Civil Engineering

The Individual Research Training Senior (IRT Senior) Course is an advanced course of the Individual Research Training A (IRT A) course in the Tohoku University Junior Year Program in English (JYPE) in the fall semester. Though short-term international exchange students are not degree candidates at Tohoku University, a similar experience is offered by special arrangement. Students are required to submit: an abstract concerning the results of their IRT Senior project, a paper (A4, 20-30 pages) on their research at the end of the exchange term, and an oral presentation on the results of their IRT Senior project near the end of the term.

This graduate course offers a series of introductory lectures, taught by professors in the convergence major group, on research topics relevant to the core technologies of smart cities. Topics include smart city engineering, technology management, economics, policy analysis on the industrial economy, smart city environment and landscape architecture, city planning and design studies, data science and computer-based information systems, robotics and autonomous vehicle engineering technologies, and administrative governance and global issues.

This is research project conducted with the E3 Research Group. This project analyzes the cost and emissions benefits of using Gogoro scooter banks as vehicle-to-building resources.  The group will be formulating a linear program model and will be implementing it using Python. 
 

This course provides fundamental knowledge of dynamic atmospheric air quality in a changing world. The topics cover the effects of emission sources and pollutants, air quality assessment, atmospheric reactions of air pollutants, principles and implications of vertical mixing and transport of airborne pollutants, and air pollution control strategies and devices. This enables students to understand dynamic atmospheric processes and to identify air pollution issues associated with varied energy sources and economic development. Students also learn to assess air quality, quantify air pollutant levels, devise control strategies and recommend engineering solutions to enhance air quality.

This course provides the foundation for three key components of zero energy communities: buildings, mechanical systems, and renewable energy systems. The course covers fundamental topics in building physics such as psychrometrics, solar geometry, and heat transfer in buildings, which is the foundation for designing passive buildings. It also examines energy efficient mechanical systems and renewable energy systems, which is essential for the design of zero-energy communities. 

This course provides an introduction to geotechnics. Topics include physical indexes, soil classification, notions of sampling and surveying, tensions in the soil, resistance wraps, compressibility, and shear strength, stability analysis (slopes, embankments, and excavations), thrusts at rest, retaining structures, gravity walls, direct and deep foundations, drainage, and lowering of the water table.

This course provides research training for exchange students. Students work on a research project under the guidance of assigned faculty members. Through a full-time commitment, students improve their research skills by participating in the different phases of research, including development of research plans, proposals, data analysis, and presentation of research results. A pass/no pass grade is assigned based a progress report, self-evaluation, midterm report, presentation, and final report.

This course provides individual research training for students in the Junior Year Engineering Program through the experience of belonging to a specific laboratory at Tohoku University. Students are assigned to a laboratory with the consent of the faculty member in charge. They participate in various group activities, including seminars, for the purposes of training in research methods and developing teamwork skills. The specific topic studied depends on the instructor in charge of the laboratory to which each student is assigned. The methods of assessment vary with the student's project and laboratory instructor. Students submit an abstract concerning the results of their individual research each semester and present the results near the end of the program.

This special lab course nurtures international students' creative competency by offering them opportunities for learning in communities of research practice. The student's supervisor arranges the research topic. Students give three oral presentations during the study period. In the presentations, students integrate ideas and analyses on laboratory results into creative and academically coherent work. FrontierLab program coordinators and supervisors attend and evaluate the final oral presentation.

This course teaches students about the concepts of sustainability and resilience, and the main implications for infrastructure. Students should have a quantitative and qualitative understanding of both present and future challenges that face critical infrastructures (waste, energy, transport, and water). The course develops understanding and skills to compare costs and benefits of different technologies, materials, and managerial approaches that are relevant to the sustainability and resilience of infrastructure. It enables students to understand how decisions about infrastructure systems are made under conditions of complexity and uncertainty. It also enables students to develop professional skills.