Supporting Students’ Learning and the Development of DX Human Resources
AsiaQuest (Headquarters: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo), which supports the digital transformation of companies by utilizing digital technologies such as IoT and AI, has participated in the Kyoto University of Advanced Science (KUAS) Capstone Project for the 2024 academic year. This project is a practical education program in which students take on the challenge of solving corporate issues, and the final presentation was held on January 15, 2025.
■ What is the Capstone Project?
The KUAS Capstone Project is a practical education program in which junior and senior students work together to develop the kind of practical skills that modern society demands, through a system in which students solve problems faced by companies. In addition to applying their specialist knowledge, students also hone the skills they will need in society, such as communication and problem-solving skills.
URL：https://www.kuas.ac.jp/academics/engineering/capstone-project/
■ Background to AsiaQuest participation and challenges provided
AsiaQuest joined the project in 2024, believing that it was an important initiative that could support the development of local communities and businesses by training and producing talented DX personnel. The aim was to foster the ability to think about solving business issues for companies centered around digital technology, and to produce DX human resources who can play an active role in society as soon as they graduate.
AsiaQuest provided two challenges related to “image analysis” and “robots” that made use of our company's technological capabilities. The project began in April 2024, and when working on the challenges, our company's IT engineers who are active in the field provided advice to the students at weekly meetings as their mentors.
・The challenges provided by AsiaQuest
Image analysis: Object identification using images from surveillance cameras at industrial facilities.
Robot: Shortest path travel for mobile robots using topological graphs.
The final presentation was held on January 15th, 2025, as a venue for presenting the results of the year's research.
■ Report on the final presentation of the project
On January 15th 2025, the final presentation of the Capstone Project was held at KUAS. From AsiaQuest, several employees including the Division Director and Professor Fujita and Researcher Kikuchi participated and watched the students' presentations of their results.
↑Students who participated in the Capstone Project
Over 150 teams set up booths in the venue and gave “poster presentations” about their research to the participants. The presentations lasted for around two hours, and the students gave presentations about their research themes, including their past achievements and issues, and engaged in lively exchanges of opinion. In particular, the way they skillfully used English and Japanese to explain their work in a way that was easy for participants from overseas to understand was impressive, and the venue was filled with the enthusiasm of the students.
After that, the participants voted for the presentations they thought were the best. The teams that received the most votes were awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze prizes in that order.
After the presentations, there was a question and answer session between the students and the company engineers. The students asked not only technical questions, but also many questions about job hunting. The AsiaQuest employees gave friendly advice based on their own experiences.
■General comments from the participating engineers
Robot Team
The students worked hard to achieve their goals, and were able to develop their problem-solving skills and teamwork. The software-related challenges were a new challenge for students majoring in mechatronics and robotics, but they actively learned and grew.
Image Recognition Team
The students worked enthusiastically on the challenges and were able to carry out independent research activities. Even students who initially had almost no programming knowledge were able to master image analysis using AI and complete the project in a few months.
■Future Prospects
AsiaQuest will continue to participate in the KUAS capstone project from April 2025, supporting students’ learning. We also hope to contribute to the improvement of students' skills by providing more practical challenges, making use of the knowledge gained through this project.
AsiaQuest will continue to develop students and further explore ideas, and will also actively work on social implementation that goes beyond the scope of the project. Through this, we will further deepen the collaboration between education, research and the business world, and aim to create new value that will expand the possibilities of DX.
■About AsiaQuest Co., Ltd.
AsiaQuest provides comprehensive support for customers' DX (digital transformation), from consulting to system design, development and operation using digital technology.
We have specialist technology teams in the digital fields of IoT, AI, Cloud, Mobile, Web and UI/UX, and we can put together the optimal project team for our customers' goals. Thanks to our extensive knowledge and broad technical capabilities in the field of DX, we can respond quickly to everything from the implementation of PoCs to verify the effectiveness of business models and technical issues to the construction of large-scale systems that are compatible with digital technology.