The Centre quarterly newsletter, December 2024 issue, is out!
In this issue:
Call for…
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"For the last 6 months we've had the pleasure to host our Vulcanus student Ayaka Ohashi at our company. Due to her study background in Nuclear Engineering she did not need much time to work herself into the details of our remote handling solutions for the Nuclear Industry.
Ayaka's main focus was to support and independently work on projects related to the emerging field of Nuclear Fusion, mainly for the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project which is one of the biggest and most international infrastructure projects in world history. The work on her projects brought her together with customers from France, Spain and Japan. In addition to her work on the ITER projects Ayaka introduced Machine Learning concepts to our staff and has facilitated the process of possible integration of machine learning applications into our products.
It was the first time for our company participating in the Vulcanus program and it was an absolutely positive experience for us. We thank Ayaka for her contributions, her hard work and valuable input during her internship at our company and wish her all the best for her future endeavors."
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Takuma Sato, Tohoku University - Graduate School (major: physics)
Vulcanus in Europe participant (April 2019 - March 2020)
Host country: Germany
Host company: nextnano GmbH
Testimonial in video à link to the following YouTube video which Takuma made by himself
Vulcanus in Europe 2019 experience (German/English) - YouTube
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Ronald Reuter Manager Raw Materials and Chemical Laboratory - R&D / TMD Friction Services GmbH (Germany), www.tmdfriction.com |
We were hosting Ayano Michibata in our department from August 2018 until March 2019. It was already the second time for us to host Japanese students from the Vulcanus programme. Ayano san has done her own research project provided made a valuable contribution for the group. Besides, we have used her skills in three languages to improve our communication with the contacts in our (Japanese) parent company. As with the previous students, we have greatly improved our understanding of the Japanese culture and we had lots of fun explaining some details of the German aspects of daily life.
For 2019, we have already accepted another student and are looking forward to gaining new insights into the Japanese mind and more valuable contributions to our work. Thanks to all the team at Vulcanus – you’re doing a great job.
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It was delightful for Hovione R&D to have the opportunity to participate in the Vulcanus program and to host Mr. Masahiro Nakai. It was impressive to see how quickly Nakai-san got a sufficient grasp of the Portuguese language to be able to communicate with other colleagues and co-workers. The great work capacity of Mr. Nakai and his methodical approach enabled a very successful internship and, in spite of noticeable cultural differences, it was remarkable to see him quickly integrate into the team and to bring a very positive work environment. Overall, it was an absolute pleasure to have worked with Mr. Nakai.
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Andras Mate |
I am Andras Mate, Digital Architect of Mortoff IT and Consulting in Hungary, Europe. We were hosting Minami Usuda in our team from August 2016 until March 2017. The working experience and the results of Minami are fully positive and valuable for us. We learnt a lot about cultures and mindsets meanwhile we also understood better ourselves. Mina is a very smart person and a good team member, her added value provided measurable value in our projects.
It was the first time for us to be a participant in the Vulcanus program and we definitely hope that the collaboration could be broadened both on academic and on business level. Our plan is to be kept involved in the student program and to continue the projects with our international, especially with Japanese partners and customers.
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Francisco Marti |
We have hosted Vulcanus student Sari Nishimura in our team from August 2014 until the end of March 2015.
The experience having Sari with us has been really positive. We learnt a lot about the Japanese culture and can understand it a bit more now. Sari is a brilliant student and managed to improve her English and German language skills a lot. Regarding her performance here, after the obligatory period of adaptation, she began to understand our project and managed to work both correctly and efficiently.
I find the VULCANUS programme a really good tool for Japanese students to know a bit more about Europe and to have a first experience in a professional environment. Culture, behaviour, traditions, rules, etc… All this is crucial for their personal and professional development. Furthermore, this is a business world, therefore this experience will help them in the near future when they work in international companies.
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 Tetsushi Yamada Interpretation Development Engineer, Schlumberger Supervisor for Vulcanus in Europe 2014-15 |
I took part in the Vulcanus in Europe programme as a student in 2009. My internship was at Schlumberger in France, which was a great experience, both professionally and outside work. Moreover, it was the start of my career at Schlumberger. Five years later, roles were reversed and I became a supervisor myself, working with Vulcanus student Michihisa at the same company. He made me realise that I was a bit older than five years ago (!) and was becoming a senior in the company. It was a great experience to work with ‘Michi’ and I very much appreciated his work. Now I can really tell how beneficial the Vulcanus programme is both for students and the companies. Also, I was very happy to watch him learn about the cultural differences through communicating with the team with his open-minded personality. I hope that this programme will continue, as I believe it is contributing to the better relationship between the EU countries and Japan in the long run.
