プログラム

3/12-3/20の期間において世界展開力強化事業のプログラムにおいて、インドのデリーに滞在し日系企業訪問、IIT,インド工科大学の授業に参加させていただきました。１週間の間IITのゲストハウスにおいて宿泊をさせていただきました。首都デリーにて鉄道技術に関連した企業等を視察する日印政府がインド高速鉄道導入で合意したことを受け、鉄道技術関連分野について日印連携の重要性がますます高まっていくという点でJICのオフィスにおいて課題の発表を行いました。

普段は都市工学科の都市環境工学コースに属しているため、このようなインフラを見学するのはとても良い機会でした。

1,2日目

飛行機の大幅遅延のため、到着が遅れ、1日目はそのまま次の日に備え、就寝しました。

2日目ではインドの祝日、ホーリー祭であったため学内でこの祭りに参加しました。思ったより激しく、ペイントだらけになり３日ほど体のペイントの色が落ちないほどになりました。ただ、一緒に踊ったり、濡れたりしてIITの学生と楽しく触れ合えたため楽しめました。

その後、IITの生徒の方に学内を軽く案内してもらいました。日本では考えられないほど野良犬が多く、道路に横たわったり、歩いたりしていました。

この日はインドに来て初めてインドカレーを食べた日でもあり、かなり美味しくいただきました。日本では考えられないくらい安かったと聞きました。

3日目 午前中はIITの授業に参加させていただきました。授業の内容は、水理学、ダム工学、構造力学と行ったもので社会基盤学科で習うような内容となっていました。都市工学科でも同様な内容の授業があるためだいたいの内容はわかりましたが授業は英語で行われていたため、新鮮でした。授業の形式は日本と同様な感じで先生が板書をするという形を取っておりました。(東大と同じように女子学生がほとんどおりませんでした。)授業後は、先生方に校舎の案内をしていただきました。一つの棟に多くの研究分野の研究室や実験室があり、充実しておりました。コンクリートの実験室をはじめ環境系の化学実験室まで拝見させていただきました。その後は、インドの東大事務所にお邪魔させていただきました。インドからの日本への留学をするための事務所として活動されておりました。所長の吉野さんから、インドの情勢、インドの学生について、シビルのこれからについてなど様々な貴重なお話をいただきました。あまり他では聞けないこともあり、個人的にはかなり興味深い話で楽しめました。

 

4日目

前日同様、午前中は授業に参加させていただきました。授業内容は、構造系統の授業とGISに関する授業内容となっておりました。

午後は、院生の方々がそれぞれの研究内容のプレゼンを発表されており、学部生の我々は学部の授業内容や普段の大学生の活動について軽くは発表する形となりました。

加えて、帰り際に見つけた川が異臭を放っていることに気がつきました。下水が川に流れてしまったのが原因だそうです。聞いた話によればインドの水道インフラは上水道と下水道が並列で進んでいるため、破裂し時々混ざることもあるため水質には注意した方が良いと聞きました。

5日目

午前中は、デリーの鉄道の工事現場を見学させていただきました。鉄道の工事現場を見たり、実際に線路の上に歩いたりすることは初めての経験であり、かなり良い経験をさせていただきました。どのようにトンネルが掘られるのかを始め、どのように線路が作られるのかなど多くのお話を丁寧に教えていただきました。

午後には、デリーから少し離れたところにあるホンダの自動車の工場の見学をさせていただきました。向かう途中において道路に多くの牛がいるのを見かけました。デリーでも見られない様子であり、ヒンズー教の存在を感じました。

工場に着くとまず、ホンダのデリー支社の社長から軽く事業の説明を受けその後工場に行き工程を見学させていただきました。インドの自動車の製造過程と他国の製造過程との違いとして、全自動化に敢えてせず、手作業でできる部分は手作業でできるというものがありました。それは初期投資の安さ、インド人の人件費の安さや手作業の正確性によるものだと聞きました。

6日目

午前中はJICの事務所に訪問し、このプログラムの課題でもあった、日本の新幹線の技術を輸出する際に現地のインドで起こる問題点に関するプレゼンテーションをしました。どの班も、最も大きな問題として用地収用の問題をあげており、 JICの方々もその課題が最も大きな問題点としてあげておりました。インドではスラム街の用地収用や道路に不法に住んでいる人々を退去させるのが難しいと聞きました。

発表の後は質疑応答や、事業の具体的な説明を受けました。インフラ業界の仕事のようすを間近で実感することができ貴重な体験となりました。

 午後には、JICAのインド事務所を訪問させていただきました。まず、JICAのインド事務所の方にデリーメトロの現地において説明を受けました。インドの地下鉄が想像していたよりもはるかに清潔に保たれており感激いたしました。また、電車の中も安全で比較的広く感じました。電車は時間内に発車し時間内に到着しており正確性の面でも優れていました。JICAとして以上のことを達成するために多くのことを行ったそうです。途中、チャンディチョークという駅で途中下車し市場を実際に軽く歩きました。今までのインドの中ではもっとも（インドらしく）汚く人が込み入っておりました。最も驚いたこととして、電線が複雑に絡み合っていることがあります。インドではよくあることで、都市インフラが未発達のところでは盗電という現象が起こることでおきるらしいです。また、インドでは停電もよくおこることであり、その点も問題点であると言われています。

現地説明のあとは、JIKAの事務所において事業の説明、質疑応答をしました。明確でわかりやすく説明してくださり、JICAの事業が良く理解できました。JICAのインド事業では、デリーメトロをはじめ、水道インフラなどインフラ事業に力を入れているとききました。JICAのインドの都市インフラに与える影響力の大きさを感じました。

７日目

 この日は主に観光を行う日となりました。早朝から４時間ほどバスでタージマハルに行きました。思ったよりも白く大きく対称性のきれいな建物となっておりました。インドのムガル帝国であったころの歴史を学びました。その後、アグラ城にも行きました。

 

８日目

最終日でした。学部の同期と多くの観光名所をまわりました。その後全体でクトゥブミナールをみました。

最後に

このような機会を設けて頂きありがとうございました。すべてが新しい経験だらけで貴重な体験をさせていただきました。インドの優秀さを実感したと共に、社会基盤の分野に非常に興味をもちました。英語の技術を発展させると共に自分の研究分野について深く勉強していきたいと思いました。ありがとうございました。

 

インド成長への展望と課題を見て

１．背景

ここ数年の間、インドは７％代の経済成長率を記録し、さらに10年以内に人口が中国を抜いて世界トップになると予想されるなど、世界中から有望な投資先として注目されている。日本も同様に、「特別戦略的グローバル・パートナーシップ」を結ぶなど重要な友好国として、また投資先として、官民ともにインドへ熱視線を送っている。インドではこれまでJICAによる多くの有償・無償の資金協力や技術協力が行われてきたが、なかでも円借款および日本の民間企業からの技術移転が行われたデリーメトロ建設プロジェクトは、JICAの「質の高いインフラ」建設・運営支援の成功例として知られている。2015年12月の日印首脳会談では、ムンバイ・アーメダバード間の高速鉄道建設事業にて「日本の新幹線方式」を採用することが決定され、日本の官民さらには東京大学が技術支援および運営のための人材教育に今後力を注ぐことになる。

