TokyoTech Student Exchange 2013

Ten Days in the Land of the Rising Sun 

by Eric Flordeliza

I had a lot of expectations on our socio-cultural exchange program in Japan that was sponsored by the Tokyo Institute of Technology.  I have heard a lot of things from the country that is also known as the Land of the Rising Sun.  I knew I was in for an adventure with my friends, who were also first time visitors of the country. True enough, those expectations about the program were met with a sense of content and fulfillment that brought us a lot stories to share to our families.

The socio-cultural exchange program had a span of ten days in Tokyo and was participated by civil engineering students and manufacturing engineering management students together with Engr. Ronaldo Gallardo, the chair of the Civil Engineering Department of DLSU, Ms. Ioulany Nayre and Ms. Buagas, both from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Philippine office in DLSU.  During those ten days, I had learned and experienced a lot of things more than normal tourist would see and do in the city.  I learned that they have a different culture from us Filipinos such as respectful gestures and the like.  Aside from the usual historical shrines and popular landmarks, we had visited different showrooms, markets and parks that made us want to come back and visit again.

Welcome Party at TIT

The group visited the sponsoring school, Tokyo Institute of Technology during one of the school days.  It was an honor to witness the institution and its world class facilities in the campus.  The students from the university toured the group around the different laboratories that they use such as the mechanical technology laboratory where they showed different prototypes of their studies. Furthermore, they even showed us their supercomputers which they use in weather, earthquake and different kinds of simulation for study.  Towards the end of the day, the sponsoring school arranged a small welcoming party for the group to enjoy and get to know the students and faculty of TIT.  It was nice to communicate with the students since we get hear their stories about their life in the school and we get to know more about Japan and its culture. The group also had two site visits during the trip.  First was in a company named Ebara Corporation.  Ebara manufactures different kinds of pumps and is one of the leading companies in supplying industrial pumps in Japan.  They also take pride in their premier product, the centrifugal pumps.  They even demonstrated how these pumps are better than the usual pressure pumps in the supply of water.  The group had a tour around the facility which they showed how they manufacture different pumps. The second site visit was a research facility named Ports and Airports Research  Institute.  The Ports and Airports Research Institute, or PARI for short, studies and aids in the development of sea ports and airports.  The institution researches different water and land patterns for the efficiency of seaports and airports.  The group had a chance to tour around the facility which they showed their different modes of research.  The group even had a chance to witness an actual simulation of wave patterns which is used to study sea ports.

 

Site visit at the Ports & Airports Research Institute

On the cultural side, we visited historical and tourist sites. One of the historical sites that the group had visited is the Meiji shrine.  The shrine, mainly a big area and garden, was said to have been frequently visited by the Emperor of Japan it was named after. The whole area had different structures and halls that were used during the olden times such as government meetings and discussions.  Nowadays, it is being used as a popular tourist site and wedding ceremonial place. We also visited the Tokyo Tower. It was amazing to see that the structure was made out of steel, knowing that the steel construction technology was beginning to gain popularity at the time of construction.  aren’t usually visited by foreigners.  The group had a chance to visit the Odaiba which housed a beautiful view deck of the bridge, Gundam statue and a replica of the French Statue of Liberty. To further add, there is a vintage car showroom and Toyota showroom in the area that were visited and enjoyed by the group. Thrilling and exciting do not describe the day we had spent in Fuji-Q.  The group had their chance in riding four different record breaking roller coasters during the visit in the theme park.  Aside from the rides, we witnessed a horror house that was scary and horrifying.  The day made us tired but we were happy to have enjoyed and experienced the theme park with each other.

 

Inside the TIT Campus

One can really do a lot of  things in Tokyo and I also wish there would be opportunities for us to visit the other cities as well.  Through our experiences and learning, I believe the students of DLSU   really enjoyed and learned a lot from their stay in what is known as the Land of the Rising Sun. We look forward in going back to the country to discover new things about the country.

3 DLSU CE Alumni accepted as 2013 AUN/SEED-Net scholars at Chula U

Marcus Baron, Janine Faustino and Mervyn Malva at Chulalongkorn University

The Civil Engineering Department of the DLSU Gokongwei College of Engineering congratulates Engr. Marcus Kyle Baron, Engr. Janine Faustino, and Engr. Mervyn Jan Malvar for being accepted as new scholars of Chulalongkorn University (CU), Bangkok, Thailand to pursue their Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering. In addition to having just recently passed the Civil Engineering Board Exam last May 2013, they were awarded full scholarships by the ASEAN University Network / Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network (AUN/SEED-Net) for their chosen two-year program. AUN/SEED-Net is mainly supported by the Japanese Government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

CU offers the program under the disciplines of Structural Engineering, Construction Engineering and Management, Geotechnical  Engineering, and Transportation Engineering.The three scholars will pursue researches on the following specialized fields of civil engineering:

• Engr. Marcus Kyle Baron - Transportation Eng'g
• Engr. Janine Faustino - Geotechnical Engineering , and 
• Engr. Mervyn Jan Malvar - Construction Engineering & Management

There is a growing  number of  Lasallian Civil Engineering alumni who have either successfully completed or are currently completing their studies in Chulalongkorn University, which is one of the host universities for the Civil Engineering Program. Presently, there are seven Lasallian scholars at CU Civil Eng'g Dept.

