Four students of University of the Philippines Los Baños visited Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, TMU, and studied for 40 days.

Four undergraduate students of University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) visited Tokyo Metropolitan University (TMU) and they have undergone practical training in river engineering and water resource management in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for 40 days from 12th June to 20th July.

Tokyo Metropolitan University (TMU) concludes an agreement with University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), and this practicum and study were carried out based on the “International Exchange Program of Tokyo Metropolitan University”.

The four students of UPLB underwent practical training in four following subjects;

  1. They visited Arakawa River and Sumida River, which flows through metropolis Tokyo, by ship, and learned flood control techniques in a megacity.

  2. They visited Lake Biwa Canal (Kyoto), Hiyoshi Reservoir (Kyoto) and Ogouchi Reservoir (Tokyo), and gained knowledge about water resources management in Japan.

  3. They went to Asakawa River near TMU and measured the size distribution of river bed material and velocity profile, and proposed the construction of a retarding basin for flood control.

  4.  They carried out individual studies for graduation thesis. The topics were “Modeling of suspended sediment transport in the Tamagawa River”, “Three dimensional simulation on salinity intrusion in a multi branched river estuary”, “Runoff analysis in the Zenpukuji River basin by using Urban Storage Function Model” and “Flood control design in the Tamagawa River”. They presented the success of their study on the last day of the practicum.

Fifty undergraduate students of TMU joined this program as teammates and ten graduate students of TMU supported the UPLB students as tutors. Both the students of UPLB and TMU got enthusiasm to enrich their knowledge and learned a lot through this program. We will continue this kind of collaborative exchange program.

Gratitude letter from UPLB student

To study abroad is one of my dreams in life, and such came to reality through the practical training program agreement between UPLB and TMU. In the span of forty days, I have learned a lot not only on my specific field of study, which is River Engineering and flood control design, but also on other subject matter. TMU has exposed me to a lot of new experiences by allowing me to participate in undergraduate classes, observe different laboratories, and even conduct an experiment in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.

With regards to living and communicating, it was difficult at first to cope with the environment mainly because of the difference in culture and language. However, with the guidance of Yokoyama-sensei and the people in the laboratory, adjusting became easier. They made us experience Japanese culture and taught us useful words and actions.

I can say that my experience in studying at TMU and living in Japan for more than a month was really remarkable and memorable, and that experience makes me want to come back to pursue higher learning in TMU.

*Written by Dr. Katsuhide YOKOYAMA, Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University

group work for river design
group work for river design
final presentation of study
observation of dam researvoir

final presentation of study
final presentation of study

farewell party
farewell party