２．活動内容

活動内容は下表のとおり。またこれ以外にも授業時間外での現地学生との交流や、デリー市内の観光をした。

特に日本コンサルタンツとJICAの現地事務所の訪問では、それぞれ高速鉄道建設事業とデリーメトロ建設事業について、事前に研究を行ったうえでプレゼンと質疑を行い、交通インフラ建設支援についての理解をたいへん深めることができた。

3月12日	成田空港にて集合、デリー到着後IITデリー校キャンパスへ
3月13日	ホーリー祭に参加
3月14日	IITデリー校にて授業参加・東大についてプレゼン紹介
3月15日	IITデリー校にて授業参加・研究室訪問
3月16日	デリーメトロ建設現場・ホンダ工場訪問
3月17日	日本コンサルタンツ・JICAインド事務所訪問
3月18日	タージマハル・アグラ城見学
3月19日	デリー市内観光
3月20日	成田空港にて解散

３．考察

今回のIITデリー校と日系企業への視察、およびデリーメトロの建設現場と完成した区間での乗車を通じて、インドの成長への大きな兆しを強く感じるとともに、そのなかで課題になること、またそれを乗り越えるために日印で協力できる分野や手法について学ぶことができた。

7日間全体を通して、インドのもつパワーをひしひしと感じた。道路には車とバイクが溢れ、クラクションがそこらじゅうで鳴らされているニューデリーの光景から、途上国特有の活力が感じられる。また多くの場所でビルの建設や地下鉄工事が行われており、インドに投資が集まっていることが感じられる。

事実、訪問したホンダの工場は設立以来4度の拡張工事を続けており、特徴として、敢えて自動車製作ラインにロボットを極力導入せずに人件費の安い労働力を投入しているという。中国の現在の自動車市場2,000万台に対し、インドは未だ340万台に留まっており、今後10～20年での伸びが大きく期待されている。

インドが他の途上国より優位な点として、教育に力が入れられていることが挙げられる。今回の視察では2日間かけてIITデリー校のCivil Engineering Departmentの授業に参加したうえで、互いの大学や研究の様子について紹介しあった。授業内容はHydraulicsやSteel Designなど、東大の社会基盤学科にも共通する分野であった。授業によってはIITの先生が流暢な日本語でIITと東大のそれぞれの強みについて熱心にお話していただくなど、IITの様子を知るとともに、インドや海外といった視座から東大を観ることができた。キャンパスは広く清潔であり、サッカーやクリケットのためのグラウンドをもつなど、学業とキャンパス生活に十分集中できる環境が整えられていた。

IITの学部間にもレベルの違いがあるという。特にコンピュータ学科は定員が他の学科より少なく抑えられていて競争も激しい。大学全体として入学、卒業のハードルが両方高く、またカースト制度の名残というインド特有の文化背景も相まって、教育に関する競争はかなり激しい。このように人材教育に関しては日本とは状況がかなり異なり、今後Sundar PichaiやSatya Nadellaのような、世界レベルで活躍できるインド出身の優秀な人材が増えていくことが十分期待できる。

一方、未だ貧困や低開発に囚われるインドの現状もかなり見受けられた。

デリーを離れて隣の州などに向かうと、野良犬や野良犬を多く見かける。タージマハル観光の際にも物乞いやバスの乗客への売り歩きといった、いわゆる「インフォーマルセクター」を生業とする人たちを多く見かけた。デリーにおいても、デリーメトロ、イエローラインのChawri Bazar駅を降りるとそこはスラムの中心である。電線は盗電目的で勝手に引かれた電線とで輻輳し、道端では子どもが裸で歯を磨いていたりする。ニューデリーのような都市は例外で、インド多くの地域はこのような状況なのだろう。まだ経済発展の余地がかなり感じられた。

ただ、健全な経済発展を遂げるには課題がある。デリーにあるJICAインド事務所にて、インドの経済発展に向けてJICAが行っている取り組みについてお話を伺った。

日本企業がインドへの投資を検討する際の最大の懸念材料として、インフラ整備の遅れがある。特に発電所については、インド全土の電力を賄えておらず停電もよく発生している。下水道を使用できるのもインド全体の人口の半分ほどである。JICAはこれらの公共インフラ、またデリーメトロやチェンナイメトロなどの交通インフラ整備への技術的、経済的な支援を行ってきた。JICAのインフラ整備支援の特徴として、「質の高いインフラ」整備を目標としている。ただ最新技術を用いて構造物を建設するだけでなく、InclusivenessやResilienceといった指標を用いて、最適なスキームをつくることにより「質の高いインフラ」を目指している。

日本コンサルタンツインド事務所を訪問した際には、ムンバイ・アーメダバード間の高速鉄道建設事業を行ううえで、問題点やその解決方法について生徒の側からプレゼンを行い、その後社員の方からフィードバックをいただいた。現在日本コンサルタンツが直面している大きな問題として、すでに大枠で合意したことはずの事柄において、より具体的にインド国側と交渉していくうえで意見衝突が生じ、既存のフィージビリティスタディの前提を変更せざるを得ない状況にあるという。例えばフィージビリティスタディの段階では市街地に駅を造る計画であったものの、インド国側の「この構造物を取り壊すわけにはいかない」という主張により、線形をずらすことになったという。

ただ、このような問題は日本において1950年代東海道新幹線の建設時にも生じている。当時は新幹線高架橋を道路や既存の線路の上につくり土地を有効活用するなどの工夫で問題を克服したという。今後、インド側から数十人のスタッフをJR東日本の研修センターに招き、日本の技術や運営ノウハウを教育する予定であるが、その中でこのような日本の経験が活かされてこそ、中国でもなくフランスでもなく、日本がこの案件を受注したことに意味があるのだと思う。

感想

元々途上国でのインフラ整備事業に興味があり、インドでの高速鉄道事業のことも「なんとなく」知っていて関心があったため、このプログラムに申し込んだ。インドという国についても、「注目しなければならない新興国」という程度の関心があった。だが、参加が決まった後、事前課題に取り組む中、そして現地で実際にインドの空気を吸い、道を歩き、建設現場に赴き、日系企業の方にお話を聞く中で、インドという国のイメージ、またこの国で事業を行ううえでの解決すべき課題がよりはっきり見えてきた。

例えば、事前課題の中ではインド特有の気候（高温、雨季）や不十分なロジスティックスのためにセメント資材の調達が問題点の一つであるとし、その解決案としてプレキャストコンクリートを用いることを提案した。解決案自体はありきたりな手法ということもあり内容に自信が無かったが、プレゼン後に日本コンサルタンツの職員の方から「Excellent presentation.」と言っていただいた。あのときの嬉しさは今でも覚えている。

確かに高速鉄道事業を実現する上で課題は山積みだが、一つ一つの資料を見るだけで本当にわくわくする。東海道新幹線が日本の社会を変えたように、またデリーメトロがデリーにイノベーションをもたらしたように、日本形式の「インド新幹線」がインドを変えていく様子を見ていきたい。また自分もシビルエンジニアとして、国を変えるインフラをこれからつくっていきたいという想いがより強まった。

最後に、このプログラムでは本当に多くの刺激的な経験をさせていただいた。タージマハルの美しさ、ゲストハウスのカレーの美味しさ、何度も乗ったリクシャ、対比的なニューデリーとオールドデリーの街並み、そしてインドで事業に携わる企業の方々とIITデリー校の生徒の熱意、すべてが印象深い良き思い出である。このプログラムに関わったすべての皆さまに御礼申し上げたい。

Study Abroad Report in IIT-Delhi

1.　Outline of university

Indian Institute of Technology is the top university in India. IITs consist of more than 20 schools now, and old IITs located in Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Kanpur and Delhi are popular among them. India has tried to become technology-intensive nation, so national policy matches the vision of the university. Especially IT global companies want to acquire excellent IIT students. They are famous for extremely high competition like more than 100 times.

