Courtesy Call paid by Dr. Jean-Luc Nahel, Advisor for foreign affairs at the Conference of President of University of France (CPU)

Dr. Jean-Luc Nahel, Advisor for foreign affairs at the Conference of University Presidents (CPU), paid a courtesy call to President Yoshinao Mishima on Thursday April 10, 2014. Professor Toshio Maruyama, Executive Vice President, and Professor Tetsuya Mizumoto, Vice President, were also present during the visit.

After greetings, Dr. Nahel explained the mission and activities of CPU and then Dr. Armel de La Bourdonnaye spoke about the French Engineering Schools Directors Council (CDEFI). The French delegation would like to forge an agreement with the Japan Association of National Universities, which works on the credit transfer system between Japanese and French universities. Therefore, Dr. Mizumoto explained the education system at Tokyo Tech after the introduction made by President Mishima.

The French delegation requested time to talk with French students who are studying at Tokyo Tech and with Tokyo Tech students who have studied in France. Members of the delegation asked students why they chose Japan or France, what subjects they studied at Tokyo Tech and what the plans of the French students are after their study at Tokyo Tech. There were active discussions in both English and French.

After a question-and-answer period, some delegation members visited the Collaboration Center for Design and Manufacturing and Professor Takushi Saito gave them an overview of the center. At the same time, Dr. La Bourdonnaye met with Dr. Junichi Iijima and Dr. Norihiro Nakai. École National Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC), of which Dr. La Bourdonnaye is president, has an agreement with our three graduate schools, that enables students to get a double degree at Tokyo Tech and ENPC. They discussed future plans for student and researcher exchanges.