconnecting active oversea spots in a short visit. Another example is that some key engineers,industry researchers, and practitioners are invited to give special lectures to Green Asia students
through the framework provided by the Green Asia Afternoon Colloquium.
2.1. Meeting with Cooperative Companies and Local Governments
A lunch meeting was held as part of the kickoff event staged on January 25, 2013. Until then,all meetings and coordination with the six domestic core collaborating institutes had been conducted
on an individual basis through the program contributors, and this was the first occasion on which thevarious parties came together under the same roof. Unfortunately, not all collaborating institutes
could attend, but the following framework devised by the key program members and representatives
will form the core of future collaboration.
1) Using the short visit to Singapore (including a site visit to Mitsui Phenol Singapore, which is
not a domestic core collaborating institute) and the short visit to Thailand (including a site
visit to UBE GROUP (THAILAND)) conducted during the 2012–2013 academic year,
potential hosts for visits during the program’s overseas training sessions were considered.

722) With respect to strengthening collaboration between Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka City andKitakyushu City, possibilities for jointly planning and holding public forums and other events
to generate wider awareness of the educational and research aspects of the “global strategy forGreen Asia” were examined.
3) Possibilities for cooperation and collaboration relating to the implementation of educational
programs were reviewed, such as having the program coordinators become involved in
guiding students as mentors or in cooperating and giving advice on the implementation of thePractice School, and sharing the essence of employee training within companies as special
part-time lecturers and special guests at other events.
2.2. Discussions on Cooperation with Individual Companies, the Prefecture, andCities Mediated through the Program Coordinators
As stated in the previous section, from the initial program application onward, all contact andcoordination with domestic core collaborating institutes has been conducted between the program
coordinators at the university and those at the domestic core collaborating institutes. With respect tofuture collaboration, a framework will be developed based on the articles set out in the previous
section. With respect to collaboration with collaborating institutes, there has been a gap in the degreeof collaboration between the institutes that have actually cooperated in short visits for overseas
training and those that will launch collaborative activities in the future since this program has justbeen launched.
• Kyushu Electronic Power Co., Inc.
• Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation• Ube Industries, Ltd.
• Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd.
• Daikin Industries, Ltd.
• Green Asia International Strategic Comprehensive Special Zone (Fukuoka Prefecture,
Fukuoka City, and City of Kitakyushu)

3. Successful Working Practice with Partners
3.1. Short Visit to Singapore
This practice was conducted in cooperation with the Global COE (G-COE) program, as Mitsui
Chemicals, Inc. has a partnership with the G-COE. Such an organic linkage between the Green Asia
Program and the G-COE Program as a precursive education program can produce material results
successfully.
Section 3.3.(b) in Chapter II has more information on this point.
3.2. Short Visit to Thailand (FY2012)
We visited to Mahidol University and UBE GROUP (THAILAND), and they are core
cooperating organizations in the Green Asia Program. From this point forward, we will use thispractice as a template of cooperation with partners. It may be significant that we could achieve such73

satisfactory results for corporation within tight time constraints.
Section 3.3.(c) in Chapter II has more detail on this point.
3.3. Short Visit to Malaysia
When the short visit to Malaysia in FY2013, we visited a factory of Malaysian SH-Electronics
Sdn. Bhd., which locates in outskirt area of Kuala Lumpur, where we could see a real backyard oflive factory producing ICs, base-boards of ICs and various high-tech stuffs. The firm is one of thesubsidiary companies of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. Prior to the short visit, Sumitomo Metal
Mining Co., Ltd. organized for us to experience another live spot, connecting to the factory. That is
an opportunity to visit Hishikari Mining in Kagoshima Prefecture, which is one of the biggest active
gold mines in Japan.
Section 3.3.(d) in Chapter II has more on this point.
3.4. Short Visit to Thailand (FY2013)
Because of political unrest in Bangkok, we had suspended to visit Mahidol University, Thailand
in FY2013, and have suspended so far. In the plan of the short visit, it was scheduled to visit a local
factory of Daikin Industries, Ltd. This is also coupled with visiting a domestic relevant factory as thecase of the short visit to Malaysia. In fact, Daikin Industries, Ltd. provided us with a wonderful
opportunity to visit one of its major factories, Shiga Factory, where we could see various live
activities such as quality control, educational activity, international training, and others in an actual
factory producing air-conditioners for industrial as well as home use.
Section 3.3.(e) in Chapter II has more information on this point.

4. Cooperation with the Global COE Project
The G-COE Program “Novel Carbon Resource Science” has been run for five years since 2008by the Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences (IGSES), the Institute forMaterials Chemistry and Engineering (IMCE), and the Graduate Schools of Engineering, with Prof.
Nagashima acting as a representative for the IMCE. G-COE is a MEXT/JSPS project that provides
support for education in doctoral programs and the global cutting-edge research associated withthese programs. Whereas the Green Asia Program is an integrated master’s/doctoral degree program,the CAMPUS Asia Project “Collaborative Graduate School Program for Global Human Resources
Development in Energy and Environmental Science and Technology,” which has been run as aseparate five-year project since the 2011 academic year at the IGSES, is a double-degree programfor master’s degrees. In this way, although it is a comparatively small educational organization,
Kyushu University’s Chikushi Campus boasts pioneering master’s, integrated master’s and/or
doctoral, and doctoral programs, all of which exist in parallel. In this sense, it functions as anexperimental incubator for the creation of a center for graduate school education not seen at otheruniversities.
Doctoral programs by their very nature require an underpinning of pioneering research. Ideally,
the development of educational programs and curricula, as well as the establishment of effective74

domestic and overseas collaborations require the proactive incorporation of knowhow from previous
successful experience. This entails tailoring curricula in an organic fashion according to thecircumstances by sharing curricula with other collaborating programs, for instance. In fact, the Green
Asia Program is being conducted in collaboration with the aforementioned G-COE in a pragmaticand organic manner.
For example, within this program, as part of the requirements for completion of integrated
master’s and doctoral degree work, students need to obtain 77 credits over 5 years, a much larger
number of credits than in traditional graduate schools (where the master’s course may require 30
credits and the doctoral course 10). In addition, to obtain these credits, students have to undertake
not only traditional classroom-based coursework in the form of lectures and seminars, but also aseries of real-life activities that teach them practical skills and multifaceted perspectives, such as
short-term visits, corporate internships, and planning and running international conferences. To
ensure that such curricula prove to be fruitful, the program must be effectively designed in terms ofthe details of each lecture and seminar, and constant review and revision of content is necessary
through ongoing plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycles. Given these considerations, a monitor student
system has been put in place as part of this program, mainly deploying the aforementioned G-COE
course students. In fact, by having doctoral course students—who have been appointed as monitor
students after passing a qualifying examination—take newly developed lectures and seminars under
this program in advance, it becomes possible to gauge the efficacy of these programs. At present, weare focusing on humanities and social science courses, which are among the featured aspects of thisprogram, as well as courses aimed at developing language skills and events related to international
activities, and are striving to gain a quantitative understanding of the educational effects of each ofthese by having monitor students take them (either in advance of or at the same time as course
students).

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