Voices from Students who Joined the Program
In this program, students who choose the practical study model join two phases of the long-term fieldwork. Third-year students have completed their first fieldwork and fourth-year students joined the second phase of the fieldwork after the re-learning period. The following is the voices of students who achieved significant growth just before stepping out into society.
Third-year student
Lessons learned through the team-based development
Ryo Ishibashi
(Internship destination: DreamArts Corporation)
I took part in the new development of the AI assistant "DAPA" and was engaged in a full workflow from implementation through to verification for the first time. While working on team-based development, I learned the importance of implementing with quality in mind, as well as actively communicating and sharing understanding among team members. In this program, a re-learning period is provided between the two phases of the long-term fieldwork. During this period, I would like to advance the study for obtaining certifications in the IT field and regarding programming languages.
Inspiration gained in the field fueled the drive to learn
Shuta Iwanaka
(Internship destination: CHUGOKU ELECTRIC POWER CO.,INC.)
I was entrusted with analyzing the usage log and preparing a proposal for future operation to support the utilization of generative AI in the company. At the proposal presentation to the department chief and division chief, various advices were given by staff members, such as "it is important to assertively present your proposal because there is no single correct answer for the challenge." I was keenly aware of the profoundness of the way of delivering reports and preparing materials. Through the fieldwork, I was really inspired to further learn for my own personal growth.
Keeping the decision-making criteria in mind
Hakuto Kimura
(Internship destination: Mazda Motor Corporation)
I worked on improvement of the response accuracy of the LLM (Large Language Model) for explaining technical terminology in the internal documents. I experienced the PDCA cycle for analyzing the table structure of the data source to identify the factors which cause the accuracy decrease and then design and verify the improvement measures. Through the experience, I became able to always keep the question of "what allows us to say that the improvement has been achieved" in mind. Based on this experience, I aim to become an engineer who can understand the essence of the challenge and solve it with technology.
Aiming to become a person others can rely on
Mitsuki Kyoho
(Internship destination: Enecom, Inc.)
In a department specializing in internal systems, I reviewed the operation workflow based on Excel ledgers and developed applications for stores management and inquiry response. At internal meetings for improving operations, I struggled to understand the details being discussed due to differences in background knowledge between myself and the other members. I consciously tried to explain things while carefully observing the person's reactions. In the future, I would like to actively try to obtain certifications and acquire new technologies to become a person who many people can rely on.
Translating knowledge into practice to facilitate DX Advancement
Mao Sasajima
(Internship destination: Fukuyama Transportation Co., Ltd.)
I had always been interested in the logistics industry, which deeply serves our daily lives and faces the ongoing challenge of labor shortages. In the fieldwork, I took on the challenge for development of an application for DX using no-code tools. In addition, I was engaged in the development of a system that automatizes the tasks that had been manually conducted. When writing codes, I made a point to structure them so that the other developers can easily understand. I was able to directly experience the importance of the development procedures and writing clean code that I had learned at university.
Growth both technically and as a person
Yuwa Tamura
(Internship destination: Mazda Motor Corporation)
I was involved in the improvement of an AI agent system that provides advice regarding national laws and regulations. While consulting with my supervisor, I worked to build a database of approximately 9,000 pieces of legislative information and was able to achieve reduction of the response time of the AI and the costs, as well as improvements in reproducibility of the responses. Through the experience of communicating with various people in the company while carrying out my tasks, I became truly aware of the importance of the ability to convey ideas clearly. I was able to grow not only technically but also as an individual.
Proactive mindset gained through the development process
Yota Hashiguchi
(Internship destination: FUKKEN CO.,LTD.)
Through the practical experience in the field, I learned the importance of clarifying the purpose, i.e. "why we learn." I was engaged in improvement of operation efficiency using generative AI and development of a search assistant for technical departments. Through the course of carrying out my tasks, I became able to align the goals of and criteria for the development with stakeholders and act accordingly. At the same time, there were situations where I followed instructions from an employee. So next time, I would like to take an even more proactive approach to represent my own opinion.
Interest in engineering transformed into my goal
Yasutoshi Hamabe
(Internship destination: Hitachi Solutions West Japan, Ltd.)
I was involved in system development from meetings with clients through design, implementation, and testing. Designing the system specification documents was challenging because it was required to structure each individual operation of the program one by one. However, I felt a great sense of fulfillment when I found that the program ran exactly as intended. The interest in engineering that I had initially envisioned transformed into a clear goal "to become an engineer who stands with and is trusted by the client."
Learning the importance of an attitude of standing with the person in the front Lines
Kazuma Mihara
(Internship destination: Fukuyama Plant of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
An appeal of this program lies in the opportunity for directly experiencing the challenges of applying IT technology in the actual field. In the renovation of the chatbot for internal use, I developed a new feature to enable the generative AI to appropriately refer product information to significantly improve the response accuracy. In order to promote the adoption of this feature within the company, an information session was held. I learned that not only materializing technology into an actual device but also understanding the needs of the people in the front line to improve operators' IT literacy are both indispensable to advancing DX.
