In the present program, we provide an education aimed at fusing the fields of design and engineering. In addition to the creation of functional value that has been the goal of a traditional engineering education, we foster the next generation of engineering graduates who are going to create things of meaningful value that have creative and social significance through their ability to design tangible and intangible things that are humanocentric.

The program curriculum is based around the four concepts of “product design,” “media design,” “art,” and “design theory/solutions.” These are based on design thinking. Starting in the 1st quarter of the second year, the classes that students who have completed their first year are recommended to take vary depending on their chosen track. Accordingly, we create opportunities to discuss the choice of classes for the second year and beyond with faculty members before the first year has been completed. In their third year, students will review the design thinking they have learned from the ground up, reaffirm it through problem based learning, go out into real world for fieldwork, and learn to turn their designs into prototypes. Following this review, they are required to engage in project-based training in collaboration with the local community. Students are divided into four tracks based on those experiences and move into graduation research projects or general work leading to graduation.

To cope with the variety of issues associated with this era of the low birth rate and aging population, it is essential that we turn out engineers who are capable of understanding and analyzing in a multifaceted way the situation and issues that arise in the local community, and who can construct a highly sustainable society of qualitative value. In the present program, the education we offer is based around the subjects of architecture, civil engineering, and the environment. The engineers we train are able to adopt a commanding perspective over the various elements that make up a given society such as the distinctive natural environment, history, and culture of the region; the social infrastructure; and the various buildings and structures to be found within. They possess the power of ideas and an ability to plan that can contribute to creating new urban environments that put those elements to work.

The engineers who we train in this course will mainly become civil or architectural engineers. There are many points of overlap when it comes to the minimum amounts of knowledge that engineers of both types need to have. Accordingly, the curriculum in the present program is one that allows students to learn the basic knowledge demanded of both kinds of engineer as an integrated and comprehensive thing. At the same time, classes on subjects adapted to those respective aspirations are also available. Furthermore, students can also take a number of lecture classes offered through Program in Disaster and Crisis Management.

Over the centuries, Japan has been afflicted by numerous natural disasters caused by earthquakes, typhoons, and similar other phenomena. The possibilities are growing that natural disasters on a heretofore unseen scale may occur in connection with climate change in the future. What’s more, as social systems grow more highly-developed and complex as well as yet further internationalized, the possibility is also growing for disasters of an unprecedented scale to occur. Accordingly, we are called upon to construct a resilient society able to cope with such natural and manmade disasters.

In order to build that resilient society, in the present program we train graduates who can get a sense of the current state of disaster potential as well as of the region in which they live; who can learn not just from personal experience but also from the history of humankind and the world; who possess foresight abilities that allow them to determine what might be a threat; who know how to combine hardware, software, and human resources; and who can flexibly deal with whatever disaster conditions may exist such as preventing crises from developing and disasters growing into catastrophes.

The curriculum of the present program is based around knowledge and techniques related to disaster prevention and crisis management, with the goal of training engineers seeking to mitigate natural disasters and professionals who use data science for crisis management. We offer classes on subjects related to acquiring a grounding in the humanities and social sciences, the fundamentals of the natural sciences and natural disaster science, and science and technology in the fields of construction engineering and computer science. Classes for first-year students are aimed at building basic knowledge about disasters, the natural environment, and crisis management. In the second year, they learn the basics of engaging in crisis management and of computer programming. In the third year and after, they learn specialized subjects related to their respective field as well as on matters of practical application.

Thanks to the rapid development of networking, information systems throughout the world are getting connected to one another and as a result are becoming global in nature. This calls for having information systems that operate quickly and correctly, that are easy to use, and that have superior security such as being resistant to cyber attacks. To address these needs, in the present program we train our students in “information system technologies” such as cloud computing, “big data,” and the like that make use of global networks; “security technologies” that keep a system’s reliability and safety at a high level; and the “human interface technology” that enables one to design information systems from the end-user’s perspective. The goal is to produce graduates who can design information systems that satisfy the information system security needs of the local community, Japan, and the world.

Based on the aforementioned educational principles, the curriculum in the present program puts its emphasis delivering a specialized education that will cultivate a bold power of imagination and exacting design abilities and nurture next-generation information system security engineers who are highly professional and possess the power of execution.

In order to enhance our lives and make them more convenient, two things are required. The first is connecting everything in our surroundings through communication networks, and the second is developing technologies that utilize artificial intelligence for automation, future prediction, and decision-making.

In the present program, you will study the fundamentals and applications of artificial intelligence, its implementation on electronic circuits, and the basics and applications of electrical and communication network systems. This is to equip you with knowledge in areas such as artificial intelligence, wireless and optical communication networks, and measurement technology. You will also be capable of contributing to the development of electronic and information communication equipment and system operation. This way, we aim to cultivate professionals who can thrive globally.

In the present program, we emphasize studying core technologies in information, artificial intelligence, communication, measurement, and circuits. Additionally, there are numerous specialized subjects jointly offered with other courses, aiming to help you acquire a board knowledge base.

The development of mechanical systems has made major contributions to enriching the world. Previously, the demands society had of mechanical systems focused mainly production technologies. However, this has changed in conjunction with the passage of time and a different environment. In today’s society with its declining birth rate and aging population, the major issue has become the search for engineering technologies oriented toward our daily lives. For example, we need robots that support doing work in dangerous places and under extreme conditions ranging from outer space to the deep seas; equipment that can provide assistance to people with disabilities in their motor or sensory functions; and microdevices that in the medical and biotechnology fields handle precise tasks that entail working with small cells. To address these social trends and the changing environment, in the present program we develop and research a variety of sophisticated machines, man-machine systems, and key devices that will to create a sustainable society and deliver a way of life that is safe, secure, and comfortable.

Through the curriculum in the present program, students will review conventional engineering technology from a variety of perspectives as they acquire the fundamentals of mechanical systems engineering. The curriculum also fosters an aesthetic sense that allows them to perceive the essential functional beauty in complex phenomena through a scientific understanding of living things and the various phenomena and laws of nature. They will also acquire interdisciplinary knowledge fusing a wide variety of disciplines including electricity and electronics as well as control technologies. The education and research provided through this program is aimed at cultivating abilities grounded in this superior discernment that will allow graduates to create mechanical systems that have a functional beauty, and at producing graduates who can conceive of and develop sophisticated, humanocentric mechanical systems.

New structural and functional materials will guarantee prosperous human life in the future.

Cutting-edge materials which can trigger a paradigm shift are created by coupling different concepts and substances. In addition to the development of each material as a component, combination of conventional materials is also an effective method. For instance, the energy efficiency of aircraft, e.g. Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A380, is improved drastically by adopting carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP), which are lightweight and high strength materials, as partial substitutes for aluminum alloys. This is a kind of fusion of polymers (chemistry) and structural materials (mechanics). This example indicates the significance of the interdisciplinary approach to materials science.

Program in Advanced Materials Science covers chemistry, physics, mechanics, electronics, and related fields. Our interdisciplinary approach is effective for the design and development of various materials such as liquid crystals, ceramics, alloys, and optoelectronic crystals, and we tackle the creation of materials while considering the balance of ‘benefits’ and ‘risks’.