ZHAW BSc Informatik exchange at Shibaura Institute of Technology, Tokyo, autumn 2027. This page compares the current plan with possible swaps, using Olaf Stern's rulings, the ZHAW list of modules past students passed, SIT's 2026 syllabi and timetable, and reports from former students.
Difficulty (●○) is my estimate from each 2026 SIT syllabus: grading, workload and prerequisites. Nobody has rated these courses. "Passed by ZHAW" is from the ZHAW sheet of modules passed abroad (2025HS, by programme). Timeslots are from the 2026 autumn timetable and may change for 2027.
| Module | JP cr → ECTS | IT relevance | Difficulty* | Olaf | Passed by ZHAW (2025HS) | Slot 2026 | Syllabus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current plan (28 ECTS) | |||||||
| Introduction to Multimedia Technology Two written exams make up 80% of the grade. The syllabus budgets about 5,320 min of work, roughly double the other courses. Needs linear algebra plus Python, C++ or Matlab. |
3 → 6 | High | Approved | IT | Tue P1 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Introduction to Affective Computing Midterm 35%, group project and presentation 50%, quizzes 15%. Hands-on work with physiological sensors and statistics. |
2 → 4 | Med–High | Approved | — | Wed P4 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Mechatronics 100% short reports, no exam. Covers microcontrollers, sensors, image processing and robots, about 2,800 min. Olaf warned it could be demanding. |
2 → 4 | Medium | Approved | IT, ET, ST | Wed P3 · Toyosu (F1 quarter) | open ↗ | |
| Introduction to Computer Science and Engineering Omnibus lectures by about 17 professors. Graded on lecture-summary papers (70%) and 2 reports (30%). The syllabus says students who submit all papers and reports get over 60, i.e. a pass. |
2 → 4 | High | Approved | — | Fri P1 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Engineering Research Weekly worksheets plus mid-term and final research-proposal presentations. Writing-heavy, aimed at English B2–C2. |
2 → 4 | Low | Approved | MO | Wed P2 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Speech Processing Signal processing, coding, Bayesian and deep learning, with programming exercises. Graded on reports (80%) and a presentation (20%). |
2 → 4 | High | Not asked yet | IT, ET | Tue P5 · Omiya | open ↗ | |
| Japanese Language I A 2025 IT student called it the only course that wasn't easy (report p. 8). A Munich student says it assumes hiragana and katakana. *Counts for only 2 ECTS. |
2 → 2* | Low | Counts max 2 ECTS | IT, MO | Mon/Wed/Thu · Omiya | open ↗ | |
| Swap / add candidates | |||||||
| Mobile Communication Networks Graduate seminar: paper presentations 50%, discussion 40%, assignments 10%. The syllabus says anyone who attends 80% or more, presents and submits assignments gets 60% and the credits. Non-graduate students need the professor's prior permission. |
2 → 4 | High | Not asked yet | IT | Tue P2 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| History of Japan I Weekly summaries plus poster presentations as the mid-term and final, no memorisation. A 2025 report (p. 13) says it's always fully booked. |
2 → 4 | Low (Kontext?) | Not asked yet | IT | Thu P3 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Management of Innovation Online on Zoom, 7-week quarter course built on a textbook, with group work. You fail with more than 3 absences or more than 3 missed assignments. |
2 → 4 | Low (Kontext?) | Not asked yet | ST | Wed P1 · online (F1) | open ↗ | |
| Engineering Ethics Philosophy-heavy. Final exam 50%, presentation 20%, in-class work 30%. You must attend at least 2/3 of classes. |
2 → 4 | Low (Kontext?) | Not asked yet | MO | Tue P3 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Principles of Sustainable Development for Engineers Writing-heavy: 3 reports plus a final paper worth 50%, about 3,030 min. Clashes with History of Japan I (Thu P3). |
