Hello, everyone. I'm Meguru Ito, one of the physics teachers at ICT. This year, the STEM Fair was held on Wednesday September 18th, 2024, for the 1st year students, and on Wednesday September 25th, for the 2nd year students. The STEM Fair is an annual event held in mid-September, where students present the results of their Summer STEM Project, which is given as a summer assignment at ICT. In simpler terms, it’s a presentation of their summer independent research, but the students create posters in English and give their presentations in English, making it quite a challenging event. I envisioned it as something similar to a science fair, where students at schools abroad present their research, and hoped we could create a similar festive atmosphere when we started this at the Hakusanroku campus.

 Last year, in the Hakusanroku Journal , I introduced the origins of the STEM Fair and rules of the fair, so this year I would like to give a general review of the 2nd year students' presentations.
 Additionally, this year, we were finally able to reinstate the "Overseas English Program,” a short-term study abroad course for 2nd year students during the summer vacation. Seven students participated in three-week language training programs overseas during their summer break. Since the three-week program uses almost all of the summer vacation period, I thought it would be too difficult for the students to do the STEM Project, so I excused them from STEM projects. Instead, they conducted a “Debriefing Session of the Overseas English Program” at the same time as the STEM Fair. I was a little worried because there would be fewer students presenting at the STEM Fair, but they all gave presentations that blew those worries away.

Presentation by Mitsuki Ohta, a 2nd year student: Rear Wing and Downforce

 For the 2nd year students, I required them to write a proposal, collect data and give a poster presentation. For the presentation, they had to include tables and graphs on their posters as well as explain what they did so that everyone could understand the purpose of their research.
 What struck me the most this time was that many students presented topics and data from fields I wasn't familiar with, which made listening to all the presentations highly engaging. I was particularly impressed by Mitsuki Ohta, a 2nd year student who won the Best Presentation Award, for creating his own wind tunnel experiment equipment. His dedication was truly remarkable. Incidentally, Mitsuki Ohta also placed 2nd last year, and his brother, Haruki Ohta, a 3rd year student, has consistently placed 1st in past STEM Fairs. They are a family of top performers in the competition.

 I was also impressed by the significant evolution of the 2nd year students since last year. It was clear from their presentations how much effort and time they invested in this STEM project. Compared to last year's presentations, many students demonstrated a remarkable improvement in quality. Their familiarity with the tasks and presentations played a role in this enhancement, highlighting the effectiveness of the education at the ICT.

 I may have mentioned this before, but to be honest, I haven't really provided much direct guidance myself. However, thanks to the students' efforts and the support of the faculty, I believe the STEM Fair has become a signature event at ICT. As the number of students increases, we may need to change the way presentations are conducted, which could add to the faculty's workload. Nonetheless, I truly love the students' unique projects, and I hope we can continue this project. In the future, I would like to invite not only some of the faculty members from the Hakusanroku Campus, but also students, teachers and staff from Kanazawa campus as well. (Though the students might not be thrilled about it!)

Meguru Ito

アグリビジネス班

　Hello, this is Yuri Makada from the Hakusanroku office. This time, I would like to write about the harvest of Beniharuka sweet potatoes by the Engineering Design IIA (2nd year) class.

 In the 2nd year Engineering Design IIA class, students are tackling issues facing the mountainous regions in HAKUSANROKU (Foothills of Mt. Hakusan), such as abandoned farmland, and increasing animal damage. The students are divided into two groups, the Agribusiness Group and the Tech Group. The Agribusiness Group grows sweet potatoes called Beniharuka in a fallow field across from the school and experiences managing an agricultural business through the process of sales, marketing, and accounting. The Tech Team is working to develop an AI and IoT enabled animal damage prevention system. 

 On Thursday, September 12th, 2024, the Agribusiness Team worked on harvesting Beniharuka sweet potatoes in extremely hot weather with temperatures over 30 ℃ around HAKUSANROKU. President Masaaki Shikada also participated in the harvest. Also, this year, there was no animal damage because an electric fence was installed to prevent monkeys from entering the fields. Additionally, there were fewer small sweet potatoes than previous years, and it seemed that the climate conditions this season were more favorable than last year. However, it was extremely hot that day, and after harvesting about one-third of the Beniharuka sweet potatoes in about two hours, we finished for the day.

