Development of Engineering Education Program for Students before Starting Graduation Researches on Forefront Technologies

The university students from freshman to junior grades before starting their graduation studies have participated in the forefront researches conducted in the academic/scientific research laboratories in Niigata University. Since the practical research activities conducted in the laboratories must intrinsically contain the educational elements for the university students, it should be effective for the students to obtain the proper skills, abilities, attitudes, and knowledge of engineering even before the acquisition of their basic skills and knowledge of science. This education program called 'Smart Dormitory' project has been carried out as one of the novel educational reform activities. There, the students from the freshman to junior make their teams together, and studies the forefront scientific researches about the topics they freely chose. In the process, the students have been assigned the scientific presentations about the results of their on-going investigations in the international meetings, which have been held in the domestic areas or overseas. The students are well motivated to their scientific researches through the presentations when they were given the opportunities in their early stage of university life. This engineering education program is characterized as one of the leadership programs for the scientific engineering leaders in the internationalized practical industries. Actually, the averaged academic score of dormitory students has firmly raised through the planned period, which means the program stimulated the student' motivation to their academic studies.