On Monday, January 22, 2024, 9 students from Undip’s Environmental Engineering Department were selected to take part in a student exchange to Japan through the Sakura Science Exchange Program 2024. In this program, students consisting of 6 undergraduate students and 3 master’s students had the opportunity to learn from each other and exchange cultures along with students and researchers at Toyohashi University of Technology from January 21 – 29, 2024.
This student exchange is the result of a collaboration between Toyohashi University of Technology and Diponegoro University, which has been running for several years. Ir. Pertiwi Andarani, S.T., M.T., M.Eng., Ph.D., IPP, a lecturer from the Undip’s Environmental Engineering Department, is grateful for the trust given by the Toyohashi University of Technology to the Undip’s Environmental Engineering Department so that they can send their students back to Japan. “Alhamdulillah, from Toyohashi University of Technology, we have been given confidence again. Incidentally, the laboratory is related to Environmental Engineering, so the participants are all from the Environmental Engineering Department,” she said.
Pertiwi added that the students’ activities in Japan will primarily focus on joint research and field visits. For 8 days, they will discuss and research together in the environmental laboratory of Toyohashi University of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Takanobu Inoue. “The activities there are essentially problem-solving. So we brainstorm with each other, for example, in Indonesia or Japan, what environmental problems there are. There will be lots of discussions, as well as field trips.”
Sabriansah Arya Pramuditia, one of the participants in this program, admitted that he was happy to be able to take part in a student exchange to Japan. He hopes to bring helpful knowledge when he returns from Japan. “For me, it is certainly not an ordinary experience to be able to take part in this program. I never thought that from participating in research, I would be able to meet the students directly, visit there, and learn what was there that I might be able to apply at Undip,” said Brian.
Pertiwi hopes that in the future, the collaboration between Undip and the Toyohashi University of Technology can continue, and its scope can be expanded so as to provide more significant benefits for the Undip academic community. “This year, the MoU will expire. While the focus is still on student exchanges, there have yet to be staff exchanges or credit transfers. “We hope that for the master’s program, there can be a double degree program or twinning program,” he said.
Source: Faculty of Engineering Undip
