Student/alumni voices

Abhishek Kumar GAUTAM

India

Master's course graduate September 2018

Hokkaido University gave me an opportunity to expand my knowledge, experience new cultures and broaden my horizons. The intellectually stimulating atmosphere and truly international environment have helped me to develop an aptitude of a global citizen.

After completing my undergraduate from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India, I worked for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, an Indian multinational oil and gas company and for Indian Railway for 3 years and 4 years respectively before coming to Japan. It was my great zeal to expand my knowledge and understanding about railway technology which brought me to Hokkaido University to study vibro-acoustic properties of railway coach to improve the ride comfort in railway at high speed under e3 program. I was nominated by Railway Board and selected by the Japanese Government (MEXT) to pursue master’s degree in railway technology as a part of MOU between India and Japan signed in December 2015.

The erudite faculty members, who were easily approachable and world-class research facilities helped me to develop my research skills and allowed to achieve good results. e3 community was very supportive and provided a platform for interaction and exchange among the students from different countries and various research backgrounds. An activity which has benefitted me greatly in understanding the culture and customs of various countries was e3 Global talk. I also had great time visiting different parts of Hokkaido with e3 field trips. With e3 I learned more about Japan and made many international friends.

Participation in Hult Prize-2018 was an invaluable experience which gave me an opportunity to meet global leaders and entrepreneurs. Our team won the competition at Hokkaido University and advanced to the Regional Finals in San Francisco, USA. It was the most challenging and the most learning phase of the event, but meeting so many people from all over the world that work to achieve the same goal was a great inspiration to me.

My laboratory was like a family to me. Although in the beginning I found my Japanese lab mates to be very shy, slowly we became very close friends. We were enjoying lab trips, parties, and cooking together. I was also lucky to have many colleagues from Indian Railway at Hokkaido University who made this journey even more enjoyable and memorable. 

As a part of my research work I got an opportunity to visit various companies of my interest. I did a short internship in Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI), a technical wing of all railway companies in Japan. It helped me to acquire best practices and experience cutting edge technology in railway.  

Sapporo is very dynamic and remains in festival mood throughout the year, especially from May to October, when we have a festival almost every month. My favourite festivals on campus were Hokudasai (big university festival in June) and e3 Bonenkai (year-end party in December) at which I could enjoy not only Japanese food but also dishes from all over the world. I fell in love with Japanese food because it is fresh, tasty and healthy. I must admit that it even turned me from pure vegetarian to pure non-vegetarian. Participating in the events of the NPO, the supporter for international students from Asian Countries, such as visits to tourist places, fruit picking, hanami party, helped me to learn more about Hokkaido, Japanese culture and customs.

My stay in Sapporo helped me to grow my understanding and affection toward the Japanese culture and customs. I found this journey was a great opportunity to develop my skills and knowledge. I am grateful to e3 academic office and its staff who made my stay in Hokkaido smooth and comfortable.  

15.01.2024

Alumni /