Opening Ceremony of the 2025 Space Engineering Workshop
On Sunday, June 22, 2025, the Center for Collaborative Study with Community, Promotion of Regional Collaboration at Gifu University and the Center for Space Research and Utilization Promotion, the Faculty of Engineering, held the opening ceremony for the "2025 Space Engineering Workshop" at Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum in Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture. This workshop aims to provide students with foundational knowledge in space engineering and foster future professionals in satellite, rocket, and aerospace industries through cross-school collaboration. High school and technical college students from across Gifu Prefecture participated in the event (103 students from 16 schools enrolled, and one auditor from one school attended).
Participants will receive online lectures on cutting-edge space engineering topics delivered by faculty members from Gifu University and experts from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and other institutions. A field trip to the Nobeyama Radio Observatory (Nagano Prefecture) of National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and JAXA Tsukuba Space Center (Ibaragi Prefecture) is also scheduled for November this year.
The opening ceremony began with a welcome address from President YOSHIDA Kazuhiro of Gifu University, followed by greetings from representatives of related organizations, including Governor Esaki Yoshihide of Gifu Prefecture. The event also featured reports on the CanSat Program1 and the Gifu High School Sat (GHS) project, both part of the university's space talent development initiatives, as well as the announcement of the GHS nickname. A special lecture was delivered by Mr. Andy Masciola, NASA Asia Representative, who spoke about NASA's space initiatives including the Artemis Program2. The lecture was well received, with many students expressing heightened interest in space.
The workshop will consist of nine sessions in total, concluding with the closing ceremony on Saturday, December 13.
※The Space Engineering Workshop is conducted as part of the Gifu Space Study Association and Gifu University's high school-university collaboration initiative. It is co-hosted, supported, and operated in cooperation with the Kakamigahara City Government, the Gifu Prefectural Board of Education, Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum, National Institute of Technology (KOSEN), Gifu College, Gifu Industries' Association, College of Naka-nippon Aviation, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Planet Science (France), Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. and Intelligent Production Technology Research & Development Center for Aerospace (IPTeCA).
1) a very small and simple satellite but has similar functions with satellites and is maneuvered in the far distance from the human operators
2) NASA's new lunar exploration program, established in 2017. The program's stated long-term goal is to establish a permanent base on the Moon to facilitate human missions to Mars.