DLSU CE undergraduate students visit CU through the Academic Exchange Program between the Civil Engineering Departments of DLSU and CU. These visits orients DLSU students about the graduate program and facilities at CU.

Article written by Irene Olivia Ubay – Anongphouth (author was also an AUN/SEED-Net scholar in Chulalongkorn University and is currently a full time faculty at De La Salle University).

DLSU- CHULA U Summer Student Exchange Program 2013

CU Structural Testing Lab Tour

Ten Days in Thailand: A Remarkable Experience 

by Jonathan Cañete

Chulalongkorn University (CU)  yet again welcomed De La Salle University  (DLSU) Civil Engineering undergraduate students namely: Jonathan Cañete, Reymark Orlina, Dondon Vergara, John Danson Uy and  together with their professor Miss Irene Olivia Ubay-Anongphouth to Thailand. The Student Exchange program which was formalized by the CE Departments of CU and DLSU started in September 2012. This year the ten day study trip was held on May 10-19, 2013.

City Tour with DLSU CE Prof. Irene Ubay-Anongphouth

Cultural Tour at Ancient City

 The trip was a mixed of a cultural tour and  a technical exposure on research and and laboratory facilities of CU. The first three days consisted of a tour around the city of Bangkok and an introduction to its rich culture, the Siam Niramit Cultural Show, Ayutthaya whole day field trip of ancient palace and historical locations and the Muang Boran which was the Ancient City.

The 5th day of the trip on May 14 was the official start of the research and technical visit of the students at CU. The day started with the campus tour and followed by the formal welcoming of the Civil Engineering Department of CU by Assoc. Prof. Dr Sorawit Narupiti, Head of division, and CU faculty members. Dr Sorawit together with the CU faculty members presented an overview about the university and the different Graduate Programs and Scholarship at CU. In the afternoon, an in-campus laboratory tour and demonstration were held. The laboratories visited include the CM Laboratory, Geotechnical Laboratory,  Highway material Laboratory and  the Full scale structural and material testing Laboratory. The group was assisted by the CU professors namely: Dr. Veerasak Likhitruangsilp,  Dr. Suched Likitlersuang, Dr. Boonchai Sangpetngam, Dr. Akhrawat Lenwari.

Off-campus tour at Saraburi 

The CU Lab Tour started at the CM laboratory where they showcased their very own 3D screen where in models of to be built structures are shown and can be virtually toured and also showed a system in which there would be less cost in construction and less errors during the communication of different sectors during planning and construction of a structure. The next laboratory was the Geotechnical Laboratory where in old equipment meets the new technology. There were different apparatus which were on dial or gage and with the help of the advancement, they were hooked up to different readers and fed into the main computer to have easier access, accurate reading and  easier to perform the actual experiments. For the third laboratory, it was the Highway material laboratory where in road materials such as asphalt, cement and embankments are tested for road construction and use. And lastly, the Full scale structural and  material testing laboratory where they test structural components, not just scaled members but actual size materials.

A Visit at a Construction Site of MRT

After the laboratory tour, there were other activities prepared by the CU. A technical training where the students were taught how to model building under seismic loading the application of building information modeling for construction was conducted. Also, there was the fire testing laboratory where they test both structural and non-structural components of a structure and to check whether these parts are within the specifications of their fire code. After that, they toured us to an underground construction site of the MRT. With the use of different approach in construction, they were able to excavate or dig underneath the main road without fully disrupting the flow of traffic and causing congestion around the area. Then, to wrap up the campus and technical tour of the students, it was the off-campus tour at Saraburi where they have two warehouses for equipment and testing and they also have their very own supply of energy for each of these equipment. The apparatus within the warehouses were purely for research as of the moment .

The technical and training tour a was remarkable experience!  The visit has  widened our outlook on the various fields in civil engineering and inspired us to pursue graduate studies not only in STE but in other specialization.

Ten days might have been short but there would be more time in the future. Thailand is surely a great place to visit.