[:en]6 HWIP students and 2 professors carried out a study tour to the University of Sydney from March 26th to 29th, 2017. The University of Sydney is the oldest university in Australia and one of the country’s leading universities. Dr. Ehssan Sakhaee kindly organized various events for our students. Here is our story of the tour.
March 25th (Departure from Kansai Airport)
Kansai airport just before departure
This time we departed from Kansai airport and thankfully everyone came to the airport on time. Thank you. We stopped by the Singapore for three hours on our way to Sydney. We could take a rest in a Singapore airport lounge while talking individual researches that would be presented during the study tour.
March 26th (Student group tour in Sydney)
We finally arrived in Sydney (7:40am). The weather was hot and too sunny, and so we got sweaty on the way to the hotel. The first day of our visit to Sydney began with a student group tour. Two groups, three students per group, freely traveled Sydney from 11:00am to 7:00pm. The tour was planned and organized by the students in advance, and so they could jump into the multicultural city, Sydney, from the very first day. On the night, students were grouped again to prepare a presentation about their tour in the next day.
Yummy lunch during the student group tour in Sydney
March 27th (Meeting with people from Complex Systems group)
What a busy day! In the morning, we met Dr. Ehssan in the campus and he kindly provided us with a lecture room where students gave a group presentation in English about the tour carried out in the previous day. Soon after the student group presentations, we had a meeting in the same room with researchers and students from the complex systems group in the University of Sydney. Three presentations from the complex systems group and six presentations from HW students were delivered to introduce ongoing researches in both sides. The academic meeting was extended to a social event in the evening. HW students and participants from the University of Sydney shared their experience and thoughts. Thank you, Dr. Ehssan for the arrangement of the wonderful event for our students.
By the way, there were two other events on the day: 1) Mr. Shimomura visited to a laboratory of Photonic in the University of Sydney, where he himself made an appointment to meet a professor and researchers over there. 2) We had free conversation in English for two hours among HW students including two professors. It was fun and a good opportunity to know each other more in depth.
Dr. Ehssan is showing how to use facility in the meeting room (left).
Preparation of the group presentation until the last moment – KANBARE! (right)
Mathew Taylor is introducing his research – oh! nice lunch
After social event at the Dean’s function room.
March 28th (Lab visit, university tour, and lecture participation)
The day was dedicated for students who made an appointment to visit to some university laboratories or companies in Sydney. Actually, one of students, Ms. Watanabe, could arrange a meeting with researchers in the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in the morning. The researchers in UNSW had used a female android which was developed in Ms. Watanabe’s laboratory several years ago, and so I heard that they showed great interest the research introduced by Ms. Watanabe.
Also, students who could not make any appointment, look around every inch of the University of Sydney. The historical buildings were simply amazing, which were well harmonized with modern architectures around them. We had lunch with Dr. Ehssan in the campus as well as visitors from Osaka University including Prof. Fujiwara. What a coincidence that we all from Japan were in the same place and same time, and had lunch together!
From the late afternoon, we participated in the lecture delivered by Dr. Ehssan. HW students were very impressed due to the way Dr. Ehssan delivered the lecture such an interactive manner. Some students expressed the willingness of participation in the young leadership workshop by Dr. Ehssan, which will be organized by HWIP around the end of this year in Japan. We finalized the day with having nice dinner near the University.
“Creative Robotics in the University of New South Wale” – Ms. Watanabe (left)
“Interdisciplinary Photonics laboratories in the University of Sydney” – Mr. Shimomura (right)
Tour in the University of Sydney (Graffiti Tunnel: left, The Quadrangle: right)
Lunch with Dr.Ehssan and Prof.Fujiwara
Lecture participation – Dr.Ehssan is asking a question to Mr.Shimomura
March 29th (What we learnt and experienced: Individual English presentation)
In the morning, we moved to a lecture room in the University of Sydney. Individual students presented what they have learnt and experienced during the Sydney tour in English. Although, students did not have enough time to prepare the presentation slides, all gave a fantastic presentation. Thank you all for your hard works during the tour. In the evening of the day, we left for Japan. Goodbye Sydney!