2 → 4 | Low (Kontext?) | Not asked yet | MO | Thu P3 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Backups | |||||||
| Embedded Systems C/C++ development project 80%, assignments 20%. May overlap with ZHAW CT. Taught at Omiya campus. |
2 → 4 | High | Not asked yet | IT | Thu P2 · Omiya | open ↗ | |
| Autonomous Driving System Only 1 JP credit (2 ECTS), so it can only top up the total. |
1 → 2 | Medium | Not asked yet | IT, ET | Tue P3 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Operating Systems and Exercises Olaf rated it borderline: acceptable only if it's your only critical module. |
2 → 4 | High | Borderline | — | Thu P2 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Rejected or too easy | |||||||
| Applied Computer Programming Olaf rejected it as too basic or overlapping. |
2 → 4 | High | Rejected | — | Wed P2 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Database Systems Olaf rejected it as overlapping with ZHAW content. |
2 → 4 | High | Rejected | MO | Tue P4 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Exercise on Object Oriented Programming Olaf rejected it as too basic. |
2 → 4 | High | Rejected | — | Mon P2 · Toyosu | open ↗ | |
| Information Literacy / Intro to Information Processing / Intro to Computer Programming Probably rejected for the same reason as the other intro courses (my inference, Olaf hasn't been asked). |
2 → 4 each | High | Likely too easy | IT (all three) | Wed P1 / Tue P4 / Wed P2 | open ↗ | |
current plan candidate / backup Omiya campus. 2027 slots may differ.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 9:00 | Japanese I | Multimedia | Mgmt of Innovation (online)Japanese I | Intro CS&E | |
| P2 10:50 | Japanese I | Mobile Comm. Networks | Engineering ResearchJapanese I | OS (reserve)Embedded SystemsJapanese I | |
| P3 13:20 | Engineering EthicsAutonomous Driving | MechatronicsJapanese I | History of Japan ISustainable Dev. | ||
| P4 15:10 | Affective Computing | ||||
| P5 17:00 | Speech Processing |
Japanese I runs in several Omiya sections, so pick a Monday one to keep Wednesday at Toyosu. Tuesday means Toyosu in the morning and Speech Processing at Omiya at 17:00. That's doable, but SIT advises against using both campuses on the same day.
Quotes are verbatim from the anonymous ZHAW reports in Erfahrungsberichte Japan (4 Shibaura reports, HS25/26, pp. 7–16), plus three public reports from other universities. English lines are my translations or summaries. No names are included.
„Abgesehen von Jap1 waren viele Kurse sehr einfach und auf einem 1. Semester Niveau im Vergleich zu vergleichbaren ZHAW-Kursen. Die Lernmaterialien waren in Ordnung, aber viele Lehrer konnten unzureichend Englisch, was das Stellen von Fragen etc. sehr erschwerte.“
Apart from Japanese 1, many courses were very easy, at first-semester level compared with ZHAW. Many teachers' English was weak, which made asking questions hard.
„Es ist cool, dass man als Austauschstudent alle „englischen“ Kurse aller Departments sowie Masterkurse wählen kann. Leider ist es aber nicht garantiert, dass man all diese Kurse auch erhält, da der Modulwahlprozess nach einem Lotteriesystem funktioniert und deshalb sehr zufällig ist.“
You can pick any English course from any department, including master's courses, but the lottery means you're not guaranteed to get them, so you can hardly plan ahead.
„Seid flexibel und setzt nicht allzu sehr auf einen bestimmten Kurs. Erwartet nicht, euer Hauptfeld massiv vertiefen zu können, sondern nutzt die Zeit, um in andere Bereiche und Studiengänge zu schnuppern.“
Be flexible and don't bet on one specific course. Don't expect to go much deeper in your own field. Use the time to try out other areas.
