AUTOMOTIVE PROGRAM IN JAPAN

This summer I got accepted into the Nagoya University Summer Intensive Program where I attended for 6 weeks! This experience was life-changing, to say the least, from the factory visits to the guest lecturers from various automotive companies to making memories in an amazing country with people I had just met, I could not be more thankful to have had this opportunity.  

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On the academic and technical side, I got to learn a lot about the automotive industry through 15 interesting and really cool lectures. The topics ranged from autonomous driving, crash safety tests and simulations, sustainable energy in the automotive industry, trends and overview of the car industry, the development process of vehicles, and the use of technologies such as CAE, FEM, and BEM in optimizing topology. I am very interested in the autonomous and sustainable energy side of transportation, and this program has made it clear that my future belongs in this area of innovation. I learned how intensive the testing of a new vehicle is in order to ensure that safety is always guaranteed, as well as the race to 5 – level autonomous vehicles between almost all companies in the industry. I went on various factory and museum tours, including the Toyota manufacturing plant in Nagoya, where I got to see how complicated and integrated the production line can be in the mobility industry. I found it incredible that these huge buildings full of thousands of workers and autonomous robots work together to create the highest quality product for the customer. This is something I think not many people think of; for any given product that you use, there are tens, hundreds, even thousands of brilliant minds behind it, not to mention the time and money it takes to make them.

One thing I am very grateful for was my chance to meet and create relationships with the people I met. The program brought engineers from around the world together to one of the most innovative countries in the world to learn about a topic we were all passionate about. Besides the academic side, we got to travel to different places in Japan and really connect with people in the districts. Not only did we have automotive classes, but we had the chance to take a beginner's Japanese class which helped greatly in interacting with the locals. I am very thankful to Ishida Sensei for coordinating this project and making the whole process very easy and enjoyable, as well as giving me the chance to make friendships that will surely last a lifetime. One thing I can say without a doubt, is that I cannot wait to go back to this amazing country.  

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Note: Japan Vlogs coming soon!