2.　Motivation

Japan has great infrastructure technology but we don’t have much demand now after rapid economic growth was over. Therefore we have been searching market in developing countries, and India is one of the biggest market in the world. It is well known that we have arrived at an agreement for exporting high speed railway recently.

My major is concrete structural design in civil engineering and I’m going to start to work for a railway company after graduation. So I wanted to know the difference of research topic in India and have a valuable experience in future coming country. In addition, I wanted to get to know brilliant and motivated Indian students through laboratory activities in Japan.

3.　Program

I was assigned to structural engineering section laboratory, department of civil engineering. Dr. Bishnoi, who is assistant professor in IIT-D, kindly welcomed me and prepared a plan for sight visit. His main interest is experimental and numerical studies into hydration of cement and supplementary cementitious materials. In this program section, I divided into a few parts what I did.

 

CRRI: Central Road Research Institute

CRRI is a national research institute for road like “高速道路総合技術研究所.” I went there on open laboratory day guided by Dr. Pardeep who is a senior researcher. I visited many laboratories like bridge engineering, pavement, etc. I’m not sure that research level is high at a glance, but I was impressed with monitoring device demonstration.

 

NHAI : National Highway Authority of India

NHAI is a national highway authority like “日本道路公団（高速道路会社（NEXCO）の前身）.” I met Mr. Yamada who worked as external expert. I understood organization system for Indian highway. Infrastructure development by PPP model has been started recently in Japan because this model is useful when budget is limited, however it has been utilized in India since over 10 years ago. They choose the best contract methods from PPP, EPC and item rate based on mainly financial feasibility of each project. The main arterial highways connecting major cities in India has been developed already, and they are now developing highways in regional areas including mountains area, so Japanese road construction technologies is needed.

DMRC : Delhi Metro Rail Corporation

Delhi Metro is a fine urban metro network to ease congestion in the capital city of India. First corridor of Delhi metro was opened in 2002 supported by JICA. They have a massive network of 213km whose quality is not so different from that of Japan. Metros in other cities were constructed as an example of Delhi Metro. They are now building a new line for better connectivity, so I took a site visit guided by an Indian track engineer. Indian construction site is usually said to bepoor by the lack of safety consciousness, however the site of Delhi metro was highly authorized. I was surprised that workers and staffs used different color helmets according to their works. It is also interesting in bridge engineering that the most efficient way such as precast, on-site and metal bridge was chosen by considering road situation, building period and budget.

Research interaction

 I made a presentation on my research topic in the class of IIT-D. Main concern of Japan construction industry has been shifted from new construction to maintenance. Although India has a big demand of construction now, but the time that they have to focus on maintenance will come in a few decades. In that sense, today’s Japan is a good example for developing countries in future. Therefore I believe my research on fatigue analysis of bridge deck is meaningful for Indian students. It was the first time to make a presentation abroad, I got a confidence to work in foreign countries.

In addition, laboratory students kindly gave me some lectures for their research topics in personal. These days were so tough for me because I had to make discussions in English about topics that I’m not familiar with. I was surprised that their research is based on globally common topics like reducing CO₂ emission and some students had a joint research with other countries. Their ways of study were an motivation for me to follow the global trend.

4.　Lifestyle

Campus

IIT-D Campus is located in Houz Khas, where is an affluent area in South Delhi. It has large area and green. All students spend their life in Hostel inside the campus, and they walk to the academic area every day. They are very fond of tea, so they were gathered at tea stand around 3 pm. Most students are Indian, I might be looked strange. Laboratory members helped me in all angle.

Food

Meals are served three times a day in hostel. Curry and Roti are typical foods. Most people are vegetarian, so I couldn’t have meet for a while. At first it is hard for me to get used, but I’m glad to hear that you are just in the way of Indian life from Dr. Bishnoi.

5.  Impression

 It was a great opportunity for me to know the world which I’ve never seen. I was born and have studied in Japan, so everything was new in not only research but also lifestyle.

From the point of research activity, although the University of Tokyo is globally more famous than IIT, but I realized that it is no sense. Those who I met in campus are so excellent in a manner of study. I was treated as a representative of Japanese students because there were quite a few foreign people in campus. I regretted that I should have studied about all topics in Japan to have a mutual communication. They are my motivation now. I’ve decided to acquire more fluent English skills and finally have fruitful discussions in future.

India is a totally opposite from Japan in lifestyle. Of course Japan is more authorized country, but I could take another views for our habits and ways of thinking. I could change my mind flexibly and gain a confidence that I can get along in any countries.

I could also think about my future career. Because I went to India alone, I was a bit lonely. Therefore I tried to get acquainted with new friends from myself. I was surprised that there are some Japanese students who studied in other colleges and many Japanese people worked in India. Those who I met in India had an interesting background which is a totally different from myself. I could have an opportunity to rethink my career and respect them who struggled in foreign countries.

I’m deeply grateful to Dr. Maekawa for giving a great chance to study abroad. Thank you for kindly welcoming me to Dr. Bishnoi.

 

 

Summary of Two Years Stay in Japan

My stay in Japan was very fruitful for the development of my personality as well as of knowledge.  I will divide my summary in two parts. In the first part I shall cover my academic experience in Japan including Masters Course, trainings undertaken and site visits etc. In the second part I shall discuss various experiences of my personal life in Japan including travel across Japan and cultural experiences.