„Die Gastuniversität ist bei weitem nicht perfekt. Sie hat in meinen Augen ein grosses Problem mit den für Auslandstudierende angebotenen Fächern, die oft sehr grundlegend sind und dem Niveau des ersten Semesters entsprechen. […] Das macht den Aufenthalt sehr spannend und nicht allzu anstrengend.“
The courses offered to exchange students are often very basic, at first-semester level, but the student clubs organise trips every week. That makes the stay exciting and not too exhausting. (Overall rating 5/5.)
„Viel Theorie mit wenig praktischen Übungen. Wenn man etwas lernen will dann kann man, das auch tun aber man kann auch nichts machen und die Kurse bestehen, es hängt sehr fest vom individuellen Lernwillen ab.“
Lots of theory, few exercises. You can learn a lot if you want to, or do almost nothing and still pass. It depends on your own motivation.
„Modulwahlprozess ware nicht 100% klar, da es begrenzte Plätze pro Wahlfach gäbe aber keine Möglichkeit zu wissen wie voll es ist. […] Lieber ein Wahlfach zu viel wählen als eins zu wenig.“
Places per elective are limited, and you can't see how full a course is. Better to pick one elective too many than one too few.
„Die Schule selbst ist auch nicht schlecht, und man kann sich ein wenig vom Studentenalltag zurücklehnen und mehr Freizeit geniessen, da es deutlich einfacher ist als an der ZHAW, dafür gibt es unzählige kurze ein- bis zweiseitige Berichte.“
You can lean back a bit and enjoy more free time, because it's clearly easier than at ZHAW, but there are countless short one- to two-page reports. Living there was about 2–3× cheaper than in Switzerland (same report).
„Die Kurse empfand ich als etwas weniger Zeitaufwändig als die der ZHAW. Inhaltlich hatte ich das Gefühl, dass es aufgrund der Sprache etwas simpler gehalten wurde.“
Courses took a bit less time than at ZHAW and felt simplified because of the language. Assignments were short, and presentations about 5 minutes.
„Die Modulwahl beginnt erst eine Woche vor Vorlesungsbeginn. […] Schlussendlich habe ich aber alle meine Wunschmodule erhalten und so wie ich es erfahren habe, sind es nur die Architekturmodule, History of Japan und die Japanischkurse bei denen die Plätze jeweils ausgebucht werden.“
Course selection only opens a week before lectures start. In the end they got every course they wanted. Apparently only architecture, History of Japan and the Japanese courses fill up.
„Der Wohnort sollte gemäss den Wunschmodulen gewählt werden. Da die SIT 2 Campusse hat, die gut 90min voneinander entfernt sind, kann mit der richtigen Wahl viel Zeit gespart werden.“
Choose where you live based on your courses. The two SIT campuses are a good 90 minutes apart.
„Der Modulwahlprozess war basierend auf Glück und das Zuweisen von genügend Credits war nicht durch die Universität garantiert. […] Alle Deadlines strikt einhalten, diese sind oft kurzfristig und wichtig.“
Course allocation came down to luck, and the university didn't guarantee enough credits. Meet every deadline; they're often short-notice. Level: "generally good but a little below ZHAW".
„Ich habe nicht gehört, dass jemand einen Kurs in der Lotterie nicht bekommen hat […] Ansonsten kann man häufig auch bei den Professoren anfragen, ob diese doch Platz finden.“
They never heard of anyone missing a course in the lottery, and you can often ask professors to make room.
„Insgesamt würde ich sagen ist es am SIT recht gut möglich gute Noten mit verhältnismäßig wenig Aufwand zu erlangen.“
Overall it's quite possible to get good grades at SIT with relatively little effort.
„Det var mer teoretiskt och klassrumsbaserat, med stort fokus på inlämningar och presentationer snarare än tentor och projekt.“
More theoretical and classroom-based, with a big focus on assignments and presentations rather than exams and projects.
The evidence changes the earlier pick a bit. Swapping Mechatronics for Mobile Communication Networks looked easier from the course titles. The syllabi show:
My pick:
Still open with Olaf: you're Vollzeit, not TZ. Do the 24/28 rules still apply?