REPORT

Experience Learning 体験学習

We provide students with various activities and occasions to experience a global business and to think of a global career under the "Experience-Based Learning".

For example, the students learn about foreign aerospace companies, become familiar with the breadth of operations necessary to run an aerospace company and gain experience by working in a cross-cultural environment at the “International Aviation System Project-Based-Learning (PBL)” course, which is provided by the Boeing and opens to students of any year and major. And at the "Aeronautics Innovation Course", which is opened mainly for the undergraduates for the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department, speakers include specialists of aerodynamics, structure and aeroelastic engineering from the University, JAXA and heavy industries and talk about the different phase of research and development of the three domain from their perspective. At this course, students also experience the experiment of JAXA's air tunnel. In addition to these fixed courses, at the requests from students, we plan domestic and foreign company visits and provide students with chances to learn industries, which can not be given at classroom.

体験学習では、グローバルなビジネスを体感し、そうしたキャリアを現実に考えるキッカケとなるような経験を学生達に提供します。
例えば、工学部の共通科目「創造的ものづくりプロジェクト」の一つのゼミ「航空システム国際PBL」で学生達は、ボーイングエクスターンシップ生として、ボーイング社の各部署の紹介や航空の諸問題について英語で説明を受け、英語で新しい解決策を提案すること求められます。また、航空工学専攻学部生を対象とした「航空技術イノベーション」の授業では、航空工学の３分野（空気力学・構造工学・空力弾性学）それぞれについて、大学での基礎研究、研究所での研究、メーカーでの実機開発の状況をそれぞれの専門家から紹介していただき、新しい技術の研究から開発までの一連のプロセスを俯瞰し学ぶ機会が与えられます。その他、学生達が主体となって国内外の企業訪問を企画し、教室では聞けない生なビジネスを体験する機会をサポートしています
東京大学総括プロジェクト機構航空イノベーション総括寄付講座
特任助教　中村裕子

Activities Reportactivities "Explain Learning" Report

  • October 01, 2018

    Boeing Summer Seminar 2018

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    Boeing Externship Program 2018 Contest on the theme of "New Technologies and Business Proposals for Boeing" was held at Tohoku University on Friday, September 21, 2018. The team of university of Tokyo won the championship.

    The Boeing Company has been providing Boeing Externship Program to Japanese universities including the lecture at the forefront of aircraft industry since 2012. Currently, the 7 universities (the University of Tokyo, Hokkaido University, Tohoku University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagoya University, Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Kyushu University) are participating in this program and contest.
    At the University of Tokyo, “Project Based Learning of the international aviation system” ( in charge: Shinji Suzuki Professor, Hiroko Nakamura associate Professor) is held under the subject of “Creative Monozukuri Project" at the Faculty of Engineering and “Creativity Engineering Project” at the for Graduate School of Engineering.
    The regular lecture was held at the office of the Boeing Company jointly with the other 5 universities via communication in English.

    The Employee of Boeing Company in America or in Japan lectured not only the technology of aircraft but also "the history of Boeing and the philosophy of Boeing company", "Brand strategy of the company", "Future of the aircraft industry", and "Efforts for the environment problem". It was wonderful lectures that we can catch aircraft industry diversely. After the lectures in the summer semester, the members of the participating universities prepared for business contest that proposes new aeronautical business freely with sharp observation eyes.

    Many creative and inventive solutions were proposed in this contest.
    Hokkaido University presented "Proposal of development of new software by using RISC-V", Tohoku University did "Proposal of air taxi which examined profitability", Nagoya University did "Proposal of new air travel with windowless airplane equipped with a thin display to provide entertainment", Kanazawa Institute of Technology did “Proposal of electric landing gear to reduce CO2 , and Kyushu University did “Proposal a creative ingenuity solution "optimizing passenger guidance to reduce the boarding time.

    UTokyo Team researched eVTOL. The team was divided into two teams because of the number of members. We focused on so called “flying cars” which gets into a hot topic in the world recently. We made a proposal on "Social Implementation of eVTOL in Japan". We questioned the eVTOL industry in Japan which is late for the world as the public and private council about flying cars in japan was held recently. We also investigated the demand on eVTOL in Japan where public transportation has developed. We proposed a business model for eVTOL that can be implemented within five years in Japan, and a business model in the future for focusing on the lack of local transportation in Japan. Until the proposal, We repeated discussions in the team in order to consider many factors such as law, aircraft design, technology, business, and world trends.

    As a result, UTokyo Team got the evaluation from the president of Boeing Japan that we considered feasibility of the proposal in detail, and the proposal of the University of Tokyo was chosen to win the championship.

    Written by Daisuke Fujiwara (3rd Grade)

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  • September 30, 2017

    2017 US Aviation Tour:Overview

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    During the 5 days from September 25 to 29 of 2017, the American aviation tour was held with 17 students. The purpose of this tour was to encourage students to do something challenging abroad, hosted by the University of Tokyo’s Center for Aviation Innovation Research. In this time, we visited a aircraft manufacturer, a composite manufacturer, a university, and an administrative agency. We aimed to understand the overall picture of the airline industry by visiting players in different fields of the airline industry. We would like to summarize what we thought and felt through this tour. For an overview of the first two days, we visited Consulate General of Japan in Seattle, University of Washington, Toray Composite Materials America and the Museum of Flight.
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    The Center for Aviation Innovation Research in Tokyo University Organized the American Aviation Tour in which students with passion for aircrafts gathered under the project of "Student's Voluntary Participation and Planning". This year, 17 students of various majors and grades gathered in the United States in the 5-day program from September 25 to 29, 2017.
    There were also many students who were traveling overseas for the first time, as well as students booking their hotels and flights for the first time. In the end, we had discussions with local employees in English and gained valuable experiences which we can’t obtain in our usual university life. We would like to report the experiences we had over the 5 days.
    The main schedule is as follows:
    Sept. 25 p.m. : University of Washington
    Sept. 26 a.m.：Toray Composite Materials America
    Sept. 26 p.m.：Museum of Flight
    Sept. 27 : Boeing Everett Factory
    Sept. 28 : Grant County International Airport
    Sept. 29：Japan Business Association of Seattle

