UT Civil Mail News No.10 May 8, 2015

We have started to send monthly mail news to alumni members who have registered for our on-line network and would like to provide useful and interesting topics for members. If you have any requests, feel free to send an E-mail to: dosokai-news@civil.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp. The topics in the May issue include:

1. Safety confirmation of Nepali alumni & donation site set up by Nepali students

2. Expansion of Civil Engineering Group in Earthquake Research Institute

3. The 2nd Collaboration Seminar with Faculty of Geography, Moscow State University

4. Notice of May Festival and the gathering for foreign alumni working in Japan

Pic1: Cherry blossom viewing at the Imperial Palace on March 28

(by Host Family Program)

1. Safety confirmation of Nepali alumni &donation site set up by Nepalese students

First of all, about the Great Earthquake in Nepal, we would like to express our sincerest condolence to the victims and wish for the earliest possible recovery and restoration of the areas affected. The Alumni Association immediately listed up all alumni from Nepal to send a message of support from President IEDA. Fortunately, we found out that alumni who replied are now all safe with their families. See below and if you know further information about their safety, please report to the alumni office: (dosokai@civil.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

Table of the safety list

The University of Tokyo Nepalese Forum (TUNeF) has started collecting donations for

Name Safety confirmation Course Graduation year Laboratory SupervisorShyam K. MANANDHAR $&����������"��' RS&DC 198609 River Nobuyuki TAMAIMALLA Sujan � DC 199109 Applied Mechanics Fumio NISHINORIMAL Mahesh Raj # DC 199209 Higashihara (Earthquake) SAKONO/Hiromichi HIGASHIHARAGyawali Tek Raj % MC 199309 Concrete Engineering Hajime OKAMURAShrestha Deepak Kumar 〇（by Host Family) MC 199309 Transportation Masaki KOSHIGRUNG Ai Bahadur $ MC 199409 Mushiake/Oki (Hydrology) Katsumi MUSHIAKEBHANDARI Ram Prasad # MC 199709 River Nobuyuki TAMAIJHA Raghunath % DC 199709 Mushiake/Oki (Hydrology) Katsumi MUSHIAKEUmesh Chandra PURI $&����������"��' DC 199903 Uomoto　Lab. (concrete Engg.) Taketo UOMOTOSurya Raj Acharya % DC 199909 Regional Planning Shigeru MORICHIROJOURIA Amitabh # MC 200003 River Nobuyuki TAMAIDHAKAL Rajesh Prasad % DC 200009 Concrete Engineering Koichi MAEKAWASAH Bhuwneshwar Prasad % DC 200009 Regional Planning Eihan SHIMIZUDinesh MANANDHAR % DC 200109 Shibazaki (GIS) Ryosuke SHIBAZAKIPANDEY Bishnu Hari $ MC 200209 Meguro (Earthquake ) Kimio MEGUROSHARMA KAUSHAL RAJ � MC 200309 Construction Management Masahide HORITA/Taikan OKIHom Nath GHARTI $ MC 200409 Hori/Oguni (Earthquake) Muneo HORIBHANDARI, Athma Ram $ MC 200409 Applied Mechanics Junya INOUESurendra Prasad RAUNIYAR #��� ��������� MC 200609 River Toshio KOIKEGuragain Ramesh % MC 200609 Meguro (Earthquake ) Kimio MEGUROBishnu Prasad GAUTAM % MC 200709 Applied Mechanics Takashi MATSUMOTOSarju MULMI $ MC 200809 Koseki Laboratory Junichi KOSEKISujan Koirala % DC 201003 OKI & KANAE (Hydrology) Taikan OKIPOKHAREL Tilak % MC 201109 Hori/Oguni Munero HORIRajendra SOTI #��� �������������� MC 201109 Meguro/Ohara Kimiro MEGUROYadu Nath POKHREL % MC&DC 201109 OKI & KANAE (Hydrology) Taikan OKIMaheswor SHRESTHA 〇（by Prof. Koike） DC 201203 River and Env. Toshio KOIKEKhatri Prem Prakash % MC 201209 International Project Masahide HORITAPokharel Ramesh $&����������"��' MC 201209 TRIP Hitoshi IEDASuwal Laxmi Prasad $ MC＆DC 201303 Kuwano Reiko KUWANONakarmi Manoj $ MC 201303 Meguro Kimiro MEGURONeupane Ram Chandra % MC 201403 Concrete Kohei NAGAIPokhrel Abilash % MC 201409 Kuwano Reiko KUWANOBhattarai Rajan $&����������"��' MC＆DC 201409 Oki Taikan OKI

������������"�� ���� %

����� ������"�������" $

������!�� �

�����������!�������������������� #

the disaster victims. Here is the message from the coordinator of TUNeF, Uttam:

I would like to appeal the broader Todai alumni community to support our initiative for the relief works in the wake of the recent earthquake and the resulting destruction in Nepal. On 25th April, 2015, an earthquake with the magnitude (Mw) of 7.8 and several aftershocks struck about 80 km from Kathmandu, causing widespread death and destruction throughout Nepal. So far, more than 6,000 people have died, thousands more have been injured, and countless Nepalese have been displaced. Many homes, temples, and public monuments have been destroyed throughout the affected areas. Nepal lacks sufficient resources for the immediate rescue and relief work of the survivors, let alone for long term nation rebuilding. We, the Nepalese students associated with the University of Tokyo are asking for your generous contribution for this cause. We chose HNN (Help Nepal Network) as it is by far the biggest local organization that is working for the relief of earthquake victims. We have already tried to establish a communication link with HNN and will update the contributors on the difference our efforts make, possible by email, at a later date. We are doing as much as we can and would really appreciate your support in adding some momentum to our plans. Uttam co-ordinator: TUNeF (The University of Tokyo Nepalese Forum) [Here is the account of donation] Bank name: Japan Post Bank Branch: 018(Zeroichihachi) Account number: 4226826 Account name: チューネフ

Lots of CE students are participating in this activity, please help them as their seniors.

2. Expansion of Civil Engineering Group in Earthquake Research Institute

The Earthquake Research Institute (ERI) is a research institute of the University of Tokyo, and its primary objective is observation based the earth sciences. This is why only two of its faculty members were engineering, rather than science oriented, among around 50 faculty members of ERI. Graduate students from the School of Engineering used to be in the minority. However, the 2011 East Japan Great Earthquake Disaster has prompted a new research center, the Research Center for Large-Scale Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Disasters, which is changing the shape/character of ERI. The center (now?) includes three faculty members from the Graduate School of Engineering and one from Information Science and Technology (Prof. Sato, Department of Civil Engineering, is a joint member of this center). The (new?) faculty members also bring an assistant professor and post-doctoral research fellows; for instance, there are three fellows at this moment, and soon a forth is coming). The number of graduate students exceeds twenty.

Pic2: 2015 Wellcome party: 1/3 absence, the true nature of a civil engineering group?

However, the ethos of the civil engineering group remains unchanged. A good point of their ethos is that they look at (concentrate on?) the most advanced and scientific research, although they might be accused of being less practical and excessively theoretical. Their ethos could be compared to that of a Japanese sword builder who does his best to make the best sword, as opposed to that of a Japanese soldier who makes the

best use of the sword. It is true that the value of a sword is evaluated when it is used, however, we would like to point out that a good sword has its own intrinsic value. The importance of diversity is well recognized: the civil engineering group of ERI are now gathering some expectation from various communities due to their unique ethos, similar to that of the Japanese sword builder.

Pic3: 2015 ski tour: the first time in the last ten years that a faculty member has joined the tour? 3. The 2nd Collaboration Seminar with the Faculty of Geography, Moscow State

University

From March 23rd to 25th, 2015, we held the 2nd Collaboration Seminar with the Faculty of

Geography, Moscow State University (MSU) in the Univ. of Tokyo. In October, 2013, we visited

Moscow to have the 1st seminar organized by MSU and this time was our turn. The participants from

the Russian side included ten faculty members and eight students from MSU, and one professor from

Saint Petersburg State University. From our side, Prof. Koike, Prof. Shibasaki and nine faculty

members (incl. three from the School of Science) attended the seminar. In the seminar faculty

members reported on their research and students prepared for a poster session. We also took them

for site visits. First, thanks to the Bureau of Ports and Harbors, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, we

were able to see Tokyo Bay from their observation ship. After that we visited Panasonic Center

Tokyo to see the latest Japanese technologies for daily life. Then we took the Russian participants on

a tour of Yanesen (Yanaka + Nezu + Sendagi area, a part of ‘Old Tokyo’) to introduce our

traditional culture. As a result of the seminar, we were able to identify several common themes, such

as environmental management, urban planning and so on, and decided to continue the exchange of

students and researchers in the future.

Pic4: Participants discussing during the poster session Pic5: Prof. Hirabayashi’s research report

Pic6: Tokyo Bay site visit from an observation ship Pic7: Shopping in Yanaka Ginza district in

Yanesen

4. Notice of May Festival and the gathering for foreign alumni working in Japan

The 88th May festival will be held on May 16th &17th. The information site is at:

http://gogatsusai.jp/88/visitor/en/

In the evening of the first day of the May Festival (May 16th) at Hongo, we have arranged a

gathering for the foreign alumni who work in Japan now. Anyone who wants to join us,

please contact:

hf@coastal.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp, Ms. Akiko SUZUKI (Assistant of Host Family Program).

We’ll send information on the meeting point later.

We are looking forward to your feedback and suggestions!

The editorial team of

the Alumni Association of the Civil Engineering at the university of Tokyo Chief editor: Ayuko AKAIKE (1995 alumna)

Associate editor: Kiichiro HATOYAMA (2001 master)

Editors: Aya ABE (2001 alumna), Akiko SUZUKI (2009 alumna)

Adviser: Manabu ITO (1953 Alumnus) Proofreader: Alexander GILMORE

(Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering)