Activity Report of Open Application Course vol.4
Young people from Myanmar learn about the reliability evaluation technology of the advanced electric power system
Report from Kumamoto University
For 10 days from July 2nd to July 10th of 2018, with support of the “Sakura Exchange Program in Science”, a young faculty member, five graduate students, and six undergraduate students (including one student whose expenses were paid by Kumamoto University) from Yangon Technological University in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar were invited to Kumamoto University. Yangon Technological University is the top university in the engineering and science fields in Myanmar. The purpose of this program is to encourage such brilliant young people from the university to develop a highly reliable electric power system which may help development of the society of the future, by learning the technologies which have been contributing to the advanced electric power system in Japan.
A faculity member of Kumamoto University provided lectures on three themes: identifying malfunctions in solar energy systems, applications of pulse power, and reliability of the supply of electric power in electric power systems, in addition to a briefing on the power systems in Japan. We also invited them to the test lab for power systems and pulse power at Kumamoto University. They showed strong interest as young people for the test lab, and asked a lot of questions.
They also visited the Central Load Dispatching Office and the Transmission and Distribution Control Center in Kumamoto of the Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. to observe the operation of the most advanced power system in Japan. At the Central Load Dispatching Office, power generation and the load in the Kyushu area are cleverly controlled in maintaining the all time low frequency fluctuation range which is one digit smaller than that of Myanmar. At the Transmission and Distribution Control Center in Kumamoto, they actually saw that the automated control system and the distribution system of the electric power system for Kumamoto Prefecture would be automatically restored in the event of an accident. Seeing these systems, they could envision a highly reliable electric power system with much less power outage than now in their home countries if a system like this was introduced in their countries.
As a research exchange activity among the participating students, five presentations about their power system research from graduate students of Kumamoto University and five presentations from the students of Yangon Technological University were performed. In addition, we made four groups of about six people, each consisting of two or three students from both universities. These groups were engaged in discussions on “what is a good electric power system” while having their home country's electric power condition in mind.
After this research presentation, we held a social gathering with 11 students from Yangon Technological University and 11 students from Kumamoto University, and they have deepened their friendship. In spite of unfortunate weather, we headed to Mt. Aso on July 8th (Sunday) and spent the whole day there. They had a chance to take a look at the crater for a short amount of time when the mist cleared up, and had a sense of the majestic nature that is created by Kusasenri and Aso Caldera. They tasted a piece of Japanese culture by visiting a quiet precinct of Aso Shrine whose tower gate was destroyed by the Kumamoto Earthquakes two years ago, and took a stroll in the downtown area where there is a plentiful supply of spring water.
Regardless of a very busy schedule, the students from Yangon Technological University actively participated in the program without showing any sign of fatigue. We were able to engage their interest in our country. Not only that, it was a meaningful experience for the students from Kumamoto University as well through sharing many different activites with them. We will continue to make opportunities to have exchange programs with the students from Yangon Technological University and the students from Kumamoto University.
