Four Engineering students of Iloilo Science and Technology University were recently sent to Japan for the Sakura Science Exchange Program. Together with the Dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture, Dr. Rowena P. Calasara, students Raynz Ferald Patron, BSCE, Jeara Michaela Muyong, BSECE, Marc Jared Coo, BSEE, and Francis Vonn Jesura, BSME, represented the university in the immersion. The students were selected based on merit and were sent under the program of the National and International Affairs of the university and in partnership with National Institute of Technology- Sasebo, Japan.
The five-day program which started on January 15 to January 20, 2024 gave the students the chance to interblend with Kosen students and to visit historical places of the country including Japan’s first floating offshore wind turbine, and Nagasaki City, where one of the atomic bombs was dropped. Also part of the exchange program was the opportunity for the students to give a lecture to first and third-grade Kosen students about offshore floating wind turbines. They also took part in a 3D printing activity where they designed their own souvenirs. They also had the facility tour of Hytrec, which stands for “Hydrogen Energy Test and Research Center. The program was highlighted by a lecture in Hydrogen Embrittlement by Dr. Hiroshi Nishiguchi from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the same university.
All the four students were thankful for the chance of travelling and learning insights from this exchange program. As the BSEE student representative, Marc Jared Coo said, “The exchange program allowed me to see the world in a new and wider perspective, and it made me realize that we, as a country, still have a lot to improve.”
The Sakura Science Exchange Program seeks to foster international cooperation through cultural exchange and science immersion activities, to create culture and knowledgeable students who can apply their experience to advance the Philippines and the world.
The ISAT U team was assisted by Dr. Yoshihito Yagyu, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, and Mrs. Ernie Aficionado Kakehasi, Appointed Associate Professor, both from NIT Sasebo College and Mrs. Kakehasi.
