2024.01.10

The Intensive Global Leadership Seminar was held at Nagaoka University of Technology and Toyohashi University of Technology

In 2014, Nagaoka University of Technology was selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to hold the “Top Global University Project.” We have undertaken a variety of initiatives in both education and for industry-academia collaboration, aiming to become “a university that has solid networks with strategic regions in the next- generation, and continues to take a lead in practical, global engineer education that leads the world.” At the invitation of Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT), which was also selected for the Top Global University Project, we held the “Intensive Global Leadership Seminar at Nagaoka University of Technology and Toyohashi University of Technology.” The purpose of this seminar was to share information and exchange opinions on the initiatives and achievements made thus far by both universities in regard to Top Global University Project, through student-led workshops and collaborative work.

The seminar, which was held over two days from Saturday, December 9 to Sunday, December 10, welcomed students and faculty from TUT to Nagaoka City. On the first day, the group toured the factories of companies in the Sanjo City and the Settaya district, Nagaoka City before moving to the seminar venue, Machinaka Campus Nagaoka. After the opening ceremony, Mr. Yutaka WATANABE, Representative Director and President of TOWA JAPAN, gave a keynote speech on the theme of “Multicultural Understanding and Leadership.” The lecture focused on the management aspects of starting a business and investing abroad, and the participating students, having the rare chance to listen to a lecture from the perspective of a business manager, listened attentively. During the Q&A session, there was a constant barrage of questions from students, indicating a high level of interest.

Following this, the participants were divided into six groups for group work, where each group was given a pre-assigned theme to examine while visualizing specific examples and stories. The theme they were given was to consider the qualities and skills needed to be a global leader in a given profession. On the second day, each group presented their results using the posters they had created, and after a lively Q&A session, the group with the best presentation was awarded a prize based on a vote among the participants.

This was the first time that the two universities held a student exchange event as part of the Top Global University Project. This seminar was significant in that it helped to foster a global leadership mindset in the participating students through keynote speeches and group work, as well as building bridges between the students of the two universities.

Although this is the final year of the Top Global University Project, we will continue to foster practical engineers who will lead global society through collaboration with a wide range of institutions, including universities based overseas.