ASCENT 2013 - Indonesian, Thai and Japanese students study Robot-related Technology

Explanation about EMIEW 2 at Hitachi Ltd.

Explanation about M-TRAN at AIST

An opportunity for a picture in front of AIST with other Tokyo Tech members

Explanation about research in Kurabayashi Lab., Tokyo Tech

SAGE (Student Association for Global Exchange) organized ASCENT 2013 in March, 2013. ASCENT (Asian Students Collaboration Encouragement Program in Technology) started in 2010, and is a study program held in Japan that contains special lectures from professors, company visits, and laboratory visits at Tokyo Tech. It offers opportunities for students from Thailand, Indonesia and Japan to learn about different aspects of Japanese technology and to make friends with those from other Asian countries.

The theme of ASCENT 2013 was "Robot-related Technology". This year there were two participants from Japan, two from Thailand (Chulalongkorn University) and five from Indonesia (Institute of Technology Bandung). All contents of this program are planned and coordinated by the student members of SAGE.

In order to get introductory knowledge about robot technology, two professors from Tokyo Tech provided lectures to the students. The group also had opportunities to see advanced robots and receive lectures from specialists at Hitachi, Ltd., in Hitachi, Ibaraki prefecture, and The National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), located in Tsukuba.

In the middle of the program, Professor Tom Hope of the University Management Center at Tokyo Tech provided a lecture on improving presentation skills. The participants then created a mid-term presentation containing information they had learned from the company and research institute visit.

During the subsequent visits of laboratories in Tokyo Tech, members of each laboratory gave information related to new robot technology through videos and demonstrations.

After visiting the company, institute and laboratories the participants were divided into three groups and made a final presentation to summarize ASCENT 2013. They decided the topics to focus on associated with original theme of this year's program. Participants eagerly discussed their own topic. The presentations were successfully given, receiving comments by Professor Akinori Nishihara from Tokyo Tech's Department of Human System Science.

ASCENT2013 ended with students receiving a certification of participation, and a gift from Indonesia and Thailand.
SAGE member Soichiro Endo had the following to add:
"Our student organization is still small but we are trying to make this program bigger. We hope that ASCENT will successfully continue in the future."

About SAGE: http://www.siengp.titech.ac.jp/~sage/index_e.php