Tokyo Institute Of Technology Embarks On BIRD Virtual Exchange Program 2022 with the University of Melbourne
Tokyo Tech and the University of Melbourne, Australia held the online winter program “Bringing Ideas in Remote Discussion (BIRD)” from February 10 to February 20. The Winter Program started as an exchange program for international students from the University of Melbourne, one of Tokyo Tech’s partner universities, and other universities in and around the Oceania region. Following on from last year, this year’s program was held again as a remote student exchange between the University of Melbourne and Tokyo Tech students. Seven undergraduate students from Tokyo Tech and 14 undergraduate students from the University of Melbourne participated. They were divided into four teams and brought their ideas on the theme of “Technology for Sustainable Food,” with each team presenting their results on the final day.
The BIRD program consisted of four parts: 1) preliminary study for Tokyo Tech students, 2) site visit to Kewpie Corporation, 3) theme-related lectures by Tokyo Tech and University of Melbourne faculty members, and 4) teamwork and presentation of results by participating students.
The major difference from the previous year was the company visit to Kewpie Corporation’s Mayo Terrace. Students from the University of Melbourne took a virtual tour of the facility and were also connected online to Kewpie Corporation’s mayonnaise factory, where they learned about the company’s commitment to “sustainable food and engineering” in society. The combination of face-to-face off-campus education and online education, conducted while taking preventive measures against COVID-19, was well received by the students.
In the first part, students acquired specialized knowledge of “Engineering for Sustainable Food” by attending lectures on “Chemical Engineering” by Professor Sandra Kentish of the University of Melbourne, “Fundamentals of Vacuum Technology and its Application to Food Processing” by Associate Professor Hiroshi Akatsuka of Tokyo Tech’s Laboratory for Zero-Carbon Energy, and “Time Nutrition” by Associate Professor Masaki Takahashi of Tokyo Tech’s Institute for Liberal Arts. They learned that there are diverse academic engineering perspectives to realize sustainable food.
In the second half of the program, 21 students were divided into teams based on four different topics, and tried to invent technologies for “sustainable food” based on what they had learned in the lectures. Six master’s and doctoral course TAs acted as facilitators for the teams’ activities, and they demonstrated excellent leadership so that even students meeting for the first time could get to know each other better. During the cultural exchange time, the students introduced each other to the university campus and the city, and enjoyed singing Japanese songs together, led by those with good singing voices.
On the final day of the 10-day program, each group gave a presentation on a different topic: “Robots and Sustainable Food,” “Urban Local Production for Local Consumption,” “Tomato Cultivation with an Awareness of Energy Issues,” and “AI Technology and Food Loss Reduction,” followed by a lively Q&A session. All participating students received a certificate of completion, and the program came to a close with a sense of accomplishment for having fostered friendships across borders and shared ideas for solving social issues.