International Internship in 2015

This is the first time that I experience working as a civil engineer. This shows me a vision of working as an engineer and also it shows the working environment and culture of working in Japan. This will, without doubt, be very helpful for me when facing with future career choices. In addition, I can see the application of knowledge learnt in book into practical use. It is a connection of my school knowledge and real world practice.

 KO, Taewhan

It was a meaningful experience for me. I am not saying that there weren't any problems. There were some issues that made the process inefficient and elongated an one week content into two weeks. Even so, what is more important is whether I learnt anything from it or not. The answer to that question is obviously 'yes'. I have actually observed what I am studying only in books.   Also, I was able to feel the work environment of a Japanese company very personally.

The international internship I had in September was a good experience for me. It allows me to understand the application of the knowledge I learned in the   university in real construction work. I also learned the working environment of civil engineer in Japanese construction company. Even though I have some language problem during the internship because I cannot understand   complicated Japanese terms, the construction site staffs always trying   explain it to me using simple terms. I am thankful to the construction staff because even while they are busy with their works the still spare some time to communicate with me.

It was a worth two weeks of internship program in Hydro-soft Technology Institute Co., Ltd. I learned a program called FLIP (Finite Element Analysis   Program for Liquefaction Process) to estimate deformation of the structure and liquefaction due to earthquake. During ten days of internship, I can see a lot of the application of what I have studied during the lectures. Understanding how the FLIP Program works is like reviewing concepts that I have learned in   the university.I also learned directly from the company's personnel about the Japanese working culture (e.g. how they spend their working time, communicate with each other, how they welcome the guests, etc.), and for me, it was great!

This internship gave valuable experiences for me, especially to feel the atmosphere of working in Japanese company. Besides we also learned many new   things related to this company's job, such as to predict the seismic analysis of water gate. I realized that the subject I learned in the class is very useful for working. That's why after this internship, I have to learn more and study harder. I am also glad because I got more chance to speak Japanese. Even though the staff are very busy, they still taking care of us. I really highly appreciated all of their kindness.

 ZHANG, Lian from China

This is an unforgettable experience in my university life. For the first time I get to know how Japanese companies look like. The atmosphere of the office is relaxing and comfortable, and staffs there are hard-working. Besides, they are all kind and patient to us, especially our supervisors, Mr. Tou and Mr. Lee. Both of them are always busy with their work, but still they managed to spare some time guiding us frequently what we should do and providing us with piles of materials both printed and pdf version.

I find out that what we learned in the university is of great importance in work. But only with the knowledge is not enough for work. We need to know the application of theoretical things and put them into practice.

I worked alongside experienced Obayashi corporation's engineers at a grand scale civil engineering construction site in Osaka. The lessons I took from   my internship experience are many. I have a better understanding of what civil engineers are tasked to do and how this impacts on society. When this   expressway will be finally opened to the public, my supervisor and I promised   to take a drive on the new infrastructure and share in the pride of having been part of such a challenging project.

I was able to gain a better insight in the field I want to work in. It became more clear how bridges are built after observing one closely for two weeks. This helped me to dispel a lot of misunderstandings I had in regards to bridges, specially when it came to which materials they use and how they organized them. They had for instance a space to store mateirals where they would separate those that they own from those they rented. The intenrnship does a very good job of familiarizing you with the environment at the company and showing how things are done in the civl field. It provides an interesting and challenging environment in which to test our skills and further improve our Japanese language skills and our social aptitude and ettiqute in Japanese society.

Overall I think the internship was a very precious and unique experience to me, while I felt like it could have been even more meaningful if I had more basic knowledge about transportation, while most of the courses about transportation starts this semester.  In addition, I experienced that even after graduation I still would have to study a lot, looking at how people are working with projects based on previous researches and studies which was a great lesson.

 ZHANG, Guoyu from China

 The staffs in CTI Company were very kind to me, sometimes I can’t get the idea immediately, and they repeated and explained to me in very detail. And I am appreciated that my superiors gave me some unique experience such as conference and local investigation. For me, the International Internship is an unfordable experience. Through the International Internship, I learned new knowledge, and experienced how a consult company concerning civil engineering works.