 I also participated in the harvest of Beniharuka sweet potatoes on that day, and I found that cutting the vines at the base of the sweet potatoes, removing the mulch, and the actual harvest itself were much more physically demanding than I had expected. It was also a battle against the heat. The students with their faces flushed from the heat, took breaks, stayed hydrated, and diligently focused on their work. I was truly impressed by their dedication.

 On the evening of Tuesday, September 17th, 2024, the rest of the Beniharuka sweet potato were harvested. Unlike the previous harvest day, the temperature was a bit cooler, and the cloudy weather made for a more comfortable working environment. Students spent about three hours harvesting the potatoes. Although not all Agribusiness Group members could attend due to other extracurricular activities, a few members from the Tech Team came to help, and we successfully finished harvesting the remaining Beniharuka sweet potatoes. Overall, many of the Beniharuka sweet potatoes were of excellent size and shape. Despite planting the same number of plants as last year, we harvested 349 kg this year, about 1.7 times more than last year—a record harvest!

 The harvested Beniharuka sweet potatoes will be aged in the warehouse inside the school for about a month, allowing the starch to convert into sugars. They are scheduled to be shipped as raw sweet potatoes to Sena Roadside Station across from the school on Monday, October 28th. On Sunday, November 3rd and Monday, November 4th, the students will be selling baked sweet potatoes and original goods featuring the Kosen Beniharuka at Sena Roadside Station. Additionally, our school will hold an open campus on Sunday, November 3rd. If you are planning to attend on this day and have the time, we are looking forward to seeing you at Sena Roadside Station!
Click here for open campus details

Yuri Makada

　こんにちは。白山麓高専事務室の間加田 侑里です。今回は2024年7月19日（金）に行われたエンジニアリングデザインⅠA（1年生）の最終ポスター発表について紹介します。
　1年生が履修するエンジニアリングデザインⅠAの授業では、日常生活の問題を発見し、その解決策を考えるためのプロジェクト活動を行います。学生たちは基礎知識や手法を学びながら、アイデアを素早く試作し、カタチにすることで価値を創造する楽しさを体験します。
　今回の課題は、「毎日使う最悪のもの」をリデザインし、その不便な点を解決することでした。学生たちは、寮や学生生活の中で不便に感じるさまざまなアイテムに注目しました。

 Hello, this is Yuri Makada from the Hakusanroku office. This time, I would like to write about the final Engineering Design IA poster presentation held on Friday, July 19th.
 In the 1^st year Engineering Design IA class, they identify problems in daily life and conduct project activities to devise solutions. While learning basic knowledge and techniques, students quickly prototype their ideas and experience the joy of creating value by bringing these ideas to life.
 This time, the task was to redesign “their worst everyday item” and solve its inconvenient aspects. The students focused on various items they found inconvenient in their dormitory and daily student life.

　最初の授業では、学生たちはドローイングスキルを学び、プロトタイプなどの図面を正確に描く能力を身につけました。チームでアイデアを出し合い、それを視覚化して他者に正しく伝えるためには、コミュニケーションツールとしてドローイングスキルが重要です。まず学生たちは、立体の図形や携帯電話、マグカップなどの立体物の描き方を学んだ後、テーマである「毎日使う最悪のもの」を改善するための解決策を20個以上スケッチしました。

 In the first class, students learned drawing skills and developed the ability to accurately draw prototypes. Drawing skills are crucial as a communication tool for brainstorming ideas in teams, visualizing them, and conveying them correctly to others. First, the students learned how to draw three-dimensional objects such as geometric shapes, cell phones, and mugs. Afterwards, they sketched more than 20 solutions to improve “their worst everyday item.”

　次に20個のスケッチの中から1個を選び、教員たちにスケッチを見せながら英語でプレゼンテーションを行い、フィードバックを受けるデザインレビューセッションが行われました。 そこでは、学生たちはモノの機能や、安全性、デザイン、素材、必要性等について発表し、教員たちからフィードバックを受けました。

 Next, each student selected one sketch from the 20 they created and presented it in English to their teachers during a design review session. In this session, the students explained the functionality, safety, design, materials, and necessity of their items and received feedback from their teachers.

　次に、段ボールや紙を使って簡易的な模型を製作し、サイズや機構を検証し、製作に必要なアイテムやコストを確認した後、コンピュータスキルズの授業で学んでいる「Fusion360」や「イラストレータ」を応用して３Dモデル等を設計し、3Dプリンターやレーザーカッターなどを使って実際にプロトタイプを製作しました。

 Then, students built a simple model using cardboard and paper to confirm the size and design of their prototype. After that, students designed virtual 3D models by applying the Fusion360 and Illustrator skills which they are learning in Computer Skills class, and actually made physical prototypes using 3D printers and laser cutters.

