下のスクリプトは事前提出されたものですので、ビデオの音声とは一部異なる場合があります。

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Various Roles, One Goal : I am a problem solver!

Ishikawa National College of Technology

Hello everyone. I’m Natsumi Kashiwa, majoring in Information Technology.
I’m Nami Yasuda, majoring in Architecture.
And I’m Yoichiro Nishigami, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.

We are students at Ishikawa National College of Technology (INCT). Near INCT, there is a lake which is called “Kahokugata.” Our school is incorporating activities to improve the lake’s water as projects for the students. At INCT we are taught that we have to become engineers who can think about environmental problems.

Well, why do engineers have to pay attention to environmental issues? The word, “Engineer” means a person who solves problems. And because the causes of environmental issues are humans, it is our duty as problem-solvers to work towards finding solutions.

Then, how do we solve environmental problems by using technology? There are many fields of engineering and, you don’t need to be an environmental engineer to work towards solving environmental issues.

Now, we are going to introduce what each of us is studying to give you an example of what we mean.

I stands for Information Engineering.
A stands for Architecture
And M stands for Mechanical Engineering.

First, I am going to tell you about my major. In our school, I'm learning technologies of information processing which use a computer. I am working hard every day to improve my programming skill. You may think this kind of technology doesn't have any connection to environmental issues. But actually, there are many ways in which information technology can contribute to helping the environment.

For example, one of my teachers told me about a project he is working on, researching the forest. If you want to count the number of trees on Earth, you don't have to use your fingers. In fact, if you try, you will most likely run out of fingers. But, you can count trees using IT. We use photographs taken from space or airplanes. The computer detects an outline of each tree from these photographs, and counts them. Using IT, we are able to get a lot of information which we can’t easily get with handwork or manual labor.

This data can be used to plant more trees or thin forests accordingly. And, it is very useful in checking the conditions of a forest and deciding on a course of action to care for it. To solve a problem, the most important step is to understand the problem. Information technology is a great tool for this first step.

For the improvement of the environment, a programmer like me can’t work on a forest directly. But I can collect data, analyze it, and help everyone understand environmental issues better. This way, programmers can assist in making efforts to solve environmental problems. In the future, I hope to study more about how to use various information to help the environment.

Next, Ms.Yasuda will introduce what she is doing at INCT.

I am in my 2nd year of the architecture department at INCT. We study things like building houses, drawing floor plans and so on. This is a model which I designed. When I designed this house, I based my design on the theme “Connection.”

When I designed it, I focused not only on the ‘connection’ among the family but also the ‘connection’ to the environment. I put a lot of windows on the west and south sides so that a lot of sunshine can save electricity. The height of the windows helps wind go through functionally, as well. So we don’t have to use electric fans or air conditioners so much. These are some examples of how we in the architecture department are taught to incorporate environmental awareness into our architectural design.

I have another project I’d like to introduce. It is titled “furniture which is made of lumber from forest-thinning.” Here, my classmates are working on it. The goal of this project was to make furniture for the entrance to a home for not more than ten thousand yen. Our group decided to make a small bench. This is the picture of it. It didn’t cost much to make this bench, so we made three more.
We used lumber from forest-thinning. This wood is made from trees which are cut to allow in sunlight and to help growth of woods in the forest. Do you know the reason why we plant woods at all? It is to reduce CO2 to prevent global warming or prevent soil erosion. But, if forests are too dense, they will die because of poor sunlight. So woods are periodically thinned, to help them grow. We can reduce CO2 by using this forest thinning lumber rather than destroying healthy forests. So this project helps to prevent global warming and soil erosion.

I came to know that lumber from forest-thinning was the same as other normal lumbers through this project. We can make the public aware by providing things made of this lumber. If lumber from-forest-thinning becomes widely used, we can decrease CO2!
I am trying hard to learn about how I can save the environment in classes so I can help improve the situation in the future.

Next, Mr.Nisigami will introduce what he is doing at INCT.

You are probably all aware that car emissions are a big problem concerning the environment. I am studying about components of cars right now at my school, INCT.
Sometimes, graduates or technical experts from car companies visit us and they show interesting cars of their own. Recently I saw a “Mitsubishi i MiEV” at school. What is it? It’s an Electric vehicle, or EV.

I feel the age of the transition from combustion engine cars to electric cars is coming soon. Why ? Because we are running out of fossil fuels. Not only that but these cars produce zero exhaust. We simply have to charge the cars’ electric batteries in our own homes.

In the future as we work towards technological advances we must work around energy issues. As a Kosen student it is important to begin learning about these things early on. So I am learning about Electric Vehicles.

Did you know engineers had many obstacles to overcome to develop electric vehicles? And there are still many issues. For example, a fully charged battery cannot run very long, and the price of the battery is still very high. In the future I want to help solve obstacles electric vehicles face.

We can’t live without cars. But our cars are destroying our environment. What must I do and what can mechanical engineers do now? We must be aware of the current shortage of fossil fuels and work to develop cars which can operate on alternative energy sources, without damaging our atmosphere.

The word, “Engineer” is a person who solves problems. We gain knowledge and acquire technical skills to solve problems at our respective Technical Colleges. Then, what can we do for environmental issues? To solve the environmental problems, we have been doing our best to learn about what we can do in our fields of study.

I can analyze data and offer useful information to people by using information technology.
I can design environmentally-friendly homes and buildings.
My mission is to give energy efficient automobiles to people.

What kind of environment will we have in the future?
We want to contribute to creating a better environment for everyone.
No matter what field of engineering you are in, you can help the environment too.

Thank you for your kind attention.