Academic Experiences in Japan

1. Masters Course at the University of Tokyo

The main purpose of coming to Japan was pursuing Masters Course. We had to complete 20 credits from course work and 10 credits from research work. In Japan greater focus is laid on research related activities in post graduation course which provide in-depth knowledge of the subject and develops problem solving skills in the students. My research area was concrete engineering and topic of research was “Investigation of pre-mature cracking of concrete sleepers in Indian Railways and countermeasures to improve their conditions”. The reason behind choosing this topic was my long experience in Indian Railways where pre-mature cracking of sleepers was the major problem faced during maintenance of track. I summarize my experience of master’s course in the following points

i) Elective courses for class room work

I felt that class room work was comparatively easy. The lectures were given through audio-visual aids like PowerPoint.  Whenever an in depth understanding of course, from application point of view was required, there used to be field visits as a part of the class work.  The lecturers welcomed questions from students in order to clarify their doubts. Generally, assessment was based on assignments and sometimes written examination was also conducted. Many of the classes included group work which facilitated interaction among students and helped in developing different perspectives for a given problem.

ii) Practical orientation in class room work

All the classes mostly taught theory but practical orientation used to be the major aspect of the class works at the University of Tokyo. Classes like “Infrastructure management”,  “Project Management”, “Frontiers of Civil Engineering” etc gave a chance to students to learn the practical field application of science and technology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

iii) Chance to learn Japanese language

The JLC class at the University of Tokyo is very comprehensive and useful for day to day life in Japan. Apart from this we can earn credit for this course which gives additional motivation to join the course. The knowledge of Japanese language is also very useful during travel across Japan.

iv) Help by various experts to support research work

Supervisor and co-supervisor always motivated and supported me for my research work. Since topic of pre-mature cracking was new to my lab as well, therefore at times expert guidance had to be arranged from outside the University of Tokyo as well. For example Associate Professor from Saitama University, Japan and Professor Emeritus, Yamaguchi University, Japan helped me with the material part of my research. The lab meetings were held weekly, where we presented our progress and seeked expert guidance from the supervisor. Combined Lunch meetings, convened once in every two weeks, gave opportunity to present the research work in front of professors and students of other labs and seek their guidance. Also, expert help was arranged from organizations like Japan Cement Corporation, Railway Technical Research Institute and sleeper plants in Japan.

v) Guidance and help by lab mates

The culture of research was very new to me when I joined the University of Tokyo. Taking firsthand guidance from the ones who had already walked the path, was of immense help. The first help was extended by my lab mates. They helped me to understand the practices of the lab, research work etc. as and when required.

vi) Well equipped laboratories

The state of art laboratories in the University of Tokyo are very helpful for the students, in the sense that once the methodology of research is decided, all the ground work is ready before hand and the students can quickly start with their experiments in the experimental room attached to the  laboratories. The laboratories are equipped with most of the modern equipments required for the research. There is no dearth of computing facilities in the laboratories. Laboratories also have small libraries where we can easily find the important reference books and papers.

again, after such a long gap. I decided to select a research topic related to a problem that I was facing while I was working in Indian Railways. In this way, the problem was already well known to me and I quickly started working under the guidance of my supervisor. In this regards kind support and motivation of my supervisor, co-supervisor and all the other sensei needs special mention, through which not only my fears got dispelled but could win the prestigious Furuichi award.

viii) Direct application of the research results

My research was related to a practical field problem faced while I was working in Indian Railways. In this sense, the results of my research have a direct practical relevance and the same can be utilized to improve the conditions of sleepers in Indian Railways. In my research work I have investigated the problem of pre-mature cracking by collecting extensive samples from Indian Railways, studied the manufacturing processes in the two countries, measured temperature inside concrete sleepers in the set up of a concrete sleeper plant in India and did rigid body spring model simulation for alkali silica reaction (ASR) induced damages and delayed ettringite formation (DEF) induced damages.

2. Internship

We underwent two internships while studying at the University of Tokyo. The first was of about a month long internship at Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI) and second was a one week intensive internship at JR (East). Both the internships were arranged by the kind initiatives of the professors of University of Tokyo. The internships were very informative and useful for us because they gave us a chance to compare the technologies in the two countries and learn the better practices prevalent in Japan. The two internships are explained in detail in following paragraphs:

a) Internship at Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI)

Period of internship: 17.8.2015 – 11.9.2015

 Purpose of visit: This one month long internship was arranged by the University of Tokyo to provide a deeper understanding of the latest researches going on in the field of Railway Technology in Japan. We had been given the status of a visiting researcher in RTRI and also were given a dedicated place with computers and other office facilities to carry out the research work and studies. We worked here with other researchers of RTRI. During the internship, not only could we extend and relate our research with the ongoing studies in RTRI but could also develop a good bond and a co-operative relationship with the researchers of RTRI as well. The internship can be summarised in brief with the  following points:

i) Familiarisation with the researches in RTRI

The very first day was dedicated to introduction to the concrete structure lab. Dr. Okamoto gave a brief about the objectives of RTRI. Also, presentation was given for the researches going on in the field of concrete structures. a)                   There are mainstays and clearly defined objectives for the R&D atRTRI. Their annual budget is around 18.4 billion yen and most of it is paid by the JR companies.

 

ii.  Attending the Compressive Strength test

In Japan concrete sampling is done in cylinders of size 100mm Dia x 200mm height. The concrete specimen cylinder for High Strength Concrete was tested in the experimental room of RTRI. Since high strength concrete does not show considerable deformation before fracture, in order to precisely measure the deflection, a special apparatus was used. The capacity of loading machine was 1000KN and rate of introduction of force was 50 KN/ 10 sec. One specimen of High Strength Concrete tested, took a load of 468 KN.

iii. Research Introduction by Mr. Nihei, Ohno

Often, cracks in the concrete are attributed to Shrinkage by moisture evaporation. In this research topic, the researcher wanted to know the cracking load w.r.t. internal stresses caused by shrinkage and creep of mortar. Shrinkage and creep stress and strain are not generated uniformly. Knowing the distribution of internal stress is important for analysing the cracking load in the member.  A special method called “ digital image correlation method” is developed by RTRI to measure non uniform strain.

iv. Visit to Institute of Technology, Tokyu Construction to attend experiment

In the experiment, the performance of ECC panels ( Fibre mortar panels) was being evaluated for the bending performance of the columns.  The motivation behind this experiment was that the seismic performance of large number of columns which were built previously had to be enhanced in view of updated codes and practices. The column should fail in bending rather than shear to cause less damage to it due to earthquakes.

v.  Introduction to Concrete Sleepers in Japanese Railways by Mr. T. Watanabe of Railway Dynamics Division

Mr. Tsutomu Watanabe is Asst. Senior Researcher in Structural Mechanics Laboratory of Railway Dynamics Division. He deals with the technology of PSC concrete sleepers in Railways in Japan.  He is pioneer in the technology of ladder sleeper.  Ladder sleepers are the structural innovation from conventional “Transverse” to “Longitudinal” support system from the tracks. Ladder sleepers are now widely used in Japan because of their better performance compared to conventional ties.

vi.  SEM analysis in Material Technology Division by Mr. Koji Tsuruta

One of the main achievements of the internship in RTRI was their support towards my research. My research topic was “ Pre-mature cracking in Railway PSC sleepers in Indian Railways”. I collected many samples of concrete from the railway sleepers in India. All the cracked concrete sleepers showed a particular behaviour in which the cracks start getting visible after 7-10 years of manufacturing. After having discussed with the Professors of the University of Tokyo and having read relevant papers based on similar problems and researches, it was guessed that crack could occur due to Delayed Ettringite Formation( DEF) or Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR). DEF was more guessed since the sleepers were given heat treatment during the production.  Mr. Koji Tsuruta of Material Technology Division is expert in this field & he is author of many papers related to similar problem in railway sleepers in Japan.  RTRI has very modern Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM), which do not require any type of carbon coating etc, thus gives accurate results without any bias. The SEM of the damaged concrete samples confirmed large deposition of Ettringite crystals which confirmed severe DEF problem in concrete sleepers.  The prima facie cause of DEF can be related to high temperature curing (around 75°C) given to these sleepers during production.

