On June 18th, 2014, a one-day field trip to the famous Japanese eco-city of Kitakyushu was conducted by Prof. Qian and Prof. Mahichi. More than 20 students from their classes, the IMAT class and Prof. Yan LI's seminar class joined the trip.
With internationally acknowledged eco-town projects, the city of Kitakyushu has offered excellent examples for building sound material cycles. During the trip, the APU "eco-team" had a rather tight schedule including eight site visits, lectures from local institutions and former alumni, discussions of interested eco-topics moderated by the two professors, Q&A with factory staff, etc. With multi-disciplinary backgrounds and differed but relevant research interests, fruitful and inspiring outcomes were seen throughout each session of the event.
This "eco-field trip" started at 6:00AM and ended at 7:00PM. Though very tired, the experiences, knowledge, net-workings and inspirations harvested from this trip have echoed in each and every one of the participants.
Our sincere gratitude goes to Prof. Qian and Prof. Mahichi, as well as each student and staff who made this even successful.
(Reported by Edison/Xiaolong ZOU, PhD Student)