Hello everyone. This is Meguru Ito, I am the head physics teacher at ICT. Today, I would like to talk about our annual event, STEM Fair 2026.

 STEM Fair is an opportunity for students to present the results of their summer assignment, the Summer STEM Project. It is held every year in late September, just before the start of the fall semester. Simply put, it is a showcase of the students’ summer independent research projects.

 Students are free to choose their own topics. This year, many 1st year students focused on statistically analyzing subjects that interested them. Their projects explored topics such as the relationship between training volume and muscle mass or athletic performance, the connection between walking conditions and stride length, the effects of study conditions on test scores, and the relationship between music and concentration.

 
 Other students investigated probabilities, such as the easiest places for goalkeepers to stop penalty kicks in soccer. To do this, one student analyzed over 300 penalty kicks. Another student played rock-paper-scissors 1,000 times to determine which hand was most likely to win. Yet another examined the appearance rates of characters in a smartphone game by collecting data from an impressive 2,000 trials. These projects demonstrated remarkable dedication, requiring significant time and effort.

 Among the 2nd year students, several projects involved developing apps and building robots. The quality of their work was particularly impressive. It was clear that many students genuinely enjoyed their projects. I was also pleased to see how they were able to apply the knowledge and skills they had developed during their first year and a half at ICT.

 There were many other unique and creative projects as well, and I encourage you to check out the news articles to learn more about them.

 Thanks to the hard work of our students and the support of our faculty members, STEM Fair has become one of the signature events of the Hakusanroku Campus. While the projects may not yet qualify as advanced academic research, it is truly exciting to see students turn their own ideas and interests into tangible projects.

 In recent years, advances in generative AI have made it possible to obtain information instantly and generate reports or programs with ease. However, studies have suggested that simply receiving information or AI-generated output does not always lead to deep learning or lasting understanding. What impressed me about this year's projects was that the students carried out their own investigations, experiments, and designs. I believe that knowledge and experience gained through active, hands-on effort are the ones that truly stay with us.

 I hope this event helps our students develop those kinds of learning skills and serves as the first step toward future research experiences.

Meguru Ito