 

vii. Evaluation of Internal heat of hydration in Indian PSC sleepers using software ASTEA MACS

ASTEA MACS is FEM based program for non linear thermal stress analysis. It takes in to account the history of heat generated at the time of construction, the temperature-dependency and time-dependency of material properties, the addition of elements and variation of boundary conditions due to concrete Casting, and the occurrence of cracks etc. I have used this software to evaluate the temperature rise inside the concrete due to steam curing cycle adopted in Indian concrete sleeper plants.

The results of the ASTEA MACS were interesting. The temperature inside the concrete comes out to be almost 83°C (8°C higher compared to the surrounding). This result was important since there is greater probability of occurrence of DEF in case of temperature going higher and higher.  Following slides summarise the results:

viii. Visit to Concrete Sleeper plant

This visit has been organised by RTRI to get the idea about the production process of concrete sleepers in Japan. This visit was important for the research purpose since in Japan concrete sleepers are not having DEF problems at large scale. This visit gave us insight about the modern production processes of concrete sleepers and we could compare it with the process adopted in our country.  The plant is situated around 200 kms SW of Tokyo. The plant is owned by Kyokuto Kowa Corporation. Kyokuto Kowa Corporation is a big company having 7such plants throughout Japan.

b) Internship at Japanese Railways (East) Co. Ltd.

Period of internship: From 24.9.2015 to 2.10.2015

 Purpose of visit: The two weeks internship was arranged by the University of Tokyo in co-operation with JR East. Japan is an undisputed world leader in railway technology. Indian Railways also has the vision to modernise its vast railway network to improve speed and safety. There is plan to connect major commercial and tourist places by High Speed Rail network. Therefore, apart from pursuing the master’s degree and the research, one of our major objectives while studying in Japan is to learn the modern railway technology available here.  With the kind initiative of University of Tokyo and generous acceptance by JR East, it was made possible to get a feel of Railway technology & it’s operation and maintenance systems in Japanese Railways. We have spent around 9 years in Indian Railways, thus we have an in depth understanding of existing technology and systems of our country. So, this internship helped us to compare the systems existing in the two countries and we could also learn quickly.

Brief of the internship is as follows:

i) Day 1-24.9.2015:

• Meeting with the executive director of JR East.
• Presentation on outline of structural engineering centre.
• Presentation on Framework of Shinkansen line- planning, financing etc.
• Presentation on design of railway concrete structure by concrete group.

ii) Day2-25.9.2015

• Lecture: Shinkansen Technologies of Japan by Dr. Ishibashi: history and evolution of high speed train engineering

• Presentation on construction and quality control of concrete structure by Concrete group

• Presentation on design of steel structure by steel group

iii)  Night visit 25.9.2015&26.9.2015

• Site visit for Shinkansen Rail Grinding work near Omiya station. We had interaction with the maintenance staff but the work was not done because of there was some disruption of Shinkansen running that night to some electrical failure.ay 3-28.9.2015

iv) Day 3-28.9.2015

●Field trip to Shinkansen General Rolling Stock maintenance centre

●Field trip to restoration work site of Joban line damaged due to Tsunami of 2011

v) Day 4-29.9.2015

●Field trip to Niigata- Works related to modification of Niigata station, Viaduct works

vi)  Day 5-30.9.2015

●Presentation on general maintenance of structures in JR

●Presentation on Maintenance of concrete structure by concrete structure group

●Presentation on Maintenance of steel structure by steel group

vii) Day 6-1.10.2015

● Field trip to Conventional Line maintenance work site near Kameari station- inspection of viaduct and bridges

viii) Night visit-1.10.2015-2.10.2015

● Field trip to Ueno underground station and tunnel for Shinkansen- inspection of underground station, bridges and tunnels etc, water removal and recycling system.

ix) Day 7-2.10.2015

● Wrap up meeting- feedback, suggestion etc.

3.  Seminars

I have attended two main summer seminars. The first one was Urban Rail Seminar and second one was Shinkansen seminar. Both the seminars were arranged by the University of Tokyo in co-operation with Ministry of land and infrastructure and various rail companies of Japan. The seminars were very informative and attended by students from various Universities across Japan. Lectures by distinguished heads of various organizations and rail companies followed by field visits gave an in depth knowledge of the subject. Briefs of the two seminars are as follows:

a) Special Summer Seminar for International Students 2015 “Railway System and Urban Development of Mega Cities”

 Period: 27.8.2015-28.8.2015 (2 days )

This seminar was organised by the University of Tokyo in co-operation with various Railway companies in Japan. As a matter of policy, Japan wants to support the development of modern railway systems in Asian countries and promote it’s technology throughout the world. During last half century, Japanese Railway System has witnessed rapid growth, not only in terms of volume but in technological innovation as well.  Apart from High Speed Train, the urban rail system is also quite developed in Japan.  It’s success can be guessed from the fact that on an average almost 80% of the urban transportation of the people takes place through trains.  For the railway system to be successful, it’s early start is the key factor which we see in case of Japan. Almost all the rail networks which we see today were completed by 1930s. The residential colonies and modern cities have been especially developed along the Railway track to give people a speedy access from their residence to the cities as well as provide them better quality of life. As a matter of fact, distances have become meaningless in Japan but what matters is the time involved while travelling. Apart from this, the cohesiveness and interconnectivity between different Railway systems and networks is unparalleled. Also, we see immense compatibility of various Railway systems with other modes of transport. This Special Summer Seminar was organised by the University of Tokyo so as to give a feel of how the Urban Rail System supports the transportation facilities of mega cities.

The brief of seminar is as follows:

ix) Day 1-27.8.2015

The first day was dedicated to presentation by various distinguished personalities of the Japanese Railway Industries and the professors of the University of Tokyo. Following presentations were delivered in the seminar:

• By Prof. Hitoshi IEDA, University of Tokyo/ GRIPS: Comparison of rail and road based transportation
• By Mr. Takashi Yamazaki, President JIC Co. Ltd: Need of Urban transit in Asian countries
• By Mr. Akiyoshi Yamamura, Executive Managing Director, Tokyo Metro Co. Ltd: Features of Tokyo Metro
• By Mr. Tomohisa OGINO, Manager, Tokyo Metro Co. Ltd.: Maintenance and disaster prevention in Tokyo Metro
• By Prof. Yoshihiro SUDA, University of Tokyo: Advanced mobility research centre, AVS vehicle to vehicle communication
• Mr Fumiaki SHIROISHI, Director & Executive Officer, Tokyu Corporation: Business model of Tokyu corporation
• Mr Ryosuke TOURA, General Manager, Tokyu Corporation: Moving from railway transport to city development
• Mr Takashi Yajima, President, The land acquisition centre: Co-ordinate planning & finance between rail and suburban development
• By Ms. Mikiko Sakamoto, Executive Officer, JR East: Business model of JR Eastii) 1st Day night(27-28.08.2015)The night visit was organised by Tokyo Metro for familiarisation of maintenance activities of subway system. The main points of site visit were as follows:
• Inspection of maintenance vehicles
• Inspection of Underground station and improvement works at Ueno station
• Observing rail grinding work & other maintenance works

iii) The 2^nd Day(28.08.2015)