 　最終授業ではポスター発表が行われました。学生たちは実際に製作したモノを紹介しながら、そのプロセス、問題解決の方法、ユーザーニーズ、使用結果の検証、今後の改善点、結論等を発表し、審査員の教員たちから質疑が行われました。 

 The final class was a poster presentation session where the students presented their prototypes, including the process, problem solving methods, user needs, verification of results, future improvements, and conclusions while introducing the actual products they produced. After the presentations, students answered questions from the faculty.

　学生たちはユニークな想像・アイデアを形にしていくプロセスを体験し、アイデア創出の楽しさを確認できたのではないでしょうか。今回の授業で得た新たな学びは、今後の活動に繋がることでしょう。

 The students experienced the process of turning their imaginations and unique ideas into tangible forms, and likely found joy in the creation of new ideas. The new knowledge gained from this class will surely contribute to their future activities.

間加田 侑里
Yuri Makada

 Hello, this is Apirak Sang-ngenchai, the learning mentor. It's been a while since I’ve posted an article. Anyway, I want to share some of the awesome activities we did last semester.

　こんにちは、ラーニングメンターのアピラク・サンゲンチャイです。久しぶりの白山麓ジャーナル投稿です。さて、前年度の後学期に行われたいくつかの活動の中から一部を紹介したいと思います。

 AI is everywhere these days, and it's changing how we do things in all kinds of fields. One interesting area is human activity recognition (HAR), where AI helps people understand and analyze what they are doing based on data from sensors or cameras. Mediapipe, a tool from Google, is super useful for this and is used to develop it in this workshop.

　近年、AI技術の進化により、さまざまな分野に影響をもたらしています。興味深い分野の一つに人間の行動認識（HAR）というものがあります。これはAIがセンサーやカメラのデータを基に、人々の行動を認識し分析する技術です。GoogleのツールであるMediapipe（メディアパイプ）は、この分野で非常に役立つものであり、私達の行ったワークショップの中でも実際に使用したことがあります。今回はその様子を紹介したいと思います。

 Every Friday, the students have an optional learning session. The Learning Mentor holds a variety of workshop to help them learn something outside their regular class topics or to improve their learning skills. I decided to hold a workshop called "Learning Friday," where students got hands-on experience with Google Mediapipe. They learned how to extract body joints using Mediapipe through Python programming, which provided a great way to gain coding experience. The session was highly interactive and fun, allowing everyone to experiment and learn together in a relaxed setting.

 　毎週金曜日は、学生たちが参加を選択できるラーニングセッションが実施されます。授業の学習内容とは異なることを学んだり、学習スキルを向上させるために、ラーニングメンターによって様々なワークショップが開催されます。そこで私は、学生たちが Google Mediapipe を実際に体験できる「ラーニングフライデー」というワークショップを開催することにしました。その中で学生たちは、Pythonプログラミングを通じて Mediapipe を使用し、体の骨格や関節を検出する方法を学びました。これは、コーディングの経験を積むのにとても良い方法となりました。また、このラーニングフライデーは非常に対話的で楽しく、リラックスした雰囲気の中で全員が一緒に実験したり学べる時間を持つことができました。

 Learning to code in AI is really important for students. It not only opens up lots of job opportunities but also helps develop problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. Getting comfortable with AI tools like Mediapipe means students can participate in the latest tech developments. This workshop was a perfect way to help them prepare for the future.

　AIのコーディングを学ぶことはとても重要です。より多くの職業への機会が開かれるだけでなく、問題解決や批判的に考える能力も備わります。そしてMediapipeのようなAIツールに慣れることで、最新の技術開発に参加できるようになります。その学びとしてこのワークショップは、将来へ向けての経験を積むためのとても有意義な時間となりました。

  Haruto Shiraishi, a current 3rd year student who participated in this workshop in the last semester of last school year, He wrote a journal. Please take a look!

　昨年度の後学期に、このワークショップに参加した現在3年生の白石 春翔さんが、白山麓ジャーナルを書きました。どうぞご覧ください！

Apirak Sang-ngenchai
アピラク・サンゲンチャイ

　こんにちは、この「ラーニングフライデー」ワークショップを受講した３年生の白石 春翔です。ここで学習したことや感じたことなどをこのジャーナルにまとめたいと思います。

 Hello, this is Haruto Shiraishi, a 3rd year student who took this "Learning Friday" workshop. I would like to summarize what I learned and felt here in this journal.

