[guicho271828]

Im from the same uni, but from a different department. The project is famous as well as notorious for the commitment required.

Jp uni students typically write a thesis in the fourth/final year (is it called senior in the US?). This project is for the third year (junior in the US?). Probably there is also a difference between a (e.g. mechanical) engineering and a CS department. A typical CS conference paper does not need 1.5 year from initiation to publication, while I understand a mech work will need a lot more time. I moved from B.Eng to CS. With a proper guidance that lets a student focus on a particular subject (a research theme is given by the advisor), they do incredible work, although they may not have a broader view of the research field yet.

> These students are obviously smarter than the average student,

And yes these national university students are the top brains of the country. BTW, I am very sad that typical Japanese corporate organization basically rejects them as they are too smart and do not fit in their age-based structure. The author is in Microsoft anyways.