Tokyo Tech News

The Fourth International Education Forum on Environment and Energy Science

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Published: March 3, 2016

The Fourth International Education Forum on Environment and Energy Science organized by the Program for Leading Graduate Schools "Academy for Co-creative Education of Environment and Energy Science (ACEEES)" was held from December 6 to 10, 2015, in Maui, Hawaii, USA.

The Fourth International Education Forum on Environment and Energy Science

Through international industry-government-university cooperation, ACEEES focuses on developing 2S (Safety and Sustainability) x 3E (Energy, Environment, Economy) knowledgeable global student leaders who can resolve global energy and environmental problems and spark innovation from an international viewpoint. The forum was an opportunity to further this mission. Participants included County of Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa, Tokyo Tech Dean of Engineering Kikuo Kishimoto, and over 200 others representing 35 universities, research institutions, corporations, and government departments from 12 countries.

The forum started with opening remarks by Tokyo Tech Professor Mutsuko Hatano, ACEEES Program Coordinator, and Mr. Fuminao Kishimoto, 1st-year doctoral student and ACEEES Student Committee Chairperson. This was followed by a keynote lecture and four invited lectures by leading researchers and global leaders in the fields of energy and environment. The forum broke out into general sessions on various topics consisting of 129 oral presentations by students from Tokyo Tech and its international partner universities in Asia, Europe, Australia, and the USA.

During this forum, three doctoral and master's students with different nationalities and disciplines shared a room. Group work topics related to environment and energy were assigned to each room. The students then conducted joint investigation and discussion to further enhance their international communication skills and develop their global leadership abilities, and presented their results during a workshop.

In addition to the lectures and presentations noted above, a professor panel discussion was held on the topic of "Global Academic Leadership," where three professors —Professor Yiguang Ju from Princeton University, Professor Nedunchezhian Swaminathan from the University of Cambridge, and Professor Andrei G. Fedorov from Georgia Institute of Technology — spoke. After opening remarks from Tokyo Tech's Professor Jeffrey Cross, each panelist gave a 10-minute talk about their cross-cultural leadership experiences and perspectives. Questions from the floor followed. Dean Kishimoto, the panel chair, wrapped up the session with closing remarks. Overall, the panel discussion was well received, sparking further exchanges on the topic of academic leadership after the panel concluded.

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