Chubu Region Factory Tour

The Chubu Region Factory Tour is organized mainly for students of the School of Engineering Science, with logistical cooperation from the Keikikai (Kyoto University Mechanical Engineering Association)'s student section SMILE. The following is a report of the Study Tour organized during Academic Year 2007.

The Chubu Region Factory Tour was organized from September 26 to 27, 2007. The main purpose of this Factory Tour was to help students in mechanical engineering to deepen their understanding and interest in manufacturing already in their student days, manufacturing being the professional domain in which the majority of mechanical engineering students find their future employment. At the same time, the Tour was also intended to further motivate the students for their studies and research by leading them to contemplate their possible future orientation through this direct contact with the working world.

For these purposes, the Factory Tour was designed to include factory visits and informal get-togethers with staff as two means of getting to know the manufacturing industry. In other words, during factory visits, the students observe manufacturing processes, thereby learning the pleasure of making products from scratch and appreciating manufacturing expertise applied in different manners in respective factories. In meeting with host company staff, the students learn what it is like, and what it takes, to work in the manufacturing industry as a full-fledged member of society. In soliciting student participation, we publicized the benefits of the program from these two angles, so that the manufacturing industry would become more accessible and interesting to students.

During the Factory Tour, the 17 participating students observed manufacturing processes showing sincere interest in all the factories visited, listening attentively to the staff members' explanations. For most of them, the Tour represented their first time on the factory floor, and it was very useful in that they were able to feel the typical factory atmosphere, indispensable in manufacturing, and understand the place of technology on the factory floor. In related social functions, the students enjoyed good food and drinks, engaging in animated inter-generational talks with their "elders," asking questions such as, "What did you do during your college days?" and, "What do you do at work now?" The friendly atmosphere of the events encouraged the students to talk actively with the host company staff and deepen their understanding of the manufacturing world and people who work there.

Finally, through games and other activities, the participants also interacted actively among themselves. In this sense, the program effectively achieved one of the objectives of the Keikikai-SMILE, that is, promotion of interaction among students in mechanical engineering. It is believed that the Factory Tour greatly contributed to promoting students' understanding of and interest in manufacturing. Indeed, it provides a precious opportunity to learn about an industrial sector through its technical and human aspects. For future development, the main challenge lies in how to communicate such attractive features of this program to students, as in the case of Kyoto Shisaku Net Study Tour. Measures for early and frequent publicity are necessary, and we shall continue to study this further.

（written by Hiroaki Hasega, SMILE; quoted from Keiki Tanshin #77）