The Roberto Rocca Education Program marked in March its fourth year in Japan by awarding ten Scholarships to five Applied Mechanics students from Waseda University and five Materials Science and Metallurgy students from the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

At an awards ceremony at TenarisNKKTubes, Claudio Leali, North East Area Manager, explained to the students how the program draws inspiration from Roberto Rocca’s vision of the role of engineers in society. “Roberto Rocca, the late Chairman of the Techint Group, made a great contribution to the development of the energy industry. But not only was he an excellent engineer, he was also a man of culture who was committed to helping others,” he stated.

He added: “I hope our scholarship students will follow the path of engineers like Roberto Rocca.”

In his comments to the students, Yoshiaki Okamoto, Product Design Manager, said: “This scholarship program exposes students to a different world. We hope that some of them may join us in the future”.

For Motoki Okuno, from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the Roberto Rocca Scholarship will help him achieve his goal of doing research in materials that “will have a significant influence on the Industry.”

Natsuki Nishizawa and Sonomi Shirasaki, both from Waseda University, said they believed that as engineers they hoped their professional accomplishments would have a broader impact. “Being involved in the steel industry, which forms the foundation of various businesses, we would like to contribute to the development of society,”

In spite of the difficult economic environment TenarisNKKTubes faces in Japan, the company remains committed to the Roberto Rocca Education Program, viewing it as an investment in the development of human resources Japan needs for the future.