●Visit to Tokyo Station

●Visit to JR east Operation Control Centre

●Visit to Tama-Den-en-toshi Development & Tama plaza

●Visit to Shibuya Area Development site

b) Shinkansen summer seminar for international students 2016

 Period: 5.9.2016-07.9.2016 (3 days )

This was the second series of seminarsw organised by the University of Tokyo in co-operation with JR (Central), JR (East) and Japan Railway Technical Service (JARTS). The seminar was very useful for us since we could learn the concept behind Japanese high speed rail “Shinkansen”, how it promoted economic growth in Japan as well as we could learn the technologies and systems that support it.  The first day was dedicated to lectures by distinguished heads of various rail companies and organisations. The 2^nd day included technical visit at JR central Education centre followed by lectures by distinguished leaders in high speed rail technology. The third day constituted a visit to the Shinkansen maintenance unit “Hamamatsu Workshop” and technical visit to Railway museum at Nagoya.

i) Day 1 (05.09.2016):

The first day was dedicated for lectures by distinguished guests.

●By Prof. Hitoshi IEDA (GRIPS): The creation and evaluation of high speed railway system-their fundamental

●By Prof. Yoshihiro SUDA, the University of Tokyo: Vehicle dynamics for high speed rail vehicles- Why shinkansen can run stably in a high speed

●Mr. Toshio OTAKE, Central Japan Railway Company: Evolving Tokaido Shinkansen- Advancement in terms of track maintenance technology

●Prof. Norio TOMII, Chiba Institute of Technology: Train Operation in Shinkansen

●Dr. Tadayoshi ISHIBASHI, JR East Consultants Company: Earthquakes and Shinkansen Structures

●Mr. Masaki OGATA, East Japan Railway Company: HSR (Shinkansen) as a social and competitive infrastructure

ii) Day2 (06.09.2016):

Second day began with technical visit followed by lectures at General Education Centre, Mishima.

●Technical visit to JR Central General Education Centre, Mishima. The facilities visited are as follows:

-training tracks equipped identically to the actual operating line

-Shinkansen electrical power training room

-Conventional line drivers training room

-ATC (Automated Train Control) room

-Shinkansen simulators

 

• Mr. Naritoshi FUKAZAWA, Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency: Evolution of Shinkansen construction technology
• Dr. Takeshi KURITA, East Japan Railway Company: Environmental measure for Shinkansen in JR East
• Mr.Masahito IMAI, East Japan Railway Company: Shinkansen and active local strategies, Direct line Service operation scheme between shinkansen and conventional lines.
• Mr.Takanori Mizuno, Central Japan Railway Company: The chuo shinkansen project
• Mr.Yashiyuki KASAI, Central Japan Railway Company: Tokaido Shinkansen and business strategy of JR Central

 

iii) Day 3 (07.09.2016)

Third day was dedicated to visit to Hamamatsu Workshop and Rail Museum at Nagoya.

●　Hamamatsu Workshop

Hamamatsu workshop is dedicated to the inspection and maintenance of rolling stocks of Tokaido Shinkansen.  The workshop offers General Overhaul, Pre-service inspection, Regular inspection and bogie inspection for shinkansen rolling stocks.  We have seen inspection and repair of car bodies, Inspection and repair of bogies, Body painting etc.

●　Rail Museum (Nagoya)

This museum gives lucid display of evolution of rail system in Japan. Museum introduces advances in high speed railway through rolling stock displays including MAGLEV. The park offers a place to learn how the railway has impacted our society, life style, culture and economy.

 

4. Technical tours and Site visits

As a part of masters course at the University of Tokyo, I  got a chance to attend various educational tours, conferences, experiments etc. It broadened my horizon and enriched my knowledge.  Some of these visits are described in the  following paragraphs:

i) Visit to JR East Research Laboratory, Nisshin, Tokyo:

To attend the  experiment of beam column joint subjected to cyclic loading with provision    of  steel plate to anchor reinforcement at joint.

ii)Visit to Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Tokyo and Kimitsu Works, Kimitsu City, Chiba Prefacture, Japan

This visit was arranged by University of Tokyo as technical tour to steel plant.  First we went to head office of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo, Marunouchi, Tokyo. Brief presentation was given by company representative followed by lunch.

In the afternoon we visited the steel plant. This steel plant is located in Kimitsu in Chiba prefecture which is adjoining prefecture of Tokyo. The purpose of this visit was to know steel manufacturing technology in Japan and also learn the challenges met by them.

iii)Visit to Tokyo General Rolling Stock Centre, Hiromachi

This visit was arranged by University of Tokyo to have practical experience of maintenance of transport related infrastructure and to know the modern technological development in transport industries in Japan.

This centre is meant for the rolling stock maintenance of cars used by JR East in Tokyo Metropolitan area.  They have impressive facility for maintenance of whole train set at a time. Doing maintenance one by one would have taken 2 weeks while adopting this technique it can be done in 5 days. Apart from their state of art maintenance system, the most impressive is cleanliness of their shops and management system of their tools.

iV) Visit to Japanese Airlines Maintenance Unit, Heneda

This visit was to get acquaintance about maintenance system of Japanese Airlines.

This visit was to get the idea about highway maintenance in Japan and technological development in highway industries. We have visited the Technical Training Centre of NEXCO, Slope deformation site, Reconstruction of deteriorated pier site, Saku operation office.

vi) Visit to Tokyo-Gaikan Expressway project in Tajiri area, Chiba

This project is meant for speedy travel in highway around sub urban of Tokyo. This is important project in view of   Tokyo Olympics in 2020. This project site is located at the crossing point of two expressway lines. The area is densely populated hence underground construction of 4 lane highway is being done. The construction is environment friendly with provision of natural lighting. The expressway is being constructed with high quality and safety. Actual model test and seismic analysis tests have been done.  A new tunnelling method called Harmonica Method is adopted for minimum disturbance to the moving traffic above construction site.

vii) Visit to Construction site of UT Academic Commons in University of Tokyo

This construction site was within the campus of University of Tokyo. The construction was about building underground library by Pneumatic caisson method. The site visit was very useful to feel the actual working environment of civil construction site. The safety standards of contractor Shimizu Corporation were really impressive. It is very appreciable that the thing they care most is the safety of their workers. Though it is more costly to adopt pneumatic caisson method instead of cut & cover method, the same was adopted to save time and to avoid any subsidence of soil beneath nearby structures. By this way safety of people using nearby buildings can be insured along with speedy construction.

viii) Visit to Odawa Construction site of Tokyo-Gaikan Expressway Project

This project was owned by NEXCO East and meant for easing traffic flow in outskirt of the Tokyo city. The visit to this huge construction site was very beneficial for us since it gave opportunity to see and understand practically the theory and case study discussed in the class room. As every construction site is unique in problems which are encountered during the construction, but same is overcome by some general technical, inter personnel and emotional capabilities. This site also encountered many engineering challenges and were successfully overcome, some of which are

Personal Experiences in Japan and suggestion

My stay in Japan was very pleasant. I am especially thankful to the corporate culture of working in Japanese system, because of which our day to day activities could be frictionless. I am briefly sharing my personal experience in Japan in following points:

i) UT International lodge:

