Practical Study in Textile Fundamentals (factory training at Mimaki Engineering)

On July 6, first-year Leading Program students and interested students in the second year and up participated in a factory training program as part of the Basic Textile Practicum course. During the session, which was the first of the 2016 academic year, students visited Mimaki Engineering Co., Ltd., a developer of commercial, large-format inkjet printers and other products that is headquartered in Nagano Prefecture.
The training began with a greeting from President Ikeda, who explained how Mimaki Engineering is "striving to become a truly global corporation" and emphasized his interest in pursuing "technological collaboration with Shinshu University in the future." Students then visited the company's Shigeno Showroom, which opened one year ago, as well as its Textile Apparel and Industrial Products Lab Center.
During their tours of the showroom and lab, students learned in detail about large-format inkjet printers and vinyl sign cutters as well as the many products that they can be used to make. Staff members took the the time to provide careful answers to each of the students' many questions, greatly expanding the students' knowledge. Among the many products that the students saw was a printed kimono that was as beautiful as a hand-dyed kimono. It's fair to say that the students who tried it on got to experience what the company means when it says, "Other than water and air, we can print anything."
During a question-and-answer session after the tour was over, students asked many forward-looking questions about topics such as how much capital investment would be required in order to launch a printer manufacturing company in the future and how the company feels about hiring employees with doctoral degrees, receiving valuable advice from experienced employees at the company in return. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mimaki Engineering for graciously agreeing to host this factory tour.