Engineering Business in Japan

Mia Nakayama
Japan
Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering

In Japan, it’s common for college graduates to jump immediately into the workforce. So when Mia Nakayama started eyeing a second undergraduate degree, the decision to continue her education wasn’t easy.

“I thought, ‘Am I really going to start job hunting when I’m 27?’” she said. “But my parents kept telling me, ‘Do whatever you want to do, just go for it.’ Whenever I felt sad, they were always supportive.”

The first-generation college student will graduate from the University of Idaho in fall 2018 with her bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and has a job waiting with the international industrial engineering company Yanmar.

Nakayama will also graduate from the College of Engineering’s Grand Challenge Scholars Program, the only program in Idaho educating students to take on the toughest challenges of the 21st century.

Her research project focused on the economic analysis of wind turbines. Using literary research, Nakayama analyzed cost, efficiency and power output of turbines located around the globe and found offshore turbines weren’t always the most viable energy options.

Nakayama’s interest in engineering was heightened after graduating from Hosei University in Tokyo, not far from her hometown. A business degree spurred interest in the infrastructure that drives a company’s success, and the engineering required to keep it functioning.

Article by Alexiss Turner, College of Engineering.