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For students
Why join ME310/SUGAR
Why join ME310/SUGAR?

  • ​​Experience practical design thinking based on Stanford University's ME310 program

  • Collaborate with students from around the world at one of our partner universities. All classes and projects are conducted in English, so you can work on improving your English skills.

  • Many of the final concepts developed in ME310/SUGAR have been further developed by companies and brought to the market. This is your opportunity to make a real impact.

  • Opportunities to go abroad for presentations and workshops. 

  • This is an experience you won't get anywhere else!

Schedule
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Annual Schedule

The program begins in late September and ends in July of the following year.

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September : PaperBike

For the three-week warmup project, teams create vehicles out of paper material (e.g. cardboard). At the Global Kickoff held in October, students from around the world compete in races and games using their paper bikes.

October : Project Kickoff

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Global teams, partner companies, and project topics are announced. A week-long global kickoff workshop is held in late October, where participating students from 20+ universities gather to not only unite with their international teammates for the next 9 months, but also to interact with students from different countries through the design thinking workshops. 

November : Start of Main Project 

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Project Topics and Teams are announced.
Weekly meetings, classes and a lot of prototyping will continue untill May. (More info below)

December : Midterm Presentations

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At the end of each term, in December and March, there are presentations to share what has been done during the term and the outlook for the next term. Partner companies also join these sessions to provide feedback and comments.

March : Midterm Presentations

June : ME310/SUGAR EXPO

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Students from around the world will gather in Silicon Valley to present the results of their 9-month project.

July : KYOTO EXPO

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The final event of ME310/SUGAR. We will present the results of 9 months of work to students, teachers and corporate partners at Kyoto Institute of Technology.

Weekly Activities
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What does a week look like as a student in ME310/SUGAR?

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LGMs (Large Group Meetings):

In the weekly LGMs, teams learn design innovation skills.

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SGMs (Small Group Meetings):

In the weekly SGMs, student teams discuss their progress with the teaching team and receive various advice.

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Team meetings:

Regular meetings with the global teammates and corporate partners to exchange notes and discuss progress as the project proceeds.

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SUDS:

Dinner sessions after the SGMs. Discussions not only about the projects, but also about the food cultures of other countries:an opportunity to discover unexpected aspects of the team members

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Thinking through Making:

Utilizing the various design thinking tools learned in class, teams research the project theme, discover needs, prototype, and conduct user tests to develop innovative solutions.

Want to join?
QUalifications
Qualifications

  • Students in their 4th year of BA or over

    • 4th year undergraduate students who have plans to enter a master's course

    • students enrolled in a master's or doctoral course who will not graduate by the end of the program

      • exceptions may be made for 3rd year undergraduate students who do not plan to enter a master's course

  • Competency in English

  • Experience in areas related to product innovation (e.g., engineering, design, business, user research, etc.)

  • Ability to visit our Matsugasaki campus regularly during the program (You do not have to be enrolled as a student at KIT)  

Acadmic Credits
Academic Credits

Throughout the two semesters, KIT students can earn a total of 8 credits for participating in ME310/SUGAR. For students in the Design and Architecture and Information Technology department, these courses are considered courses within their respective majors. For other students, it is considered a common course. For details, please refer to the course guidelines.　

Application
How to apply

Applications for ME310/SUGAR 2022-2023 is now closed. The applications for the 2023-2024 program should open sometime mid-2023. If you are interested in the applying to the program, please leave your e-mail below and we'll contact you when the applications open.

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Thanks for submitting!

Questions

If you have further questions about ME310/SUGAR, you can get in touch with the teaching team!


English: Sushi Suzuki sushi@kit.ac.jp

Japanese: Keita Tatara tatara@kit.ac.jp

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