昨年8月に行われた今年度の日本語弁論大会で、優秀な成績を収めたPieroさんが、トヨタ自動車オーストラリア（株）でのインターンシップレポートを送ってくださいました。
2025 Toyota Internship Report
Piero Lungfei Guido Baracchi
First and foremost, I would like to sincerely thank all the people who made this opportunity possible. I am especially grateful to the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Melbourne (JCCiM) for arranging this internship, and of course Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Ltd. (TMCA) for welcoming me into their team.
As a participant in the 2024 Japanese Speech Contest Victoria, I had the privilege of undertaking a one-month internship within the Digital Connected Services (DCS) division at TMCA, generously arranged by JCCiM. Given my background in Cyber-Security and Japanese, as well as having an interest in cars, this was an amazing opportunity to combine my academic studies and personal interests with real-world experience in a global company. It was also my first time working in a corporate, professional environment, which gave me valuable insights into workplace dynamics, and cross-cultural communication.
Toyota’s Digital Connected Services (DCS) division is responsible for the technology that keeps Toyota vehicles connected. They develop and manage features like remote start, real-time navigation, and vehicle tracking.
During my time at Toyota I was lucky to be able to work with various teams within the DCS division which provided me with a great opportunity to learn as much as I could. The first couple days I was given a comprehensive introduction to the DCS division, where I would spend most of my internship. I was warmly welcomed by my direct manager, Andrew Tweedly (Manager Connected Cloud Engineering), and introduced to the rest of the team, who immediately made me feel comfortable and excited to begin. After the initial onboarding process, I spent my first week with Chris Callis and the Project Management team.
The first week involved learning some of the responsibilities of a project manager. This gave me a great introduction to the roles in the team as I attended several meetings covering topics from highly technical software discussions to company-wide updates. I was also introduced to some of the industry tools such as Jira and Confluence, and Toyota’s concepts and philosophies. This gave me a good overview of what the team was working on, as well as building familiarity with the management tools and techniques used at Toyota.
Adjusting to the new workflow and wrapping my head around some of the Toyota specific acronyms was initially challenging, but I quickly adapted, thanks to the support from the team.
My second week was spent with the Architecture team, focusing on the software architecture and getting a more in-depth technical understanding of the fundamental structure of the system. During this time I participated in technical meetings between TMCA and external vendors, as well as other branches of Toyota such as Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMNA) and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC, Japan). I was given an unfiltered view into some of the relationship dynamics between large companies, including how they collaborate, manage requirements and deadlines, and maintain effective communication.
After two intense weeks of meetings and absorbing as much knowledge as I could, my final two weeks were spent with the Testing team, where I had the chance to get some much-desired hands-on experience. After being introduced to the team’s work processes and responsibilities, I was given a list of test cases and a vehicle. Seeing how the different components function in real-world scenarios was exciting, and reinforced the importance of attention to detail in ensuring safety for customers, while proving how essential collaboration is between teams to ensure everything runs smoothly.
One of the biggest highlights was experiencing some of Toyota’s Japanese business culture first-hand. I had the rare opportunity to attend meetings with Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan), which was an incredible learning experience. Japanese terminology frequently appeared in discussions, documents, and daily operations, which stood out to me. It was fascinating to see how Japanese elements blended into the Australian workplace, helping me build on my Japanese language and cultural competence.
Without hesitation, I can say my internship at Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Ltd. has been an incredibly rewarding and life-changing experience. It has given me new skills and deepened my understanding of both corporate operations and cross-cultural communication. I now have a clearer understanding of how large organizations function, as well as a better idea of how my academic studies and personal interests in Cyber-Security and Japanese can be applied in a professional workplace setting.
It has inspired me to explore future opportunities offered at the Toyota Motor Corporation, such as the cadet or graduate programs, or the possibility of doing some of my studies in Japan.
I would once again like to express my deepest gratitude to JCCiM for facilitating this opportunity and to the entire Toyota team for their kindness, support, and guidance throughout my time at Toyota, 本当にありがとうございました。Finally, I would strongly encourage anyone considering an internship like this to apply. It is a truly invaluable experience.
