NEWS LETTER 2010

AJCE Activity 2009

Young Professionals Exchange
Programme (YPEP) 2009
-A bridge of friendship connecting Australia andKeiichi KANAIJapanChair, Professional Development Promotion Sub-Committee
CTI Engineering Co., Ltd.

In October last year, AJCE welcomed four young
Australian professionals who spent 3 weeks at
selected AJCE member firms as they wereparticipating Young Professionals Exchange
Programme (YPEP), established in 1996 topromote good relationship and friendshipbetween Japanese and Australian young
consulting engineers.

proved to be one of the key elements of theprogramme.
The schedule of YPEP2009 was as follows;
January
Host firms recruited and selectedFebruary
Selection of visiting young
professionals
April
Pre-visit dialogue started
October 13
Orientation & Welcome Party
October 24-25 Trip to Kyoto & Nara
October 30
Young Summit Meeting &Farewell Party
In the “Pre-visit Dialogue” period, the Australianengineers communicated by e-mails with thementors or other people at the host firms on thewide range of topics from technical issues in theirbusiness area to practical information and tips forstaying in Japan.
During 3 weeks of visit, four Australian engineers
worked with their mentors at each hostcompany, location of which dispersed all overJapan from Sapporo to Sendai, Tokyo andFukuoka. The programs varied by host company,
but mostly included presentations, seminars,discussions, site visits and, of course, many socialevents.

Signing Ceremony of MOU in 1995

Due to the global economic depression, there
were not as many visiting engineers this time as in
the past years. However, well-prepared training
programs and warm hospitality of the host firms
made this year's YPEP even more productive andfruitful. “Pre-visit Dialogue”, introduced for the firsttime in 2007 to make the training more effective
and efficient, was carried out smoothly and it

Trainees of YPEP

1GHD

Jamie Chapman

Host Company
in Australia
Oriental Consultants Co.,Ltd.,

2

GHD

Nobu Ito

Oriental Consultants Co.,Ltd.,

Tokyo

3

Arup

Hilary Pocock

CTI Engineering Co., Ltd.

Sendai, Fukuoka

4

Kellogg, Brown and RootDavid Dixon

Chodai Co.,Ltd.

Sapporo, Tokyo

NO.

CompanyName

14OfficeTokyo

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Welcome Party

Young Summit Table discussion

The weekend trip to Kyoto and Nara, former
capital cities of Japan and famous for their oldshrines and temples, offered to the visitors agood opportunity to explore the rich history ofJapan.
On the last day the Young Summit Meeting washeld in Tokyo, in which all the participants fromboth countries got together to report and listen
to the outcome of their 3 weeks of training, andto exchange their views and opinions on someinteresting isuues such as the difference of work
environment and systems in two countries. After
the Australian engineers' report presentation, we
had roundtable discussions, topics of which were
(1) What “Consulting Engineer” means for yourcareer and life, and (2) What you expect yourfirm to do for your “Capacity Building”. In thediscussion for topic (1), they exchanged various
experiences and views; the reasons why they
had chosen this profession, the gap between
their original expectation for the job and thereality they are facing, the huge social
responsibility and challenge of the profession,and so on. For topic (2), they talked about theirown firms' policies of human resources
development, how they want their superiors toguide or educate them in the daily work, andwhat they would do to your subordinates in thefuture. It was a valuable and meaningful meetingfor all participants, and one of the highlights ofthe entire program.
While YPEP's primary purpose is to provide young
engineers with opportunities to touch different
cultures, to learn new engineering skills, and tocreate an extensive network of young
professionals, we hope that in the future this will
be growing into close business relationship

Farewell Party

between the participating firms in two countries.
We have already started preparing for this year'sYPEP, in which AJCE will be sending Japaneseyoung professionals selected from its member
firms to Australia, and we believe that it will be
another success in YPEP's outstanding history.

Trainees and their hosts in YPEP2009

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AJCE Activity 2009

Summary of YPEP 2009 Experience

Jamie Chapman
YPEP2009 Trainee
GHD

Introduction
During the 2009 YPEP to Japan, I was given theopportunity work with Oriental Consultants in their
Tokyo office where we exchanged knowledge
through discussions and site visits. While in JapanI stayed with two different families and was alsoable to travel to various parts of Japan toexperience the culture.