As soon as we arrived in Tokyo, we were given an accommodation at the UT International lodge at Shirokanedai. The lodge was a well furnished accomodation for a family. This was the biggest help received by me from the University of Tokyo, because then I need not bother about my stay and could start my studies smoothly. The lodge was located at the heart of the city in a very posh area of Tokyo. There were many international students with whom I could talk in moments of loneliness. The lodge was given to us for a year. Though, one year is sufficient to understand the system, culture and language for survival in Japan. It would be better to allot the lodge for two years to avoid wastage of time during shifting.

ii) Food:

I am a vegetarian. Initially I was worried that how I will survive in Japan being vegetarian. But, to my surprise I could find all kind of vegetables available in every super market and convenient store in Japan. Also, there are many Indian shops which provide all kinds of raw materials required for Indian food. There is no dearth of Indian restaurant in Japan, even there are many vegetarian Indian restaurants. So, if a vegetarian person cooks for himself it is very easy to live in Japan. Those who don’t know cooking it is bit difficult, since they cannot afford restaurants on daily basis because of time and money constraints. Hence, I would suggest that there should be some Indian vegetarian menu (like veg curry and rice) in the University canteen in the campus. This is because there are considerable numbers of Indian students in the University. Also, students from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka also have similar taste, so this food can be useful for them as well.

iii) Travel across Japan:

I have travelled across length and breadth of Japan. By these travels I could understand Japanese culture closely and could understand the deep cultural bond that exists between India and Japan. The places I visited include Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Okinawa, Sendai, Niigata, Aomori, Inoshima, Hakone, Nikko and many more places. The Japanese language learnt in the University of Tokyo was very useful during these travels. Still many places are left and I want to visit them whenever I will get a chance. The cleanliness even in the remotest places, the kindness and generosity of Japanese people have a lasting impact on me.

iv) Host family program

Host family program organized by Todai is a great initiative which facilitates cultural exchange experience. After interaction with my host family I could learn the Japanese values and customs closely and make an everlasting relationship with my host family. I used to meet my host family usually in some restaurant and could practice my Japanese language with them. They were kind enough not to mind my poor Japanese skills. My host family was kind enough to invite me to their house for lunch and introduced Sado and Kimono to me. We also invited them for dinner at our house. At the end I am very happy to have a relationship with a Japanese family not on any formal basis but purely on personal cultural interaction.

 

 

Internships are crucial in determining future goal. Students who wish to go for higher studies and continue their career in research field foreign research Internships are really important for them. The University of Tokyo offers this kind of internship opportunity for Indian students through IJEP Internship program.

As a part of this internship you will be working as an important member of one of the laboratories in The UTokyo. You will be given equal importance as other members of the lab. Facilities provided by my lab during Internship was really awesome. One mentor is allotted to each student who will be taking care of you during your overall stay. People in my lab were very helpful. Everyone was always ready to help me. The thing that I liked most was weekly meeting in lab in which you are supposed to present your research progress. This help in moving forward by getting suggestion from professor.

Moving on to very important point ‘social life’. I would like to say that this Internship period was most memorable time of my lifetime. Be it late night going out with lab members, watching movies with lab members in lab, listening to professor singing or going on really memorable lab trip, I enjoyed each and every thing I did there. During IJEP, There were many events organised this helped me to know other members selected for Internship. I made friends for lifetime there. Best part of Internship was cross cultural talks. Japan being country whose culture is very different from India that made it more wonderful.

Overall I would like to say life in Tokyo was ‘Work Hard and Party Harder’ type. I not only enjoyed my stay there but also cleared my doubts regarding future goals during this Internship. I returned with bag full experience and more matured in all prospects.

Here are some pictures that will describe a little bit about my stay,

 

 

 

 

IJEP Internship Experience

 

IJEP is one of a unique life time experience one is privileged to have and wouldn’t be able to thank it enough. Let me start with my experience chronology. When I  got to know that I was selected for a summer internship under the India-Japan Industry-Academia-Government Collaborative Education Program, my happiness knew no bounds at all as this was the first time I was going to travel abroad and that too Japan – The Land of the Rising Sun.  You would be given a list of around 20 Labs and asked to put forth your preference for which one you would like to work with. I was selected in the Shiomi Lab based on my preference.

 

The internship was totally funded with air tickets too, how  could one ask for  anything more!  but that is not where it stops. I received such heart warming welcome on my first day at The University of Tokyo, one that I could never forget. The splendid architecture of the campus, especially the arcade would take you by awe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1) Brief Introduction

Research Internship plays a very important and crucial role for someone to explore his field of interest and also open other career opportunities. It’s not  only about having industrial experience in one of the world class university but you also get to know about their hospitality, cultural-diversity, social-technological innovation and lifestyle.
This Year I did internship at Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, JAPAN which was a unique experience for me. It’s research environment also encourages me to go for further studies. There are many project from all field of engineering. Previously in Dec,2014 I had attended a course on High-Speed-Railway under ISWT Course, so I chose to go for project related to Railway and Transportation Engineering, which is one of my field of interest.

2) What was the selection procedure? Any specific tip for getting selected(regarding CV/Projects/Recommendations)?

I got selected through India-Japan Education Program (abbreviated as IJEP, collaborative industry-academia-government linking effort) which was just started in 2015. The Program was only open for several IIT and IIM. Filling application form starts in mid-November. Application was very easy to fill up. You have to create an account on their portal and then proceed step-by-step. The steps include detailing your personal information, educational background, CV & transcript, previous research internship and area of interest. Apart from this, you have to write Statement of purpose (don’t copy and paste, some novelty has to be there, if you really want to get selected) and one letter of recommendation (which has to be uploaded separately on their portal by professor). SOP and previous experiences was very important in any selection procedure, so try not to make any false assumptions.

Every institutions will like to invite student based on their GPA, so higher GPA gives you an edge over applicants with lower GPA, but other factors also mater a lot.

3) What was your project?(Some details about it)

I worked on Weigh-In-Motion System (abbreviated as WIM), a reliable weighing method in transportation engineering which used to overcome great damage to the road caused by the overweight vehicle and to solve the traffic security problem & the transportation market risks. I was expected to verify the numerical and experimental analysis with simulation analysis(software used SIMPACK).

4) How was the work atmosphere? How did you utilized the free time? How was the accommodation/food?

My campus was near-by Tokyo. Tokyo is really a good place to live. Everything here are very user friendly and goes in a systematic way like public transportation system. It’s has the best combination of modern and traditional Japan within. People here are always ready to help you even if they have to go out of their way. It is one of the most populated area of Japan and have large no. of foreigner too. I loved to experience this multi-cultural society which gave me a chance to connect with people from all over the world. The working atmosphere was pretty enjoyable. We get to know about their work culture. Their was no such restriction of working hours, we were free to work on our pace. There were many students from different countries working in my lab. Interaction with many research scholar, postdocs and professor is plus point in any foreign internship. We participated in event Tanabata and Bon-dancing during International gathering, attended tea ceremony. Weekends are completely free, so we explored many parts of japan. My personal favourite places in Tokyo include, “Ueno Park”, “The Imperial Palace”, “Odiba(statue of Liberty replica)”, “Akihabara”, “Akashi Kaikyo Bridge” etc. We visited kobe earthquake memorial park by Shinkansen, climbed Mt. Fuji till 8th station (faced -5 degree Celsius over there). About accommodation, we were group of three people (2 from IIT-KGP and 1 from IIT-M) sharing a apartment near university. Food was quite expensive there, so I used to cook most of the time with my roommate. For Vegetarian people, its not that difficult to find food of your choice, You will easily get Indian grocery shop near a place called shin-okubo.

