About the mission

This year marks the fifth edition of the InterÉTS mission. For the occasion, it is now expanding. After visiting Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom, it is now heading to Asia, more precisely to Japan. This time, it is not eight, but ten students who will take part in the mission! They are : Amélie Brien (CTN), Brian Desgroseilliers (GOL), Charles Sévigny (CTN), Ka Hei Chu (ÉLE), Félixe Girard (GPA), Justin Corbin (ÉLE), Marlie Dessources (GOL), Marc-Antoine Dumas (GPA), Michel Gargour (GPA) and Nicolas Lemieux (ÉLE). Having all distinguished themselves for their interest towards the international dimension of engineering, they will have the privilege to represent the ÉTS in front of multiple nipponese companies and universities, with an intention to create academic and corporate partnerships. However, the primary goal of the InterÉTS missions remains to allow these students to impregnate themselves with teaching methods and particularities specific to the engineering profession within a nation standing as an innovational worlwide leader.

This mission consists in much more than the habitual academic travel. The students act as ÉTS’s ambassadors in an other country seeking to acquire knowledge for any individual going abroad about work techniques that differ from what is common in North America. The obtained knowledge is intended to be shared in our post mission report, publicly available. Additionally, it has been decided that the website will also serve as the team’s blog with real-time sharing of our discoveries. There is hope that this year iteration will reach a record audience.

Once more, the mission will be lead and supervised by Annick Corbeil, responsible of international mobility at ÉTS, Sophie Boulanger, an internship coordinator and Jules Richard, master of education in charge of the intercultural communication course (COM115), which is mandatory for any mission participant. Also, François Blanchard, teacher at the électrical engineering department of the ÉTS and researcher at Kyoto University, will welcome us into his laboratories in addition to offer himself as a guide during our stay in Kyoto.

Despite what can be thought, being part of the mission requires a considerable investment much longer than the stay duration. Indeed, since mid-October, the selected participants take part in weekly meetings on every Thursday for a duration of a few hours to discuss about Japanese culture and logistical operations. Among the many tasks which have to be done, they have to search for sponsors and financing, planify the itinerary (companies, universities, cultural must-sees and more), manage the blog and the budget. Even if we are helped by Quebec’s Delegation in Tokyo to make contact with the Japanese companies, each meeting has a well filled agenda.

Finally, even though our calendar still has some blanks to fill, some of the finest industries are already figuring on it, such as Toyota, Olympus and Panasonic. Prestigious institutions such as Kyoto University, Waseda University and the University of Tokyo are also part of our planned visits, as well as branches from Canadian enterprises such as CAE and the Cirque du Soleil. Evidently, more activities have yet to be confirmed, so make sure to keep following our blog!