Abstract

The Alternative ☆ Energy Contest is a new contest on "energy utilization" mainly for university and technical college students, which started in 2008 as an event in which the technology and society departments of the JSME cooperate. The mark "☆" in the title of the contest indicates something that goes beyond the preconceived notions of alternative energy, and the essence of this contest that appeals for novel ideas appears there. From 2012, the year after the Fukushima nuclear accident caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, a stationary event was held at the College of Engineering, Nihon University located in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, as an event to watch over the reconstruction of Fukushima. The 17th meeting (October 19th, 2024) is scheduled to be held on the onsite and website with the College of Engineering, Nihon University as the operating base. We are grateful for the opportunity to give an overview of this contest at this civic forum in this paper.