　さて、近年AI技術は日々進化しその活用方法も多様化され様々な場面で活用されるようになりました。そんな中、授業の一環でAIを活用し農作物を猿から守るシステムを開発する機会があり、実際にアピラク先生の指導の下、猿と人間それぞれを機械学習させ判別しLINEに通知を送るシステムを構築しました。他にもAIを活用して表情を読み取るなど、長期間で様々な方法で挑戦してきました。

 In recent years, AI technology has been evolving day by day, and its applications have become diversified and are used in various situations. Under the guidance of Apirak sensei, we constructed a system that sends notifications to LINE after machine learning and discriminating between monkeys and humans. We also used AI to read facial expressions, and we challenged ourselves in many other ways over a long period of time.

　これらの活動を通してAIについて興味を持ち、もっと色々な場面で活用できるのではないかと考えました。そこで先生が人間の活動認識（HAR）を利用しヨガのポーズを判別するシステムを制作していたことを思い出しました。この技術には凡用性がありロボットなどにも応用できそうだと感じ、先生にお願いしました。

 Through these activities, I became interested in AI and wondered if it could be used in many more situations. Then, I remembered that my professor had created a system that used human activity recognition (HAR) to identify yoga poses. I felt this technology had potential applications in robotics and other fields, so I asked him to help us.

　実際に学習していく中で難しいと感じたところは100行以上からなるコードを理解する事でした。しかし一つ一つ読み解き、書くことで明確に理解することができました。また、自分でも少しコードを変更したり、様々な画像や動画を使って試す事で理解が深まりました。

 The most difficult part of the course was to understand the code, which consisted of more than 100 lines. However, by reading and writing the code one by one, I was able to understand it clearly, and I was able to deepen my understanding by modifying the code a little myself and experimenting with various images and videos.

　製作段階で終わってしまいましたが、ここで学習したことを活用し、ロボットアームを制御することにも挑戦しました。

 Although it ended up in the production stage, we also tried to control the robot arm using what we had learned here.

　今後はこれらのAI技術を応用し、様々な社会課題の解決に貢献できる製品の開発に取り組んでいきたいと思います。

 In the future, I would like to apply these AI technologies to develop products that can contribute to solving various social issues.

白石 春翔
Haruto Shiraishi

　こんにちは。校長の鹿田 正昭です。
　2024年4月25日（木）、昨年に引き続き、エンジニアリングデザインⅡA（2年生）アグリビジネス班の「紅はるか」の苗植えをお手伝いしました。昨年は校長室から畝づくりをしている様子が見えたので、興味津々で現地に向かいました。今年の3月に退職した山崎 俊太郎先生から「来週は苗を植えますので参加しませんか？」とお誘いがあり翌週に参加しました。
　今年は松下 臣仁先生から事前に日程を伺っていたので、4月18日（木）の畝づくり（見学のみ）と4月25日（木）の苗植えに参加しました。苗植え前日の4月24日（水）は激しい雨でしたが、当日は快晴に恵まれ、気温も20度くらいあって、苗植えには最適の天候でした。
　昨年は東側から3列目の苗植えを行いましたが、今年は西側の1列目をラーニングメンターのドミソン・アブワン先生と一緒に植えました。1年ぶりでしたので松下先生に植え方を確認してから行いました。ドミソン先生と二人で行ったのでスムーズに植えることができました。
　2年生の「エンジニアリングデザイン」では、アグリビジネス班は「紅はるか」を栽培して農業法人の経営ビジネスに取り組み、テック班（※1）はAIを活用した獣害対策システムを開発しています。昨年は猛暑による水不足が影響し例年よりも収穫が少なく、サツマイモも小ぶりのものが多い結果でした。
　テック班は獣害対策を、アグリビジネス班は生育状況の把握を万全にし、今年は「紅はるか」がどのように育つか楽しみです。そして、11月3日（日）、4日（月）に「道の駅瀬女」で行われる予定の焼芋販売が今から待ち遠しいです。
本校では11月3日（日）にオープンキャンパスを開催します。この日に参加される方はお時間があれば、ぜひ道の駅まで足を伸ばしてみてください。
オープンキャンパス詳細はこちら： https://www.ict-kanazawa.ac.jp/opencampus/

