Jun 30 2017

Cultivating global leaders and entrepreneurs rooted in the community has become a critical issue as suggested in the Comprehensive Revitalization Strategy for Town, People, and Work. Also, the Human Resource Development Strategy in Science and Engineering emphasizes the importance of human resource development to enhance practical skills for problem solving. Thus, education in collaboration with enterprises such as internships has become a significant challenge. Meanwhile, the ASEAN economy with a huge market attracts attention globally, and the growth of the Mekong region, which is full of potential, is particularly regarded as important.

The International Forum on Engineering Education in Niigata was held in the Library Hall of Chuo Library on Friday March 10. The forum aimed to share useful and practical information on international engineering education, especially the development of global science and engineering practitioners who have capacity for contributing to regional revitalization. A new student exchange program with universities in the Mekong region was also introduced in the forum.

In the keynote lecture in Part 1, Dr. Stoyan Stoyanov from the University of Strathclyde (UK) gave a speech entitled "Encouraging Entrepreneurship", and Mr. Paul Marca from Stanford University (US) gave one entitled "E-Learning at Stanford University: Past, Present and Future." They introduced their approach to advanced engineering education at each university in an easy-to-understand manner.

In the second part of the session, a new international student exchange program to be launched were introduced from the perspective of international education in collaboration with local enterprises, entitled "Outline of the G-DORM Project Adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology: Global Human Resources Development through Collaboration with Local Enterprises." A lecture provided by a CEO from an enterprise in Niigata Prefecture on "Circumstances and Issues of Global Human Resources in Overseas Factories and Headquarters" followed. Then presentations were provided by two former students of the Faculty of Engineering who had a job in Niigata Prefecture now as well as two current students of same faculty who had participated in an internship program abroad. An international student exchange program for science and technology with the collaboration of local enterprises were shown to be invaluable.

In addition to faculty members and students from the Royal University of Phnom Penh (Cambodia), National University of Laos (Laos), Chulalongkorn University (Thailand) and Hanoi University of Science and Technology (Vietnam), approximately 100 audiences including a large number of participants from outside the university such as regional enterprises seriously listened to the lecture, asked questions and exchanged opinions. The forum was very meaningful.