Last winter, Tokyo Tech, KAIST and Tsinghua University jointly held an Online Winter Camp, which will be held again this winter.

In November this year, Nanyang Technological University [NTU] (Singapore) has joined as a partner university, making it a joint program of four universities.

The Online Winter Camp is the first program to be planned and implemented by the four universities.

In addition, a special lecture on the team project topic "ART in the era of new coronas, a new contribution of science and technology" will be given by faculty members of the four universities.

There will also be special lectures by teachers from the four universities and student exchange activities.

If you are interested in team projects with students from abroad and student exchange, please join us!

T²KN CAMPUS Asia Plus Online Winter Camp

Poster / Leaflet

Program Dates: Monday 17 - Wednesday 19 January 2022

Participation fee: Free of charge

Application Deadline: Sunday, 19 December 2021 (Extended)

How to apply: Please register your participation at the following website

　　　　　　 https://onl.tw/eBmJaBa　

Number of applicants: Five (5) students

Eligibility: 2nd - 4th year undergraduate students and 1st year master's students from any nationality.

　*Please contact us if you have any difficulties in participating due to your classes during the period. We will do our best to accommodate you.

-Students will receive a Certificate of Completion signed by all four universities.

-Tokyo Tech students can earn one credit for the international awareness course CSES (Communicating Science and Engineering in Society).

-Prize will be given to the top team.

　 Report of last year's event (in Japanese): http://www.ipo.titech.ac.jp/campusasia/japanese/news/2021/#news2143

　Report of last year's event (English) http://www.ipo.titech.ac.jp/campusasia/news/2021/#news2144

From January 18 to 20, 2021, TKT CAMPUS Asia Winter Camp was offered jointly by Tsinghua University, KAIST, and Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) to provide students from the three universities with opportunities to experience international collaborations online.

The three-day intensive winter camp consisted of team projects, team presentations, special lectures, virtual campus tour of Tokyo Tech, and cultural activities. Through this TKT CAMPUS Asia online winter camp, students met new friends from the three nations and worked together as teams, thereby gaining an opportunity to expand their networks both professionally and personally.

In the opening ceremony, 18 participating students, the three project leaders Prof. LI Meng (Tsinghua University), Prof. KIM Shin-Hyun (KAIST), and Prof. HARA Masahiko (Tokyo Tech), facilitator, mentors, advisors, and staff from three universities all met together online. Beginning the program was a self-introduction session by the 18 participants, which also served as an ice-break. First, students were sent to breakout rooms of two members to get to get to know each other and find something in common. After students becoming more relaxed as they talk in small groups, everyone came back to the main room to give a self-introduction and shared things in common with the next student such as "we both like swimming" or "we both love music".

Self-Introduction

The very special part of this camp is team project. Students work together in teams under the topic of the SDGs and propose both a project and a plan for a crowdfunding campaign to fund it. To enhance a deeper understanding of the ways in which science and engineering can contribute to the solving of current social issues, special lectures were delivered by three selected faculty members from Tsinghua University, KAIST, and Tokyo Tech. Also, two introductory lectures were given for students to gain a understand about the team project and crowdfunding.

Introductory Lecture 1: Introduction to CSES

The very first introductory lecture was given by Ms. YANAGIHARA. Students learned what they would be working on in the winter camp and the general ideas of the SDGs. Then, students were divided into three teams comprising members from Tsinghua, KAIST, and Tokyo Tech. Selecting more than one of the 17 SDG goals, each team will work together to generate ideas for how science and technology can help solve a social issue related to their selected SDGs.

Introductory Lecture: Introduction to CSES

Introductory Lecture 2: Introduction to Crowdfunding

The second introductory lecture was brought by Ms. SAITO, a curator at READYFOR, the first and one of the biggest crowdfunding service platform in Japan. The lecture was designed to provide a basic understanding of what crowdfunding is while highlighting the essentials for a successful campaign. Students gained a better understanding of how crowdfunding works, learn how to prepare for a successful project, and understand how to promote the project, including how much money to seek.

Introductory Lecture:Introduction to Crowdfunding

Special Lecture 1：
"Development and Environment"
Prof. ZHU Junming (Tsinghua University)

Dr. ZHU delivered a special lecture on the relation between development and environment. He firstly shared that in today's world we need both development and environmental conservation protection, and the importance of coordinating these two types of policy goals.

Then he explained briefly about the statistics, theory, and the scholarly thoughts behind it with some specific examples. Through his lecture, students gained a better view on the relationship between the two goals of social and economic development.

Special Lecture 1 by Prof. ZHU (Tsinghua University)

Special Lecture 2：
" Membrane technology for sustainable water management "
Prof. BAE Tae-Hyun (KAIST)

Dr. BAE gave a talk about sustainable water management using a membrane technology. First, he started with the general facts about the water that although water covers about 70 percent of the Earth, the amount of fresh water is only 3 percent, and 77 percent of that is frozen. That is why sustainable water management is very critical for us to survive. Then he shared some water management technologies and what was unique about the membrane technology. Students obtained a better understanding how the membrane technology has been widely used and can contribute to resolving this very critical issue. Moreover, students learned that water saving is the most important and effective strategy in water management.

