Lectures by Prof. Schacher
We invited Professor Laurence Schacher of the Ecole nationale superieure des ingenieurs Sud Alsace (ENSISA) to serve as a guest lecturer for International Topics on fiber Engineering. Professor Schacher delivered lectures on an extensive variety of topics related to textile technology, including smart and connected textile applications and nanofibers for medical applications, while focusing on applications such as sportswear and protective clothing, wheelchairs, and medicine. The lectures were open to the general student body and were attended by several graduate students from outside the Leading Program.
During a round-table session with Leading Program students, Professor Schacher exchanged views with the students on the importance of reading scientific papers. Reflecting on her own background as a student at a time when all sources had to be read one page at a time in a library, which made the process extremely time-consuming, she taught the students, who are pursuing their own studies during an Internet-connected age, about the need to select from the enormous amount of information that is readily available and choose only the best, a process that's both important and time-consuming. She also noted that in an era characterized by an overabundance of information, today's facts may no longer be considered facts tomorrow, and explained that students living in such busy times must struggle with the fast pace of their era as a result. She also observed that impact factor is not necessarily indicative of the quality of the scientific journal in question. For students for whom it's become second nature to search for answers on the Internet, the professor's words conveyed a deeply interesting message that applies to everyday life and research as well as to scientific papers, making her visit a significant and meaningful one for them.
Professor Schacher was a kind guest who worked to get to know each student, memorizing their names and faces and asking where they were from. Over the course of the several days she spent with them, she passed on something more to the students than just scientific knowledge.
The Program would like to thank Professor Schacher for taking time out of her busy schedule to come to Japan to speak to its students.
