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| August 30, 2001 |
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| Practice School Program Conducted |
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| Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation |
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Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Kanji
Shono) had held a Practice School Program to provide practical chemical engineering
training in an industrial environment, and final presentation by participating
students was made today at the industrial sites. This year, Mitsubishi Chemical
(MCC) held the program (MIT-PS), offered by the David H. Koch School of Chemical
Engineering Practice at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), at Mizushima
with MIT and Kyoto University. And MCC held an another Practical School Program
with Tokyo University at Yokohama. MCC has conducted MIT-PS since 1997, and it
is considered to be one of the model cases of how the industry and school can
cooperate. The Practice School that was held this time and its participants are
as follows:
- Science & Technology Research Center, Mizushima (Mizushima Plant): 8 students
from MIT and 4 from Kyoto University
- Science & Technology Research Center, Yokohama: 6 students from Tokyo
Univers
(graduate school students)
1. Concerning Practice School
The Chemical Engineering Practice School is part of the graduate program in Chemical
Engineering at MIT. It is a cooperative education system between the industries
and schools to aim at higher educational effects for participating students by
not only studying theories and principles in the classroom but experiencing the
application of what they have learned in solving the issues facing companies.
At MIT, students who have selected this practical training in an industrial environment
will experience actual training at the Practice School for three to four months
instead of submitting the usual thesis for a master's degree. If they pass a severe
standard together with class work, they will be given a master's degree. Therefore,
unlike a usual short-term internship which is similar to company tours, students
are required to solve the issues in a short period of time in a concentrated way.
This Practice School system of MIT was started in 1916, and it has a history of
over 80 years. In recent years, such renowned US chemical companies as Dow Chemical,
Merck, and GE Plastics have been selected as stations for the Practice School,
and only Mitsubishi Chemical has been selected as a station in Japan.
2. History of Practice School at Mitsubishi Chemical
Today, with the increasing globalization of the world's chemical industry, MIT
has recognized that it is very useful in education to conduct the Practice School
at overseas companies. Since Mitsubishi Chemical had deepened its reliable relationship
with MIT through research that the company asked MIT to undertake and also since
the company is Japan's biggest comprehensive chemical company with wide-ranging
technologies such as process development, modeling, and optimization and conducts
the most advanced technology development, it was selected as the first overseas
station for the Practical School in 1997. Since then, the company has successfully
conducted the school at its Mizushima Plant.
The company also had aggressively appealed to Japan's universities to participate
and, as a result, Tokyo University joined MIT in Practice School in 1999 and Kyoto
University joined this year. In addition, this year, the company conducted a Practice
School like program solely for Tokyo University at its Science & Technology
Research Center in Yokohama in addition .
For Mitsubishi Chemical, this Practice School is very meaningful as it provides
direct effects of cooperation between brilliant and diligent students and Mitsubishi's
engineers in studying issues that the company actually faces with. In addition,
the school also provides particularly young engineers with indirect effects of
mastering the most up-to-date technology (methods), understanding the difference
of approaches between the groups with difference background, promoting mutual
studying, and creating networking with outside persons.
3. Practice School activity at Mitsubishi Chemical this year
This year's Practice School has been conducted at the Science & Technology
Research Center in the Mizushima Plant for MIT and Kyoto University students and
at the Science & Technology Research Center in Yokohama for Tokyo University
students.
[Mizushima Plant]
Profile of Practice School instructors
T. Alan Hatton:
Professor, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Professor responsible for MIT Practice
School since 1989, Graduated from Wisconsin Univ. (Ph. D), Specializes in separation
processes and surfactant chemistry.
William H. Dalzell:
Lecturer, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Station Director of the MIT Practice
School at Mizushima Plant, Graduated from MIT (Ph. D)
Brian M. Baynes:
In doctoral course at Dept. of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Assistant Station Director
of the MIT Practice School, Majors in bioengineering and bio information engineering.
Iori Hashimoto:
Professor, Dept. of Chemical Engineering of Kyoto University, Professor responsible
for Kyoto Univ. Practice School, Doctor of Engineering, Specializes in process
system engineering.
Shinji Hasebe:
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Chemical Engineering of Kyoto University, Assistant
professor responsible for Kyoto Univ. Practice School, Graduated from Kyoto Univ.,
Doctor of Engineering, Specializes in process system engineering.
Manabu Kano:
Assistant, Dept. of Chemical Engineering of Kyoto Univ., Instructor responsible
for students of Kyoto Univ., Graduated from Kyoto Univ., Doctor of Engineering,
Specializes in process control and analysis of process data.
Schedule of Practice School
June 15: Instructors arrived in Japan (two)
July 2: Students arrived in Japan (eight students)
Mon., July 9 - Fri., Aug. 3
First half project: 2 students/team x 4 projects
Mon., July 9: Project presentation (by MCC)
Thurs., July 12: Proposal conference (by students)
Wed., July 23: Progress report (by students)
Thurs., Aug. 2: Final presentation (by students)
Thurs., Aug. 2:Students of Dept. of Chem. Eng., Kyoto
Univ. joined
Fri., Aug. 3: Submission of final reports
Aug. 6 - 31: Latter half project:
Aug. 6 - 31:MIT 2 + Kyoto Univ. 1 students/team x
4 projects
Mon., Aug. 6: project presentation (by MCC)
Fri., Aug. 10: Proposal conference (by students)
Mon., Aug. 20: Progress report (by students)
Thurs., Aug. 30: Final presentation (by students)
Fri., Aug. 31: Submission of final reports
Sat., Sept. 1: Leave Japan
[Yokohama region]
Profile of Practice School instructors
Yukio Yamaguchi:
Professor of Chemical Systems Engineering of Tokyo University Graduate School,
Graduated from Kyoto Univ. (Ph. D), Specializes in chemical engineering and imbalanced
thermodynamics.
Takeo Yamaguchi:
Lecturer of Chemical Systems Engineering of Tokyo Univ. Graduate School, Graduated
from Tokyo Univ. (Doctor of Engineering), Specializes in membrane engineering
such as separation membrane.
Shinya Maenosono:
Assistant of Chemical Systems Engineering of Tokyo Univ. Graduate School, Graduated
from Tokyo Univ., Majored in machinery engineering.
Schedule of Practice School
Mon., July 23: Orientation, project presentation (by MCC)
Thurs., July 26: Proposal conference (by students)
Fri., Aug. 10: Progress report (by students)
Thurs., Aug. 30: Final presentation (by students)
Fri., Aug. 31: Submission of final reports
4. History of receiving students for Practice School at MCC
| 1997: |
7 MIT students and two instructors (6 themes) |
| 1998: |
8 MIT students and two instructors (8 themes) |
| 1999: |
10 MIT students and two instructors plus 5 Tokyo
Univ. students and one instructor (9 themes) |
| 2000: |
8 MIT students and two instructors (8 themes) |
| 2001: |
Science & Technology Research Center in Mizushima
8 MIT students and two instructors plus 4 Kyoto Univ. students and one instructor
(8 themes)
Science & Technology Research Center in Yokohama
6 Tokyo Univ. students and two instructors (3 themes) |
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- Students are all graduate school students.
- Station from 1997 to 2000 was in Mizushima.
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| For further information, please contact |
| Public Relations Dept., |
| Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation |
| Tel: [+81] 3-3283-6274 |
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