Special Lecture 2 by Prof. BAE (KAIST)

Special Lecture 3：
" How artificial intelligence and robotics change the way of our research?"
Prof. HITOSUGI Taro (Tokyo Tech)

Dr. HITOSUGI's special lecture was about how the AI and robots would change the present way of research. He delivered his lecture as he asked students questions such as "Are you supported by AI and robots in your daily life?" "What is the strength of human?" to activate the discussions. Students learned that advanced AI/Robots are not a technique to decrease work but they are tools to deepen the research, find materials beyond researcher's imagination, and make researchers more creative.

Special Lecture 3 by Prof. HITOSUGI (Tokyo Tech)

Cultural Activities "Origami Making Class" "[DIY] Mini Bibimbap Making Class"

Along with the lectures and team project, there were cultural activities and a virtual campus tour of Tokyo Tech. For the cultural experience, the students tried their hands at making shuriken with origami (Japan) and mini bibimbap (Korea). The necessary materials were sent to the participating students in advance as a welcome kit, and students worked in teams, with the KAIST students acting as mini bibimbap making teachers and the Tokyo Tech students acting as origami making teachers. In online programs, it is difficult to have free time to eat lunch together or chat with members. By engaging in cultural activities apart from projects and lectures, they were able to be taught and learn detailed work through the screen even though the participating students were not in the same space. It was a valuable time for them to deepen their friendship as they worked together, sometimes chatting with each other.Japanese Cultural Activity: Origami Making Class

Japanese Cultural Activity: Origami Making Class

Korean Cultural Activity: [DIY] Mini Bibimbap Making Class

Virtual Campus Tour of Tokyo Tech

During the lunch hour on the second day, a virtual campus tour of Tokyo Tech was conducted by participating students from Tokyo Tech. The original plan was for Tokyo Tech students to go around the campus and give a live broadcast. However, due to the declaration of an emergency by COVID-19, they could not come to the campus, so the participating students gave a live tour along with the video footage taken by the CAMPUS Asia staff. After entering the main gate from Ookayama station, then passed by Taki Plaza and headed for the library. They walked around the wood deck, Fujimizaka, the main building, and the cafeteria. The cherry blossoms and gingko trees on the wooden deck, which cannot be seen in the winter, were introduced with seasonal photos, giving KAIST and Tsinghua University students a glimpse of the campus in spring.

Virtual Campus Tour of Tokyo Tech by Tokyo Tech Students

Team Project and Team Project Presentations

The 18 participating students were divided into teams and were asked to choose a topic to work on from among the 17 SDGs, and present the problem, solution, and 5-year roadmap. In addition, they had to propose both a project and a plan for a crowdfunding campaign to fund it. The mixed team of students from the three universities selected the SDGs to work on, decided on a team name, devised solutions, calculated funds, publicized the project, and devised returns for supporters, all online, in preparation for the presentation on the last day of the camp. Each team was assigned a Campus Asia faculty member as a mentor, who enthusiastically supported the team when they were unsure of their direction and further improved the quality of the team's project. Six hours of group work were available during the three days. All the participating students completed the program and the Winter Camp came to an end. The final group photo taken by all the students was full of smiles.

Team Project Presentation

Award Ceremony

Group Photo (Posing with the "C" of CAMPUS Asia)

Voices from participating students

- I think everything was good about the camp. Especially, I liked "Team Project". Thanks to the project, I could talk with students from KAIST and THU. It was what I really wanted to do.

- The lectures were impressive, and we learned a lot from the team project. Cooperation with the team was also very good, despite us being separated.

- Informative lectures given by professor from different fields; and talented students from different cultures and universities. I've broaden my academic perspectives enormously and inspired a lot by the interdisciplinary thinking. Also, I've cooperated with all kinds of outstanding young people. It is amazing that they can still propose the most creative and impressive ideas even if under huge pressure and in such a short time. I've learnt a lot from these prodigies.

- In fact, I liked every part of the Winter Camp, especially the well-designed special lectures and culture activities.

- Despite being done online, all of the team projects went smoothly without any critical issues. I loved the cultural activity sessions because it provided us the chance to break the ice and get to know each other a bit better. Doing the cultural activities helped us to become more close and friendly. Special lecture inspired me and broaden my horizons a lot.

- Project targeting SDGs give me the first chance to finish a project plan with teammates, helping me understand humanity and technology in another perspective. Also, I really met great teammates and mentors.

All 18 students successfully completed the program

All 18 students successfully completed the program

Project Leaders of TKT CAMPUS Asia Consortium