Working with information in a high-pressure environment
Naoya Miyamoto
(Internship destination: Mazda Motor Corporation)
I focused on the vulnerability management work that directly leads to critical risks. I carefully examined vast amounts of information to identify what was relevant to Mazda to collect up-to-date information by also making use of overseas websites. It was challenging to promptly determine the priority among vulnerabilities to be addressed, but I feel that I was able to be engaged in my work while maintaining concentration and keeping the sense of responsibility. I truly look up to the staff members who can instantly retrieve the required information. I will continue to sharpen my sensitivity towards information and try to become a professional who can make a meaningful contribution.
Applying the skills learned at university into the field
Taira Yamawaki
(Internship destination: SATAKE CORPORATION)
At SATAKE, I could experience data analysis as a work in the practical operation. In developing an anomaly detection model for rice milling machines, I was involved from the stage of defining the criteria for "what kind of anomalies to detect," and advanced log analysis of the rice milling machines using data analysis methods I had learned at university. When reporting these results internally, I elaborated expressions that could be understood by those who are outside the development team and learned the importance of choosing the way of clear explanation according to the audience.
Fourth-year student
Growth I could feel after the second fieldwork
Koki Ito
(Internship destination: DreamArts Corporation)
I was engaged in the development of a cloud service capable of providing backup processing for 24 hours. This time, thanks to having more mental room for observing my surroundings than before, I was able to notice tasks that staff members had not yet gotten around to, that is to say, those that were "with low priority but better to be done sooner." I worked on reducing the time needed for development testing and other tasks during my idling time, which was well received by everyone. After graduating, I aim to become a well-rounded professional who has a broad range of skills spanning development, design, marketing, and more.
Proactiveness developed while accumulating experience
Yota Oki
(Internship destination: CHUGOKU ELECTRIC POWER CO.,INC.)
I was engaged in handling inquiries regarding internal tools. Having gained an understanding of Chugoku Electric Power's operations during my first fieldwork, I was able to handle the work smoothly and increasingly became entrusted with tasks on my own. The habit of "leading with the conclusion" that I developed through handling consultations from staff members has proven to be useful in various situations, including seminar presentations and my personal life. I also took on the challenge of planning an internal seminar aimed at improving operational efficiency based on the details of inquiries I had received. It became a valuable experience for me.
Improving development quality based on experience
Yuya Kuretoko
(Internship destination: Mazda Motor Corporation)
I was engaged in development of a simulated interview system using an AI agent. During the first fieldwork in the last year, I stalled my work because I tried to resolve everything on my own. So this time, I made a point of relying on those around me when appropriate and actively seeking feedback, which helped me improve the quality of my work. For the future, I hope to grow to be someone capable of implementing systems that solve the challenges of the field and clients and to create value for society.
Eight months of challenge supported by the employees
Ryota Noda
(Internship destination: HIROSHIMA BANK)
I was assigned to a different team from the previous year and was engaged in development of a dashboard for visualizing the use status of the application. In the process of organizing the required information from vast amounts of customer data, I was keenly aware of responsibility for handling a large volume of personal information. I was able to take on the practical challenges without fear of failure for the eight months while being supported by those around me. It is something unique to the co-op education. For the future, I aim to become an engineer who can view the organization as a whole from a bird's-eye perspective, while leveraging the insights that I gained while working across multiple teams.
Applying knowledge gained during the re-learning period
Mizuki Hashimura
(Internship destination: Micron Memory Japan, K.K.)
Using the knowledge of LLMs I gained in the seminar during the re-learning period, I worked on reducing operational workload by providing appropriate instructions to the company's internal AI. Specifically , I developed an analysis tool using parallel processing, which significantly reduced product inspection time. I felt a great sense of fulfillment when members of the department directly expressed their appreciation for the usability enhanced through improvement of UI. Even for the future after graduation, my goal is to apply the skills I gained in the Faculty of Information Science to contribute to improving business processes at companies.
Learning what is required for professional in the field
Raito Tsutsumi
(Internship destination: DreamArts Corporation)
One of the appeals of the co-op education lies in the opportunity for learning what is required for a professional in the field. In the previous fieldwork, I was engaged in a part of the feature development of internal tools and mobile application. This time, I was involved in tasks related to system performance and the database that forms its foundation. Although it was an important role that might affect Dream Arts' systems as a whole, I was able to adapt to the practical work smoothly, thanks to having continued development at university during the re-learning period. I gained a great deal of confidence after completing the work through careful verification.
Gaining a sense of important matters for achieving goals
Haruya Yoshida
(Internship destination: FUKKEN CO.,LTD.)
I was assigned to plan and manage a generative AI study session. I set the goals to be achieved through the study session and deliberated on the narrative required for achieving them from scratch. Unlike the previous fieldwork in my third year, in which I was mainly engaged in the tasks assigned by staff members, this time I took on a leading role to bring those who were around me on board to build the study session together. Through the experience, I became aware of the importance of envisioning a narrative for achieving the goals. I plan to advance to graduate school and conduct research grounded in the learning I gained through the practical work in the fieldwork.
