NEWS

ICU Student Wins Special Prize in the 24th Science and Technology Essay Competition for Science and Technology Students

Update: March 25, 2024

A third-year student of the College of Liberal Arts, Azuki Onaya (Major: Information Science), received a special award at the 24th Science and Technology Essay Contest for Science and Technology Students (tentative translation). The award ceremony was held on March 22.

The Science and Technology Essay Competition for Science and Technology Students is held by the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun and the Monodzukuri Nippon Conference as an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students (in a master's course) of science and technology and technical college students to express their thoughts and feelings about science and technology in their daily lives. The theme of the competition is "Science and Technology and the Future of Japan," but applicants can choose the subtitle.

Onaya chose "Visualization of characteristics of people with developmental disabilities using an auditory simulator to promote their social participation" as the subtitle of the paper.

Outline of the Paper

The reason why it is difficult for people with developmental disabilities to participate in society is that developmental disabilities are disorders of brain functions, thus others do not easily recognize their characteristics. Therefore, I propose the development of a simulator that enables people to actually experience the auditory characteristics of people with developmental disabilities, such as difficulty in understanding the content of conversations and fear caused by even weak auditory stimuli. Combined with the visual experience simulator, which is the subject of preceding research, this simulator is expected to deepen understanding of the characteristics of developmental disabilities and promote social participation by people with developmental disabilities.

Comments by the Awardee

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Hiroki Tanaka for his guidance even before he started his position, Dr. Keisuke Ishibashi and Dr. Takashi Kaburagi for their advice, the Writing Support Desk, the Center for Teaching and Learning for their daily support, and my family and friends. As I had never written a paper before, this competition was a valuable opportunity for me to express my thoughts. I will continue to devote myself to my research, making the most of this experience and my studies at ICU.