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  • September 29, 2017

    2017 US Aviation Tour:Day5

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    *Visiting Japan Business Association of Seattle*
    The fifth day was finally the US aviation tour. One of the factors associated with the development of the aviation industry in Seattle is the abundance of forest resources. On the way back to Seattle from Moses Lake, we visited Snoqualmie and felt that the climate was suitable for timber production. Initially, the material of the aircraft was wood. As a result, Seattle was selected as the base for Boeing's aircraft production, leading to the bustle of the current aviation industry. The climate of Washington State is mild all year round due to the influence of the Alaska Current which is a warm current, and precipitation is stable except in summer. Therefore, it is suitable for growing forests, which lead to huge forest parks spreading in Washington State. In addition, steam locomotives were produced in the past as well as aircrafts. Thus, Washington State is the city where the vehicle production has been active for a long time.
    We visited Railroad Community Park. Here we could experience the history of the former steam locomotive production. There was Snoqualmie Central Log, which was a specimen of a big tree over 200 years old. And from the car, we were able to see the steam locomotives that had been used once. Then we visited Snoqualmie Falls. It was a scene of a rich amount of water which was dispensable for the growth of the forest. We were healed by the sound of the waterfalls and magnificent scenery. In Seattle, the nature is close to the city and people can refresh easily also has a positive influence.
    Going to Seattle, a social gathering was held with the Japanese workers in Seattle. Not only aircraft makers and heavy industries companies, but also companies that handled interior decorations and the Consulate General of Japan got together and we could interact with people supporting the aircraft industry from various fields. We heard various questions and many opinions from every position. We could come in touch with something that we could not know easily about the aviation industry. Furthermore, new exchanges were born, and this was an invaluable opportunity for us students.
    ******
    After completing all of the tour, we were fascinated by the enthusiasm people had working in the aircraft industry and the magnificence of the aircraft industry in America. Making use of the valuable experiences we gained, we would like to contribute to the development of the aircraft industry in Japan.

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  • September 28, 2017

    2017 US Aviation Tour:Day4

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    *Visiting Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake*
    This time we visited the site of MRJ's flight test, which Mitsubishi Aircraft is developing for the first time. The flight tests was taking place at a small airfield remote from the city. As soon as we arrived at the chaotic airport where large and small airplanes continuously do takeoffs, they took us to the sideway near the runway. We still remember the beauty and tranquility of MRJ that we saw for the first time descending there. After returning to the airport terminal, we heard from the Japanese engineer who worked on the MRJ about their passion for it, and felt the MRJ hold parts of their souls. We understood the significances of MRJ, which transforms from structural component manufacturing to railroad works and contributes to sophistication of domestic industries, and also its logic to challenge with regional jets outside of Boeing and Airbus. On the other hand, we felt the size of Japanese’s blank period of 50 years. After the explanation and presentation from Tokyo University students, we visited the hanger, all the four aircrafts were parked. We were satisfied with the MRJ’s near completion.

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  • September 27, 2017

    2017 US Aviation Tour:Day3

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    *Visiting Boeing's Everett factory*
    On September 27th we visited Boeing’s Everette factory which was about 40 minutes from Seattle. We first gathered at the Harbour Pointe Technical Center and watched a video about new studies done by Boeing. It was about the reduction of noise, which involves cooperation with airlines such as ANA. After that we visited Everett factory. The factory is 500m long running North to South, 1000m long running East to West, and 115 feet tall, holding the Guinness World Record as the largest building for its volume. Looking at the factory from both inside and outside was magnificent. We saw three assembly lines and 3 to 5 airplanes were being created on each line. Observing the most popular and familiar airplanes in the world, which are the747, 777, and 787, we thought they were really impressing. The guide told us about the details of the assembling process. It was interesting that when they connect the upper part and the lower part of the fuselage, they rotate it upside down. We understood that Boeing is pursuing faster and more efficient ways to improve the line. In order to realize this aim, they introduced automatic assembly machines in a few sections, such as the wings. However, not only these hardwares but also human ideas are also important to raise the efficiency, for example, such as setting parts and tools to certain positions so that the employees can easily notice what to do next. The fact that even the leading company in the world is making such a steady effort was quite amazing for us. We were also surprised that some engines (maybe new ones) were left outside the factory, wrapped by a thin cover. Engines are definitely the heart of an airplane so, we thought they would be more securely placed. Maybe this is also a result of pursuing high efficiency inside the factory.
    After the observation, we went back to the technical center and had lunch. In the afternoon we had a presentation and discussion with the engineers from Boeing. Each side made a presentation, and the themes were about the use of AR in aircrafts, supersonic transportation, AC&I in initially design questions, flight control systems and more. Every presentation was interesting and we had an instructive time. We were impressed by the knowledge and passion of the engineers, and we are sure that this great opportunity will encourage us to study much harder at the university.

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