鹿田 正昭

Engineering Design IIA (2^nd year) Beniharuka Seedling Planting Challenge

 Hello. I am Masaaki Shikada, ICT President.
 On Thursday, April 25th, 2024, I assisted in the planting of Beniharuka seedlings, as I did last year. Last year, I could see the digging process from the president's office, so I headed to the field with great interest. Shuntaro Yamazaki sensei, who retired in March of this year, asked if I would like to join in planting the seedings. I joined the following week.
 This year, Omihito Matsushita sensei had told me about the schedule in advance, so I participated in digging rows for planting on Thursday, April 18th (observation only) and the planting of seedlings on Thursday, April 25th. Although it rained heavily on Wednesday, April 24th, the day before the seedlings were planted, the day was blessed with clear skies and a temperature of about 20 degrees, perfect weather for planting seedlings.
 Last year, I planted the third row of seedlings from the east side, and this year I planted the first row on the west side with learning mentor Domyson Abuan sensei. It had been a year since I had planted seedlings, so I checked with Matsushita sensei on how to plant before I started. Since I was working with Domyson sensei, we were able to plant the seedings quickly and easily.
 In the Engineering Design IIA (2^nd year), the Agribusiness Team is managing the operations of the Beniharuka business by cultivating and tending to the Beniharuka while the Tech Team (*1) is developing an AI-based animal damage prevention system. Last year, the harvest yield was less than usual due to the lack of water caused by the extremely hot summer, and many of the sweet potatoes were smaller than usual.
 The Tech Team is working on measures to prevent animal damage, and the Agribusiness Team is fully aware of the growth conditions, and I am looking forward to seeing how the Beniharuka will grow this year. I am now looking forward to the baked sweet potato sales scheduled to take place at Sena Roadside Station on Sunday, November 3rd and Monday, November 4th.
 The ICT will hold an open campus on Sunday, November 3rd. If you are planning to attend on this day and have the time, we are looking forward to seeing you at Sena Roadside Station.
Click here for open campus details:  https://www.ict-kanazawa.ac.jp/opencampus/

Masaaki Shikada

エンジニアリングデザインⅡAの実施報告（4月、5月）
Report on the Implementation of Engineering Design IIA (April and May)

2024年4月11日（木）   

Thursday, April 11th, 2024

毎年、授業開始時期に地域の方をお招きし、地域の思いや取り組み、課題について聞き取りをしています。
Every year, we invite local residents at the beginning of the class to hear about the community's thoughts, initiatives, and issues.

2024年4月18日（木）

Thursday, April 18th, 2024

土作りや畝作り
Soil preparation and digging rows for planting.

2024年4月25日（木）　

Thursday, April 25th, 2024　

「紅はるか」苗の作付け土作りや畝作り
Planting Beinharuka soil and ridges for planting Beniharuka seedlings.

2024年5月9日（木）

Thursday, May 9th, 2024 

畑の周りに猿の侵入を防ぐための電気柵を設置
Electric fence installed around fields to prevent monkeys from entering.

（※1）テック班について
　白山麓キャンパスの地域課題の一つに農作物に対する獣害があります。テック班は猿による獣害対策を進めており、現在では自然の中でも猿を認識できるシステムの開発を進めAIを用いた認識信頼度を90%以上まで向上させるまで至っています。昨年は、AIが猿を認識した際に生産者が所有するスマホのLINEアプリに通知を送る機能の開発・検証、更にドローンによる威嚇効果も検証しました。
　今年度はドローン以外の畑を守る手段として、畑の見回りロボット（ローバー）の開発のために畑の上（不整地）を走れる車体の製作、ドローンを自動運転させた際の着陸精度の検証、ドローンやローバーを運用するために畑の状態（特に天気や風）を確認するシステムの開発に取り組みます。

(*1) About the Tech Team
 One of the local issues at Hakusanroku Campus is the damage caused by animals to crops. The Tech Team has been working on measures to prevent damage by monkeys. They have developed a system that can recognize monkeys in nature and has improved the reliability of recognition using AI to over 90%. Last year, the team developed and verified a function that sends a notification to the LINE app on the smartphone owned by the producer when the AI recognizes a monkey. The Tech Team also verified the effect of drones on the threat of monkeys.
 This year, the Tech Team is working on the development of a robot (rover) for patrolling the fields as a means of protecting them other than the use of drones. This rover can drive over the fields (uneven terrain). The team can verify the landing accuracy when the drone is flown automatically. The Tech Team is also developing a system to check the field conditions (especially weather and wind) in order to operate the drone and rover.