What It Means to Study at the Tohoku Institute of Technology

Technical experts involved in technology, engineering and design have huge roles to play in our modern society in which science and technology have reached advanced levels. Engineering has established relationships with all imaginable fields, such as medical treatment for saving lives, means of communication that link people, welfare service that supports the elderly, agriculture and fisheries that produce food, means of transportation and distribution, and an environment that ensures comfortable living. Engineering has at the same time become basic technology and an advanced branch of learning. Almost all items around us, including personal computers, telecommunications equipment and household goods, have become black boxes on the inside. Technical experts have an important mission in that they must take responsibility for the validity of the operations within these boxes.

There is little left for students to learn at universities in today’s society in which technologies rapidly advance and undergo innovation. There are also times when a new technology is born before what is gained at universities proves useful. So then what does it mean to study at a university today? It is the acquisition of fundamental knowledge in a specialized field and ways of thinking that make study meaningful. Acquiring methods for reaching goals makes study at a university worthwhile. All students have their own different abilities, approaches and backgrounds. They learn the methods through group work and training required in the course of lectures and experiments. Students at the Tohoku Institute of Technology will be asked to make full use of information accumulated in highly advanced cyberspace as big data. Another essential point is for students to learn how people interact with each other, enrich human relationships and develop friendships through their extracurricular activities, volunteer pursuits and part-time work.

Engineering and technology are meant to contribute to the welfare of mankind. Students of engineering, technology and design must have profound insight into and love for people. They must grow as individuals who can understand others’ pains. And in order to make people happy they must acquire techniques imbued with feelings. Students must be mindful of the need to devote as much time as necessary for studying subjects in satisfying ways and securing their understanding, however slow their pace may be, in order to become individuals who can serve others and bring them happiness.

Many faculty members of the Tohoku Institute of Technology are active on the frontlines of their academic fields. These include Dr. Shunichi Iwasaki (chief director), a world-renowned computer memory inventor who received the Japan Prize. Many have also been achieving notable results by cooperating with the Miyagi Prefectural Government, Sendai City Office and other municipal governments in community development projects or working in partnership with private companies. The Tohoku Institute of Technology is characterized by the great number of enthusiastic teaching staff among its faculty members. Demand for our graduates is high and more than 90 percent secure employment each year. Our goal is to foster creative people who possess a rich sense of humanity and can contribute to society.

The Tohoku Institute of Technology is an engineering university with integrated humanities and science departments, accommodating about 3,000 students in our two campuses. International students at the institute are not necessarily large in number, but for that reason each can develop close personal relationships with individual faculty members. The same condition lets each international student experience active exchanges with our undergraduate and graduate students and our administrative staff.

The city of Sendai is in Japan’s Tohoku region and blessed with an urban atmosphere, abundant nature and a moderate climate. Join us to study here. I sincerely look forward to meeting you on our campuses.

MIYAGI Mitsunobu

President

MIYAGI Mitsunobu

Brief profile of Mitsunobu Miyagi’s career

1970

Completed doctoral course at Tohoku University Graduate School of Engineering and became a doctor of engineering

1987

Professor at Tohoku University, Faculty of Engineering

2002-2004

Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Tohoku University

2005-2009

President of Sendai National College of Technology

2007-2009

President of Miyagi National College of Technology

2009-2010

President of New Sendai National College of Technology

2010

Executive director at Tohoku Gakuin

2012

Adviser at Tohoku Institute of Technology

2013

President of Tohoku Institute of Technology

Awards

1989

21st Ichimura Award

2001

Fellow of The Society for Photo-Instrumentation Engineering (SPIE)

2007

56th Kahoku Culture Award