18/06/2010

Opening Ceremony for the GIANT Program Held

On May 13, the opening ceremony for the 2010 Global Initiative on Asian Specialized Nuclear Personnel, Tokai University (GIANT Program) was held at the Tokai University Club on the 35th floor of the Kasumigaseki Building. This Program is held in conjunction with Japan's nuclear power related companies. Attending the ceremony were about thirty people, including the fifteen international students in the Program, faculty and staff members and employees of the companies in the consortium.

The GIANT Program began when the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology called forth ideas for projects for the “2010 Career Development Program for Foreign Students in Japan” and “Advanced Education Program for Career Development of Foreign Students in Japan.” Since 2008, Tokai University has been awarded the commission for the Program three years in a row. The Program is an education effort through a consortium of Japanese nuclear power related companies and a cooperation between the industry and the academic world. Geared towards graduates excelling in their studies at engineering departments at Asian universities, it works at providing advanced professional education in nuclear power generation and related techniques. It also aims at providing an education in Japanese business language skills, Japanese business education and job finding support. The Program aims to develop human resources who can aid in Japanese nuclear power related companies' projects both in and outside of Japan as well as in branches of these companies located in other countries.

At the ceremony, the Project's sub-leader Vice Chancellor Kiyoshi Yamada reported that five students were accepted as the fifth class of the Program in addition to the ten from the first to the fourth class already studying at the Tokai University Graduate School of Engineering. Following this, the Chairperson of the Selection Committee for Asian Specialized Nuclear Personnel, Hitoshi Iwai (who is also the Executive Director of the Association for Communication of Trans-cultural Study) greeted the attendees, “We would like to continue to make efforts to achieve independence for our Program while sustaining our pride as the pioneers to a Project new to Japan.” After touching on state of progress of the Program's structure and curriculum development, guest Professor Tsuneo Futami from the Graduate School of Engineering shared his ambitions, “I would like to develop this program to be used in a broader aspect, including other Universities and companies both in and outside of Japan.”

The international students introduced themselves in Japanese and shared their future goals at the ceremony. The fifth class gave speeches in Japanese, showcasing their newly acquired Japanese language skills while the third and fourth classes introduced their home countries and educational accomplishments gained along with pictures. Loud applause filled the room following a speech by Ms. Prasongjaroen Manita from Thailand, who is part of the third class. She reflected on her year of studying abroad, “I feel as if I have family not just in Thailand, but also here in Japan as I have had the opportunity to meet many people in the Program and were encouraged by them. [After completing the Program] I would like to do my part [in aiding the Japanese companies and their projects] and give back to Japan for providing this opportunity.”

Following the ceremony, a friendly get-together was held as a means of job finding support and for the international students and the companies in the consortium to get to know each other better. Graduate School of Engineering Professor Atushi Ito, who serves as a counselor for the international students said, “All [of these] international students are excellent students in their home country, have much potential and great Japanese language skills. I would like to continue working hard towards the success of this Program in order to be able to answer to [the international students'] challenges and expectations as well as to apply the valuable human resources to society.”

◆Universities of the Government Scholarship Students
・King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology - Ladkrabang (Thailand)
・National University of Mongolia (Mongolia)
・University of Science - Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
・Institut Teknologi - Bandung (Indonesia)
・Kazakh National University (Kazakh)
・Chulalongkorn University (Thailand)
・Gadjah Mada University (Indonesia)
・Universiti Technologi Malaysia (Malaysia)