SERC staff and students in trip 
of a lifetime

South Eastern Regional College (SERC) staff members Owen Parkes, James Currie and Shirley Montgomery recently took part in an educational visit to Tokyo, Japan.
SERC lecturers Owen Parkes, James Currie and Shirley Montgomery, pictured here with President Ishihara of Toyama college, and a group of students who recently embarked on a 10 day educational trip to Toyama National College of Technology, Japan.SERC lecturers Owen Parkes, James Currie and Shirley Montgomery, pictured here with President Ishihara of Toyama college, and a group of students who recently embarked on a 10 day educational trip to Toyama National College of Technology, Japan.
SERC lecturers Owen Parkes, James Currie and Shirley Montgomery, pictured here with President Ishihara of Toyama college, and a group of students who recently embarked on a 10 day educational trip to Toyama National College of Technology, Japan.

Accompanied by a group of 15 students studying Mechanical Engineering, Business and Electrical Engineering at the college’s Bangor and Lisburn campuses, this once in a lifetime visit was part of an exchange program run between SERC and Toyama National College of Technology, who have had a partnership since 2010.

During the programme students were given the opportunity to experience amazing new insights, from learning Japanese culture and language, to making new friends from diverse ethnic and national backgrounds, as well as sampling some of the courses on offer.

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The visit aims to provide opportunities for students to develop professional skills and Japanese language proficiency, as well as helping to increase the students understanding and tolerance of other cultures. Particular highlights of the trip included a boat tour of Tokyo Bay, the chance to sample local cuisine, visits to Tomei elementary and Horioka primary schools for English language classes and tours of local industry in Toyama.

The first internship ran in August/September 2010 when 16 Japanese students came to Bangor and took part in a four week course that involved activities aimed at helping the Japanese learn more English and apply it.

Japanese business studies students spent time at Hastings Hotel, Ulster Bank, Denroy Plastics and Canyon Europe in order to look at business models and observe working practices, while engineering students spent time in class working at technical studies such as robotic design, PLCs, mechatronics and CAD.

The first internship proved to be a great success, laying the foundations for a continued partnership.

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