Honda Motor Co. President and Hiroshima University alumnus Toshihiro Mibe returned to the campus to talk about his student life and career and encourage others to become protagonists for change in society.

Mibe — president, CEO, and representative director of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. — is an alumnus of HU’s School of Engineering (Cluster 1, Mechanical Engineering) and the Graduate School of Engineering (Combustion Engineering Laboratory). 

On November 10, Mibe came back to the Higashi-Hiroshima campus for the first time in more than 30 years — since he completed his graduate studies in 1987 — to give a lecture titled “To the protagonists of change, who are ready to take action with determination.” About 300 students, faculty, and staff attended the event held at the Satake Memorial Hall. The lecture was also live-streamed for alumni and other members of the university.

The lecture was organized by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) as part of its annual “University Campus Visiting Lecture Series.” In this series, top executives from JAMA member companies speak and dialogue face to face with students about the appeal of automobiles, motorcycles, and the manufacturing sector.

In his speech, Mibe introduced his life as a university student, his career from being an engineer to becoming the president, the new venture of Honda, and the creation of new businesses in an easy-to-understand manner and with the help of videos. He encouraged students saying, “Don’t just assume that this is all you can do, but set your goals as high and as big as you can because each one of you is the protagonist of change in society.”

During the Q&A session after the lecture, the engineering students asked many questions about the future of electric and gasoline vehicles and the Japanese automobile industry. Finally, HU President Mitsuo Ochi and Professor Atsushi Sugeta, Dean of the School of Engineering, presented him with a certificate of appreciation and a commemorative gift.

Hiroki Oppata, a fourth-year engineering student who attended the lecture, excitedly said, “I was able to learn about various challenges that are not limited to engines and bodies, such as flying cars and walking support systems for the visually impaired, and I felt that the possibilities of the automobile industry are expanding in all directions. I would like to broaden my perspective and consider my research field and society in the future.”

In front of the Satake Memorial Hall, an F1 racing car “AT02” that was used in a race and a 1/10 scale model of the “Honda eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing)” that is being developed as a new means of air transportation were displayed. Many students and faculty eagerly asked questions about the models to the experts before and after the lecture.