Cultural Experience
During the weekends I was able to visit manydifferent places throughout Japan. A tour wasorganised by AJCE through the historic cities ofKyoto and Nara. Through the guided tour, I
learnt much about the history of Japan.
I was also able to experience much of the nightlife in the city of Tokyo and the more weekend
atmosphere in places like Yoyogi Park andAkihabara.

Work Experience
Each day I travelled to Nishi-Shinjuku Gochomestation using the high frequency train system
which was an interesting experience. My workwith Oriental Consultants involved many
discussions with employees with topics ranging
from YP Issues to pavement design differences
between Japan and Australia.
I was also able to visit a number of project sites,some completed and some under construction.
These visits were very valuable and informative as
design and construction constraints vary
between Japan and Australia.

Summary
The exchange program to Japan has been very
rewarding and valuable. I have made a lot offriends while here in Tokyo working with Oriental
consultants and I hope to continue thesefollowing my return to Australia. I was able toexperience the wonderful hospitality that theJapanese are famous for. This was a great
experience and I recommend it highly to all
young professionals and I thank ACEA and AJCE
for their effort to make this possible.

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AJCE Activity 2009

YP Exchange Program 2009 Report
Nobu ItoYPEP2009 Trainee
GHD

1. Introduction
As an YPEP trainee, I havebeen served with Oriental
Consultants (OC), Railway
Group within the Global
Consulting (GC) Division.
Although it was a short stay, I have been given
some opportunities to expose myself to general
discussion with YPs, railway grade separation
construction site (non-OC project).
2. Discussion with OC's YPs
Discussion session was held forthe purpose of exchanging
opinions on differences
between Australian andJapanese
consultancies
including• Working Hours and Environment• Dress Code (introduction of casual Friday)• Drug and Alcohol Policy

are the advantages of using the tunneling method• Future urban renewal planning• Community friendly• Construction time reduction• Not affecting the Existing operation• No traffic control required.
Continuous bridge grade Separation:
The continuous bridge grade
separation project at one ofthe busiest level crossing for
Keikyu line Kamata station
where two major roads cross,are carried out by Keikyu
Railways. It is constructed for the purpose of
improving the current traffic situation andfollowings are other advantages.
• Construction time reduction• Improvement of noise and vibration• Future urban renewal planning• Car and bike parking space under thecontinuous bridge

3. Major Grade Separation in Metropolitan Area
The traffic congestion caused by railway levelcrossing has been a large issue in metropolitan
area and occasionally, the maximum wait at thelevel crossing goes over 30mins so that often twosolutions are suggested for mitigation: undergroundand continuous bridge grade separation
Shield and cut and cover tunneling:
Keio Railways is performing the total length of
3.7km underground grade separation between
Chofu and Kuniryou station forthe purpose of easing thetraffic congestion at levelcrossing, reducing the levelcrossing accident and urban
renewal. The following factors

4. Conclusion and Acknowledgement
Through this program, I have had a tremendous
time staying with Oriental Consultants and othertrainees to experience Japanese culture, working
environment, unique construction techniques andbuild a valuable relationship for future networking
Thereby, I thank AJCE and ACEA for organizing theamazing opportunity for young professionals whoare aspiring and developing the knowledge andexperiences, Oriental Consultants Railway Group,
road group and Safety and QM staffs for creating
comfortable work environment as well as sharing
their knowledge and experiences and special
thanks to Mr. Kamiyama for his consistentassistance and organizing the training programs atOC17NEWS LETTER 2010

AJCE Activity 2009

YPEP2009 Report- My experience in JapanHilary Pocock
YPEP2009 Trainee
Arup

1.A Week in Sendai with CTI Engineering
My first few days in Sendai were spent visiting
local rivers, sights and impressive engineeringfeats. I was able to see a flood retarding basin,
levee bank and flow control infrastructure as wellas enjoy a cruise along the picturesque Mogami
River in the Yamagata Prefecture. Also in thisprefecture, I saw Nagai Dam and was taken tothe elevated construction
site of Ogawa Bridge. Sitevisits always included lunchthat reflected the quality ofthe local produce, namelyvery delicious Soba Noodles.

desalination plant and many other water saving
measures. I was able to draw many similarities
and differences between the way water ismanaged in each respective city, and cameaway with some ideas for improvement of somewater systems in Australia. A well informed site
visit to their desalination plant and also to thehighly esteemed research Professor Jinno from
Kyushu University was valuable.
During my time in Kyushu I was also able to visit
the very active Mt Aso volcano and again
experience local fooddelights such as raw chicken,
lots of ramen, beef intestinesand one of the mostconfronting, pig foot from alocal Yatai.

