The International PBL program, which has been launched every summer vacation at the three universities since 2017 with the addition of OIT, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology in Taiwan, and San Jose-Recoletos in Philippines starting in 2019, was held for seven days from August 20 to 26 this year at University of San Jose-Recoletos The program was held at the Basak Campus of the University of San Jose-Recoletos in Cebu, Philippines, for seven days from August 20 to 26 this year. Ten students (9 from Department of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering and 1 from Department of Electronic and Information Systems Engineering), 15 from the University of San Jose- Recoletos, and 10 from Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology participated in this program.

This year, under the theme of "2023 SMART FARMING CHALLENGE," five three-university mixed teams consisting of students from the three universities worked on the program to achieve three program objectives: "collaborate within a three-university international team to achieve goals," "build an IoT system to control hydroponics," and "understand the control system to complete certain tasks," with the theme of building a hydroponic system for lettuce cultivation.

Prior to the program, students who were selected through an on-campus selection committee attended a 2-hour online language training course supervised by the Department of Languages and Literature at the University of San Jose-Recoletos for 5 weeks in July, where they received training in English, the common language, and Visayan, the local language. In these language training sessions, participants also learned about Philippine culture in advance. In addition, they also worked on technical training to acquire the expertise and skills necessary to carry out the program, giving up their Obon vacation to prepare for the actual program.

In the main program, students from three different universities with different specialties transcended differences in nationality and language, and worked as a team to build the target system while utilizing their respective expertise. On the final day of the program, the students moved from the Basak campus on Cebu Island to the beach on Mactan Island, where the closing ceremony was held with a view of the beautiful sea of Lapu-Lapu. In a survey conducted after the program, many students expressed a high level of satisfaction with the program. Many also said that they reaffirmed the importance of learning English communication skills and deeper specialized knowledge, and many students may have been able to set new goals for their future studies as university students. I believe that many of the participating students may have been able to set new goals for their future studies as university students. Many said that they were stimulated by life in the Philippines, food culture, traffic rules, and other aspects of life overseas, as well as communication that transcended nationality and culture.

This international PBL will be held at Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology in Taiwan City, Tainan, in the next academic year.