Two Tokyo Tech students in the fourth cohort of the Tokyo Tech-MIT Student Exchange Program, a program based on an agreement between Tokyo Tech's School of Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, School of Environment and Society and Engineering, and the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have successfully completed their four-month study abroad program. A study abroad briefing was held to share the MIT experiences on February 2.
This program is the fruit of the school-level agreement that was renewed in February 2017 by MIT's Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES) and Tokyo Tech's Institute of Innovative Research (IIR). Exchanges were suspended in 2020 due to the effects of COVID-19, but resumed again in academic year 2021. Two students from Tokyo Tech — 4th-year Mechanical Engineering student Shoko Memida and 4th-year Chemical Science and Engineering student Ivana Tanzil — joined the program in academic year 2022.
Tanzil (left) and Memida (right) with Tokyo Tech EVP Imura
After returning to Japan, Memida and Tanzil shared their thoughts on their activities at a study abroad debriefing with Tokyo Tech Executive Vice President for Education Jun-ichi Imura.
In addition to four hours of class per week per subject, MIT students approach their assignments and preparatory reading, which take an average of more than seven hours, with great intellectual curiosity, actively asking questions and working hard. I was very inspired by this attitude, but I felt intimidated at first. However, with the support of my classmates and MIT faculty, I soon became an active participant.
The MIT campus is located near museums and science museums, and there are many places in the center of Boston where you can enjoy the history of the United States. You can visit museums for free with a student pass or listen to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The whole city of Boston has a supportive atmosphere for students, so I think you will have a more fulfilling experience if you get out and follow your natural curiosity.
This was my first time studying abroad, and I was worried that I would not fit in immediately. However, now I have great memories of my life in the U.S. I am very grateful for the opportunity to study abroad. The broadened perspective I achieved through my fruitful experience in the MIT program is something I could never have gained if I had stayed in Japan, so I would definitely encourage Tokyo Tech students to participate in this program.
Both students also benefited from their time in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), during which they excelled at MIT.
First cohort participant from MIT now Tokyo Tech student
Eva Lisowski, who came to Tokyo Tech in 2019 as part of the first cohort of the Tokyo Tech-MIT Student Exchange Program, has been enrolled in Tokyo Tech's Graduate Major in Nuclear Engineering since April 2022 as an embassy-recommended government-sponsored international student. During the visit of Professor Richard Lester, associate provost of MIT, to Tokyo Tech on January 27, Eva reported on the attractive student exchange between MIT and Tokyo Tech, and the MIT delegation affirmed Tokyo Tech's position as an equal partner.
(from left) MIT Assoc. Provost Lester, Lisowski, IIR Profs. Yukitaka Kato and Hiroshi Sagara (Lisowski's supervisor)