5) How does this intern help in your long term career goals?

These types of Research Internship open new options for you at international level. Pursuing higher studies is one of the option, there are many more. In a country like India, technology transfer is much needed step to develop and prosper. You will love to stay here forever once you visit. Honestly Japanese language will not be a big problem for you as we have more than 385 language throughout India but we are still connected. The technology/Equipment’s which we use here are just the best known throughout, so JAPAN is the best place for Technologist.

6) Conclusion.

I will conclude that an international internship is breakthrough for undergraduate student to explore his interests and many opportunities. It is not only about getting technological exposure, handling new equipment but you will also get a chance to experience a new learning environment, cross-cultures, lifestyles, languages etc. You will meet people from different areas. Most important thing, you are the one who are going to represent India and its culture for a very short period of time. All these things make you feel proud and confident.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

↓Here’s Ms. Dipasha Sinha’s website

http://www.swgiitkgp.in/foresight/tokyo_Dipasha.html

 

 

Instead of writing a long-winded report having an experience filled with positive cliched comments,
I thought it would be better to modularize on certain aspects and I believe these would make you
consider this particular internship program.

1) Academia effect!
Of course, the main motivation of applying to a research internship is to improve your technological
skills, critical reasoning & perception and a culmination of strengthening your Curriculum Vitae.
UTokyo is currently one of the best varsities in the world, and it inherently has brilliant people with
a lot of recognition, and an undying, motivating research atmosphere.
I am from the CSE background, and believe me, some people from this university have done quite a
load of magnificent work in the area. There is an option to choose the laboratory you want to work
in, and this provides flexibility to the applicant.

2) Japan?
When people say Japan is different, believe them! Because it is! This country has some very
beautiful, intriguing places and at the same time some crazy ‘addas’ to hang out at! The people are
very friendly and cooperative, and the country is very hospitable. It was an amazing experience to
not only work in such a high-rated intellectual country, but also get to know the Japanese in general.
The IJEP program had some excursions which entailed us visiting Japan’s Supercomputer, ride the
Shinkansen bullet train, a Sumo meet, a traditional tea ceremony; all of which added to the
excitement. And, in the two months span, I’ve probably travelled a lot more than 20 years in India.
As it was my first abroad experience, it was a bit intimidating, but the IJEP authorities had managed
the program quite well, making the task less daunting.

3) IJEP:
The program’s stipend is enough to buy you accommodation for 2 months, food throughout the
span, a trip to Mt. Fuji, a visit to Disneyland, outings each weekend and lots of souvenir, anime, and
miscellaneous shopping items! So, money won’t be a problem.
You’ll meet amazing people, live in a country which you’ll ultimately fall in love with, and visit
places which will leave you awestruck!
P.S. To the vegetarian people: Don’t fret! It’s not an obstacle, at all!
P.P.S. Visit Mt. Fuji! Just go for it. It’s godlike!

 

Report of Delhi Metro Rail Cooperation

1. Information

The construction of Delhi Metro is now in the phase 3. In the phase1, 65km metro line was constructed and 108km metro line was constructed in the phase2. In the phase3, the construction of 106km line is planned. The most of the tracks of Delhi metro are the standard gauges. The main reason for it is that they can use the standards of the other countries easily, reduce the weight of the coaches, and reduce the cost a little. If they use the broad gauge, the trains can go to the Indian railway’s track directly. However, so many problems will occur. The routine maintenance is very important for the subway because it is very difficult to reconstruct or repair the subway.

2. Construction site of viaducts

 

 

Figure1

 

 

I went to the construction site of the viaducts. Figure1 is the picture of the station which is under construction. The station except the roof is made of concrete and the roof and its supports are made of metal. The design of the station, especially the roof was so good. The roofs of the Japanese stations look very cheap. So I think it have to be replaced for 21 century. About inside of the station, it is characteristic to paint the color directly to the wall in comparison of the Japanese station. And, I thought the concourse of the every station is bigger than Japanese one. It is because security check space is needed in the Indian station.

  

Figure2                                    Figure3                                 Figure4

Figure2 is the picture of the construction site of track. The point I noticed was that thorough curing was conducted by using some curing material. Another point was that the rails for preventing derailment were made of concrete. Japanese ones are made of metal. I think the reason why there is the deference is that about Japan, the rails for preventing derailment were not considered when the design was determined. And in case of ballast track, it is a little difficult to apply concrete rails for preventing derailment. Figure3 is the picture of the side wall of the viaduct. The characteristic point of this is that there is space on which people can walk very safely. In Japan there is no space like this on the viaduct. If this space doesn’t exist, people have to walk on the track when an accident happens. The track condition is not good for walking. I thought this space was very good. Figure4 is the picture of the viaduct which was taken from the below side of the viaduct. The post-tensioning method was applied to these new viaducts. On the other hand, it was not applied to the viaducts of Yellow line, which is constructed in Phase1. The concrete parts of the superstructure were made in the factory, transported from the factory to the construction site, assembled in the construction site and post-tensioning method were finally applied to the assembled concrete parts. About quality of the concrete, I could recognize the joints of the concrete when I got closer to the concrete walls. I thought the construction site of the viaduct was relatively clean but the garbage should be collected properly for escaping accidents and keeping the good working environment.

3. Construction site of tunnels

Figure5                                                                         Figure6

I went to the construction of the tunnels. Figure5 is the picture of the construction site of the underground station and the tunnels. The excavation was almost finished. At the time of the excavation, they made the soil wall first which was hardened by using cement milk, the supports of the soil walls like struts were equipped, and the excavation was conducted. The number of the supports were relatively less than that of the construction site of Gaikan Expressway in Tokyo. It is because the soil of the bay area in Tokyo is softer than that of this construction site. The measures for safety was better than I expected. The fences for preventing people from falling down were installed. In comparison with the Japanese construction site, there are very few sign for inform someone of the danger. However, in comparison with the site in Vietnam, I could feel relax because of the measures for safety. Figure6 is the picture of the tunnel which is made by the TBM method. This is the method that tunnel boring machine excavates ground first, after that, the concrete members are assembled, and concrete rings are made. Because this concrete members are made in the factory, the quality of the members were excellent. And the accuracy of the tunnel was also good. Each member was bond to the soil by the ground anchor. They have the parts the shape of which is like a key in its edge and each member was bonded by these parts. Though the site tours, I was impressed to the quality of the viaducts and tunnels especially precast members. And I amazed at the hugeness of the station. In Japan I felt there are few big stations. It is because of the space for construction. I was happy to experience of the hugeness of the Indian infrastructures.