Through the kindness of the Sendai people I wasable to experience very unique culturalexperiences through the many meals shared attraditional Japanese restaurants. After dinnerparties were also great fun and afforded me thepleasure to understand what Japanese karaoke
is really all about! I was also lucky enough tohave a home stay with Koichi Saito and his
family, play softball and attend an Imoni party
with the entire office.

3.Lasting Impressions
My time in Japan exceeded all expectations I
had previously held. The kindness of the people,
the charm of the Japanese culture as well as thetechnical exposure to the state of play of waterin Japan has meant my experiences here havebeen entirely unique. I congratulate the AJCE for
hosting such a successful program and would liketo thank the people of CTI Engineering formaking my time in Japan so valuable andenjoyable. Special thanks go to Yohei Takita,
Koichi Saito, Asuka Ukese
and Toshiaki Ishimoto whowere exceptional hosts. I
feel very grateful to havebeen part of this program
and look forward to visiting
again in the near future.

2. A Week in Fukuoka with CTI Engineering
During my week learning about water resource
management in Fukuoka I quickly came torealize that not all water engineering issues inJapan are focused on flood control and riverplanning. Similarly to myhome city Adelaide,
Fukuoka experiences
water shortages whichhavemeanttheestablishmentofa18

NEWS LETTER 2010

AJCE Activity 2009

My Time in Japan with Chodai
Consulting
David Dixon
YPEP2009 Trainee
Kellogg, Brown and Root

During my three week exchange with Chodai I
was fortunate enough to experience working life
in Japan. The first week I spent in Hokkaido at theSapporo office; here I was introduced to their
GPS Information System. This system allows users
to utilize the features found on their mobilephones, such as the camera, GPS and internet toprovide immediate information to the office. I
was also taken to a bridge inspection
approximately 110km north of Kushiru. While inSapporo I visited the Sapporo Bier Garten toenjoy some tasty
Japanese beers andfood. A weekend trip
to Otaru and further
west for sight seeing
allowed me to witness
some of the traditionaland more natural
Sashimi in Sapporo
areas of Hokkaido.

monitoring room all the expressways can bemonitored for congestion. This was great to see,as I have never visited the control centre inBrisbane. In order to witness Tokyo congestion firsthand, I was taken on a trip to the Odaiba area
across Rainbow Bridge. On the way I was able totravel at speeds, that on occasion, exceeded
5km/h.
For two days I was able to ride the Shinkansen to
Kyoto with the other YPEP members. Here I visited
a couple of temples and shines in Kyoto. The
following day I made the trip to Nara to seesome more equally impressive shines andtemples. For the night we stayed in a rather
traditional room with tatami mats; with the 6am
wakeup earthquake included at no extra cost.

I returned to Tokyo for the following two weeks.
During my first week in Tokyo I was able to witness
construction of 10km of new railway that would
provide a second rail link to Narita airport. While
here I had the opportunity to visit the Tekken
Corporation training facility. The training facility isimpressive; the start involved a short briefing
about the facility and following this briefing I wasshown their training site. This site is 150m long andis a working reconstruction of a station platform
and level crossing with various construction works
on display.

Kimonos at Kiyomizu-dera, and Kinkakuji(Golden Temple) in Kyoto

Everyone at AJCE, Chodai and the other hostfirms were exceedingly welcoming. I would like tothank all of those involved in this program as I
believe it has increased my engineeringexperience; as well as given me the opportunity
to experience Japanese culture.

I was able to visit the Metropolitan Expressway
control room and the NEXCO traffic control
centre for the Kanto area. From a large

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