Influence of Culture on Mechanical Design: A Proposal For an Undergraduate Exchange and Design Competition Between Japanese and American Students

The ability for American engineers to work and communicate with global partners is now an essential skill. Much of our manufacturing occurs in other countries and many companies have footprints that span across borders. Thus, it is necessary for engineers to be able to work collaboratively with international colleagues and take on international perspectives. It is our and many others’ view that learning from cultural exchanges is a priceless experience, especially for young minds, and it seeds understandings that permeate the engineers’ future decisions and behavior in a positive way. To foster this growth in our students, I am requesting funds to launch an annual exchange between Meijo University (Nagoya, Japan) mechanical engineering students and UC Davis mechanical and aerospace engineering students. This exchange is centered around a design competition between approximately ten students from each University that is tied to both school’s mechanical design courses. This experience will develop a cultural understanding of design through hands on design projects, improve both technical and social exchange among American and Japanese students, and foster industrial and academic connections between the two regions: Chubu and Sacramento.