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ZF - FRIEDRICHSHAFEN Nithin Sreeprakash |
"ZF Friedrichshafen AG has been hosting VULCANUS students for a couple of years now. 2013, however, was the first time I personally had the opportunity to supervise a VULCANUS student. My colleagues and I were very pleased with the sincerity and hard work put in by the student during the internship, as well as the skill level of the student. His efforts formed a significant contribution to our internal project.
The programme with its 1 year schedule, including the 8-month internship, gives the student the time to understand the tasks at hand, and us –as a host company- the time to guide them and broaden their technical expertise in order to help them achieve their targets. The student also gains rich experience with a European company.
In today’s global economy, this programme provides the students with valuable experience in an international company and adds to the cultural diversity in the workforce of the host company. We are definitely looking forward to our next VULCANUS interns!"
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 Hájek Tomáš IDIADA CZ (Czech Republic) Vulcanus host company 2013 |
"IDIADA CZ" really appreciates participating in the Vulcanus Programme. Because of the good organisation of the programme and excellent communication, all our expectations were fulfilled. Hiroshi (our Japanese trainee) participated in an internal research project. We used his open minded attitude to work on creating a new methodology for the simulation of clips on plastic parts. Of course it was interesting for our team to work with a colleague from a different culture. It was a new experience for us and we are confident that it was also interesting for him to experience our culture. As we are company with Japanese customers, we definitely see Hiroshi as a potential future employee in case he decides to join us."
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"Vulcanus is a win-win program for both the Japanese student and the European host company. It is very well prepared and structured, so has important impacts for both: the student gets valuable hands-on experience in a real business environment and the company gains a deeper understanding of the Japanese way of working. The eight-month period of work is long enough to deliver practical results. Personally; I would recommend applying for the Vulcanus scheme if you want to improve your ability to do business with the Japanese."
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Joaquín Olcina Product Manager, Performance & Driveability, Applus IDIADA Group (Spain) Vulcanus Host Company since 2007 |
"APPLUS+IDIADA provides engineering and testing services to the worldwide automotive industry, for development projects. Thus Japanese clients are very important to us. Having a VULCANUS trainee in our department has been a very enriching experience mainly due to his technical skills, his commitment to the projects he was involved in, and also to the fact that through him the rest of the team could acquire a greater knowledge of Japanese culture."
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ITT ITALIA SRL Massimo Di Silvestro |
Getting Experience of the International Gaps through Practice
ITT Friction Technologies is one of the most important friction material suppliers for automotive in EU, and it is our goal to increase our market share worldwide. To be present in Asia where the most important car manufactories are located (Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda) is a must!
ITT first approached the Japanese market in 2002, and after several years we could confirm that our business was growing but with some difficulties.... This is mainly linked to a different way of working, a different way of thinking between Europe and Japan.
One of my tasks is to introduce the Japanese culture in our company, in order to be more successful with our Japanese customers. To have had the opportunity to participate in the Vulcanus project and to live 8 months in close contact with a Japanese, helped me to understand and transfer this philosophy better. For sure this was an unforgettable experience which I hope to be able to repeat soon.
Katsuya Ishikawa's comments (the Vulcanus trainee):
Working for 8 months with Italian people was a very beneficial experience for me. I learned many things, especially that it is very important to get experience of the international gaps through practice. For instance, the gap in mentality of working, the gap in manners to build good relationships, and so on. Through these experiences I could analyse my ability to work in a global field, and now my outlook has been remarkably broadened. For sure the Vulcanus experience has positively influenced the vision of my future career.
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INEA D.O.O. Jure Vindišar |
Our trainee was assigned a rather demanding task of setting up a demo environment for our "Smart Grid Peak leveling System". For our company it was the first time to involve a Japanese trainee in our projects. His contribution was above all our expectations, in sense of his language skills, professional background and commitment to the project tasks.
His visit coincided with when we were taking our first major steps to recognise the Japanese market potential in the field of energy management systems. His assistance here was very precious. Finally we appreciate the fact that our trainee enjoyed his stay in Slovenia also after working hours, which makes an added value and good motivation for further cooperation with him. This first experience with the Vulcanus programme make us look forward to having the opportunity to host another Vulcanus trainee in the future.
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COSYLAB Rok Sabjan |
Cosylab participated in the Vulcanus programme for the first time in 2009/10. The results have exceeded our expectations. Our trainee proved to be a very talented young man and integrated into our company as an employee. We were able to include him in our customer-related engineering projects, where he provided valuable contributions. On the basis of the results we have decided to continue our participation in the Vulcanus programme also for the next session.
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AMTC Advanced Mask Technology Center Martin Tschinkl |
"As a high-tech company we often deal with Japanese counterparts. In 2009 we took part in the Vulcanus programme for the second time. The student worked in the field of Micro Lithography and was assigned to several technical projects to improve the quality and costs of the production processes. We will definitely apply again as a host company, and I can strongly recommend participating in this programme once a detailed job and skill profile are available."