Mr. Satake is introducing sleep capsules installed in the library of the University
March 30th (Kansai Airport)
We arrived at Kansai airport around 9:30am. Mr. Satake led a short ceremony (一丁締め): one handclapping, to conclude the Sydney tour. This long journey made us exhausted physically but flourished spiritually. Again, thank you for the successful completion of the tour without any trouble and accident. Through this tour, I reaffirmed the superiority of HW students. Special thanks must go to Mr. Shimomura who took a responsibility of taking photos during the tour. Also, the dedicated time and efforts by Prof. Wakamiya and staffs in the Humanware office must be acknowledged.
[Student comments]
■ 今回のSydney研修とても良かったです。個人的には、UNSWのCreative Roboticsを訪問したり、興味のあったMuseumに足を運んだり、大変有意義な時間を過ごすことができました。また、ヒューマンウェアとしてグループで渡航することで、個人の渡航では得られない、シドニー大との交流やEhssan先生の講義参加の経験が得られました。各人が責任を持って自由に動くことができる、それを信用してくれる先生がいるヒューマンウェアは有難い環境だと改めて感じました。
[ 渡辺1期生 ]
■ 英語を用いた対人コミュニケーション・プレゼンテーションの能力向上や実践経験の蓄積が大きな収穫の一つである。さらに、オーストラリアの文化や人々の性質を直に経験することができたことも多いに有意義であった。また、今回の渡航を主に手配してくださった Dr. Ehssan からは、人との関わりの中での献身精神の大切さや、プロジェクトマネジメントスキルの知識と実践、さらに典型的な海外のインタラクティブな講義スタイルを学ぶことができた。
[村上3期生]
■ 以前からHWでのインターンシップは海外で行いたいと考えていたが、今回の研修で、その気持ちがさらに強くなった。今回のComplex Systems groupとの交流やDr. Ehssanのクラスでの経験から、現在の自身に足りていない能力が明確となった。議論できるだけの英語力と異分野の研究内容を伝えるプレゼンテーション能力が不足していると強く感じた。インターンシップを充実させるためにも、今後はその2点を磨く努力をしていきたい。
[徳田3期生 ]
■ 今回，現地の学生や先生と交流できたこと，また大学の講義を受けたりすることで海外の大学で過ごすイメージをもつことができました．さらに現地の先生とメールで連絡をとり実際に研究室を訪問し話を伺うことができました．今後，海外を訪れる場合でも今回のような研究室訪問のお願いも躊躇せずに行うことができると思います．これは海外インターンを行う際にも自信になる出来事になると思います。
[ 下村4期生 ]
■ 今回はEU渡航の時のような綿密に計画された海外研修ではなく、学生が渡航先での計画を組むという取り組みを行った。これによって、各々の主体性が試され、渡航中にどれだけ価値を生むことができるかはその主体性次第であった。例えば、ツアーの移動中において、普段は大人しくしているか、日本語で話しているかのどちらかであるが、今回はどのような会話でも英語で話すことを心がけ、「英語縛り」のような遊びを行ったりもした。このように、自由な環境が与えられた時、主体性が無ければ何も得られないという教訓を得た。
[ 坂本４期生 ]
■ シドニー研修を通じて得た大きな学びが一つある。それはコミュニケーションに対する意識の変化である。私は英語もコミュニケーションも得意な方ではなかったが、シドニー大学を訪問し、英語でコミュニケーションせざるを得ない環境に飛び込むことで、短い期間だったが、気づけば、英語でも積極的にコミュニケーションを取るようになっていた。コミュニケーションに関するインタラクティブな授業や、その内容を実践している講師の姿勢も、この変化に一役買っていると思う。
[ 佐竹4期生]
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