Creating value for the future with a true spirit of inquiry.

I have been appointed the 15th president of Muroran Institute of Technology, succeeding former president Kuga, and will be responsible for steering the institution for six years starting April 1, 2024.

In April 2019, for the first time since its establishment, our university reorganized from the Faculty of Engineering to the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and began producing graduates from this faculty in the year before last. As a single-discipline science and engineering university with roots in the local community, we believe that "solving Hokkaido's problems will lead to solving Japan's and even global problems," and we will work on education and university reforms necessary to improve our research capabilities and promote co-creation with society.

This year marks the third year of the six-year Fourth Mid-term Goal and Plan period. For the past two years, the university has been carrying out the measures and missions planned to be implemented based on the schedule (annual plan) specified in the mid-term plan, toward the fourth-year end evaluation scheduled for the end of fiscal year 2025. While maintaining or even accelerating this inertia, the university plans to maintain its current general direction until the start of the Fifth Mid-term Goal and Plan period (FY2028).

in particular,

• Enhancing undergraduate education with a focus on "specialization x information"
• Substantial graduate education, symbolized by the establishment of the Co-Creation Informatics course
• Securing high-quality students (including female students and international students) in light of the declining population of 18-year-olds
• Reconstruction of research structure to lead to acquisition of external funding
• Initiatives for university collaboration that contribute to improving the functions of our university
• Initiatives to reform the way teachers and staff work

These are issues that need to be addressed going forward.

Our university's philosophy is "Making dreams come true through creative science and technology," and in recent years, we have adopted the catchphrase "Educational capabilities based on solid research capabilities." Starting this year, we have added a new slogan: "Creating value for the future from a true spirit of inquiry." In engineering, "value" can refer to "things," including not only hardware but also software, and in science, it can refer to "knowledge" gained through the pursuit of principles. We hope that this catchphrase will be used as an aspiration for the future not only from the perspective of faculty and staff involved in education and research, but also from the perspective of students, and we strongly hope that our university will continue to be a place that creates value for the future for society.

Update date: April 1, 2024
Responsible department: General Affairs and Public Relations Division, Public Relations Section