Students from Coventry University’s Global Researchers Programme (GRP) had the fantastic opportunity to visit Indonesia and present their research papers at The 10th International Student Conference on Advanced Science and Technology (ICAST). The prestigious event was hosted by The Global Joint Education Center for Science and Technology (GJEC) of the Graduate School of Science and Technology (GSST), Kumamoto University- Japan and the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS).
CU students participated in the conference along with other research students from around the world, to present their respective research and give their ideas and opinions on issues related to energy, environment, natural disasters and challenges facing the society related to science and technology.
On the day of arrival to Surabaya, Indonesia, the hosts gave a wonderful welcome event with speakers, live music and a gala dinner which was a great ice-breaker to help students relax, socialise and meet the people they would be presenting to the next day.
During the research presentations, the CU students had prepared papers on the challenging topics of ‘Integration Of User Feedback For Improvement Of Thermal Comfort In The Car Cabin’, ‘Smart Fall Detection Systems Using Wearable Sensors’, and ‘A Novel Systems Approach For Hydrogen Powered Cell Vehicles’. CU students commented that the conference was a two way leaning experience, as the topics each student presented on were very diverse, which greatly enhanced the overall learning experience and produced some very interesting questions regards the significance of the work, systems and the demonstration of innovation.
Alexandra Petre, a CU research student, noted that the feedback given on her research presentation helped her enormously with developing her research post conference. Alexandra also noted that it was also very useful to receive feedback and questions from such a diverse cultural mix, giving her new perspectives on her research topic.
The conference allowed students to make valuable connections with the host Universities, Chinese and Japanese professors and students from all over the world and the conference networking allowed for future collaborations regards their respective research areas.
The CU students commented that the conference was a very positive experience and were impressed with the high standard of conference facilities and invaluable feedback. Post conference, all students have plans to publish a paper in a high impact journal in April 2016 and would highly recommend other students to take the opportunity to attend an international conference as it significantly increased their confidence to present in front of a large audience. Alexandra added that “the conference helped me effectively communicate with large volumes of people, as before the conference I was frequently nervous about presenting my research and lacked confidence. At ICAST I overcame my fears and managed to stop my nerves ruining my research presentation”
To end the conference on a high, the organisers arranged for an excursion to the city of Surabaya. Students explored batik production, which is an Asian printing technique using wax cloth design to represent different parts of Indonesia and had the chance to make their own batik, after studying the colouring process and the technical challenge of producing a personalised version. After this, student explored the Indonesian cuisine, namely the durian, distinctive for its large size, strong odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk, native to Indonesia. Overall, the exposure to an international conference together with the cultural learning in Indonesia provided the students with a once in a lifetime experience and they look forward to more international research opportunities through the Global Researchers Programme.
The Global Researchers Programme (GRP) has been designed to support research students across each of Coventry University’s areas of research expertise in internationalising their research, in fostering the growth of academic networks and in encouraging and facilitating international collaboration. Through a combination of online experiences, intercultural learning activities and support with international mobility, the GRP aims to provide research students with the tools and capabilities to become global researchers with tools and experiences necessary to engage in high quality, world-leading research. We are always looking out for potential partners with whom we can collaborate with to offer research students a beneficial international experience. For further information on the GRP, please contact Alun Evans on globalresearchers.cge@coventry.ac.uk