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Learn and Teach Each Other What is the in-house PAS University?
In October 2024, Panasonic Automotive Systems University (PAS University) was established as an in-house university at Panasonic Automotive Systems. We interviewed four people involved in PAS University, which aims to improve employees’ abilities and skills and support autonomous career development based on the concept of learning and teaching each other. From among the various initiatives of community formation for professional development and personnel development, we would like to introduce the UX Design and AI courses.
Please tell us about the background behind the establishment of PAS University.
Higuchi: In conjunction with our transformation into a business company in April 2022, we have been reforming our human resource system with the objective of strengthening our human capital management. Based on our policy of aiming to be the company with the best personnel development, we established PAS University with the aim of integrating and strengthening the training systems previously provided by each department as a corporate entity, to support employees in their autonomous career development.
What are the features of PAS University?
Higuchi: We value personnel development as part of our management philosophy, and each department has built a solid training foundation. PAS University follows and encompasses all of the foundational training that has been accumulated, and by regularly communicating the importance of teaching by executives and others involved, we aim to promote a cycle of learning in which people learn by themselves and teach others, and create an environment in which individuals can quickly learn the latest technologies to add to their own knowledge and know-how.
PAS University, where anyone can be a lecturer or a student, provides a chance to look at oneself from multiple perspectives, creating a new desire to learn. By having current employees who work on the front lines serve as lecturers, we are able to provide training with a sense of speed that cannot be obtained outside the company, while leveraging in-house expertise and keeping pace with trends in the automobile industry, where technology is changing rapidly.
Lecturers include not only experts in in-vehicle devices development, but also many people with experience in development of Panasonic’s digital home appliances and cell phones. For example, many technologies from home appliances and cell phones have been installed into in-vehicle devices. Engineers with experience in these development processes at Panasonic can teach the knowledge they have gained from working on in-vehicle devices development based on their backgrounds, which is a great strength of this system.
What prompted you to take the course and lecture?
Yadani: I felt the need to keep engineers’ AI knowledge at the academic conference level amid the rapid evolution of AI technology and actively served as a lecturer in the study groups of my department. In the future, AI technology will be increasingly installed in in-vehicle devices for driver assistance and other applications, so I believe there is a need to expand the scope of AI technology within our company as well. Recently, I have been working to spread AI technology to members of other departments through on-the-job training so that they can support driver assistance technology for in-vehicle devices.
Kobayashi: I realized the importance of UX design when I was involved in the development of cell phones at my previous job and studied it on my own. After coming to this company, I taught UX design in my own department, but I thought it would be a waste to keep it within the department. Then I received an invitation to be a lecturer, and I knew I had to participate.
Iino: I was transferred from the sales division to the business division, and my responsibilities changed to product planning. While reviewing new commercial products as a product planner, I learned that there was a place to learn about UX design, which is about designing a pleasurable experience for customers, and I decided to take the course. As I continued to take the course, I became interested in taking on a position as a specialized UX designer, and I requested a transfer within the company to work as a UX designer for a new business. Taking the course led me to take on the challenge of a new position.
What were your impressions of taking the course and lecturing?
Iino: In addition to classroom lectures, the course includes workshops and group work. It was very useful for me to have a place where I could systematically practice what I learned. The content of the course also included mind-building activities, and I was able to acquire practical skills that I would not have acquired from classroom lectures alone. I am currently involved in the development of services for our SaaS business, and the methods for identifying customer issues and evaluating usability are useful in my actual work.
Kobayashi: Giving lectures was a good opportunity for me to reflect on my practical experience. If you’re teaching, you must teach well. To do that, you have to verbalize, and looking back on myself, I realized that I still had a lot to learn. This also gave me the opportunity to resume my own learning. I also became aware of different ways of thinking through the feedback I received from the participants. This experience has helped me broaden my imagination about user experiences.
Yadani: I feel that I have improved my skills by reading papers to explain AI technology and by actually employing AI. I have also become more conscious of the fact that others can apply the results of the AI that I develop in my main job. The sharp questions and trend tracking from the participants stimulated me and made me more aware of the latest technologies. Spreading the awareness of learning about AI has created a culture in which the entire team in my department is pursuing cutting-edge technologies, and new initiatives are being promoted. Through on-the-job training in advanced development and product development, I believe that we are learning from each other as we move forward.
What are the benefits of PAS University?
Iino: Employees serve as instructors and accumulate knowledge and skills from the teaching perspective. Participants are also encouraged to become lecturers, so the system allows the organization to run autonomously. As a former student, I now have more opportunities to serve as an instructor. As participants become instructors, the number of people in a position to teach is increasing, leading to further improvement of employees’ skills.
Yadani: I think this is exactly the concept of learning by oneself and teaching others. I have been managing a programming learning community, and I believe that learning is more enjoyable and effective when people teach each other rather than learning subjectively. In the future, I would like to develop a culture where teaching skills to each other is the norm.
Kobayashi: I think it also leads to smoother communication within the company. When people participate in courses, they form various horizontal connections across divisions. It also gives us more opportunities to interact with employees at other locations that we wouldn’t encounter in the normal course of business. This makes it easier to ask for advice on small matters on a day-to-day basis. I think this has improved efficiency in company-wide operations.
Do you have any plans for your future work or anything you would like to learn more about?
Iino: I would like to further develop my skills to teach others. I want to share what I have learned with people inside and outside the company and grow together with them. I also want to actively incorporate what I have learned into my work. I would like to acquire skills that will be necessary in the future, such as knowledge of AI as well as UX design, and improve the quality of my output.
Kobayashi: I want to spread the concept of people-centered UX design throughout the company. As part of PAS University’s mission, I would like to think about the best way to spread this concept within the company and work on it one step at a time.
Yadani: AI and software are rapidly evolving, so I would like to create a team that can enhance each other’s skills and constantly keep up with the latest technologies. In the future, we will put more effort into the software technology area. I would like to actively engage in and contribute to software personnel development initiatives.
What are your future plans for PAS University?
Higuchi: We would like to grow PAS University to not only serve as a place to provide training, but also to formulate personnel development plans in line with our business and technology strategies, and to achieve our unique human capital management goals. In addition to the traditional classroom training style, we will form a learning community where everyone learns from each other and provides learning opportunities through mutual communication where everyone learns and teaches. In parallel, we would like to expand the scope of personnel development, including cross-cultural exchange, by promoting collaboration with global locations. We have also begun exchanges with outside companies with a view to collaboration among in-house universities.