TIEs That Bind: Connecting Technology to the Real World

More than 30 mostly masters-level students from EPITA and other universities around the world took part in the inaugural TIE (Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship) Summer Programme organised by Tohoku University's School of Engineering.

Across four weeks in June and July, participants engaged in cutting-edge digital technology education and hands-on entrepreneurship training to tackle real-world social challenges, particularly those posed by an ageing society and natural disasters. "Engineering students often concentrate on exploring science and technology in depth," said programme coordinator Ai Funayama. "But in this programme, we challenged them to ask not just how technology works, but who it is for and what problems it can solve."

The programme drew on the expertise of lecturers from Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia, covering topics from digital identity and secure data exchange to national infrastructure resilience, AI-driven public procurement and environmental sustainability.

Specialist sessions added further depth, with lectures on tsunami disaster mitigation, resilience in complex socio-technical systems and AI-powered chatbot development. A guest lecture by Yushi Nakaya, co-founder of a Silicon Valley AI startup, offered an insider's account of startup growth and management.

At the core of the programme's entrepreneurship stream was a bootcamp led by Associate Professor Stephane Yu Matsushita, in which students were pushed to apply what they were learning about technology to genuine social needs. Teams progressed from identifying problems that AI and digital transformation could realistically address, to assessing market demand and competitive advantage, to designing and validating a working prototype.

A four-part Global Innovation Workshop, led by Professor Hirokazu Moriya and Associate Professor Takeshi Kato, deepened the students' understanding of platform strategy, venture capital thinking and startup sustainability.

"In my university in France, we're more technical and computer science oriented. Here, we're learning about entrepreneurship and project management, which is different but complementary, and that's very interesting," said Lea Bonet.

Fellow EPITA student Titouan Ameline de Cadeville agreed. "This was an opportunity to broaden my scope. I thought it was really valuable to hear about different challenges in society and think about what we can do with technology." Mikko Wu, from University of Toronto, added that the syllabus was a natural fit for him. "My personal focus is on user experience design, which aligns well with exploring how technology interacts with actual users."

The programme culminated in a pitch competition in which teams were judged on their opportunity assessment, research quality and the originality of their proposed solutions.

Matsushita came away impressed. "They worked very well together and went out into the city to conduct interviews, overcoming the language barrier creatively using tools like ChatGPT to communicate," he said. "On the business side, they came up with some amazing solutions. Hopefully we gave them something to build on."

Alongside the academic sessions, students took part in cultural activities including a kimono dressing and tea ceremony experience.

And two field trips brought the curriculum to life with vivid real-world experiences. In Yamagata, students explored a mountaintop temple and practised calligraphy on shogi tiles, whilst in Ishinomaki they immersed themselves in local culture through a fish market cooking workshop and discovered how a local fishery company is leveraging digital technology to rebuild in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. They also visited the Disaster Recovery Memorial Museum in Higashi-Matsushima.

"I've always been fascinated by Japanese culture, so I really like that these few weeks have not just been about lessons," said Rachel Digna from EPITA. "We've had really nice experiences too and that's important."

To learn more about TIE and other short programmes offered by the School of Engineering, please visit: https://www.ied.eng.tohoku.ac.jp/en/