Kyoto Institute of Technology

Introduction

Message from the President Our Kyoto location is vital to the design, science and engineering programs at Kyoto Institute of Technology. This thousand-year capital of Japan lead many developments in Japanese culture and the production and refinement of traditional craft. The inherited traditions and techniques, and the culture that enabled Kyoto’s artisans to rise to high levels of expertise are contributing to novel technological innovation today. At KIT, we benefit from this heritage of Kyoto wisdom and tradition as we innovate for positive social and environmental change by being acutely attuned to feedback. We consistently verify the influences and consequences of the technology we make available to the public and the products we create and develop to improve people’s lives. Our mission is to model our research and education on the accumulated wisdom and influence of Kyoto, a city that has passed the test of time. What kind of human resources are required to achieve this? At KIT, it is not enough to train experts and technicians. Our graduates become “Tech Leaders” who demonstrate leadership built on a solid grounding in the fundamental knowledge and skills of their area. They are required to acquire the ability to lead various projects to success. To that end, all students complete four educational programs to insure they develop a solid cultural identity, a competency in specialized skills, leadership skills and the ability to lead and manage a project in a foreign language. We reliably graduate Tech Leaders from our six undergraduate, fourteen master’s and eight doctoral programs. We also encourage students in all programs to practice design thinking. Social innovation cannot be realized only through specialized research. Students must breach the borders of their academic discipline and communicate across majors. A multidisciplinary approach is essential to addressing the issues that face the world today. However, simply blending majors will not provide solutions in itself. We must consider how this fusion can best spur innovation. We must introduce design, in its broadest sense, as a means to derive solutions. To put this into practice, we have established the KYOTO Design Lab, a center for collaboration among KIT and top world designers and architects. Here, ideas are already being developed and successfully applied to issues. This methodology is being adopted university wide as we introduce design thinking into textile and polymer research, green innovation research, advanced insect research, and other areas. Collaboration is essential to the expansion of university-wide design thinking. At KYOTO Design Lab, international collaboration has already produced a number of significant achievements. Collaboration at the local level is underway as well. As regards community and business, KIT now has a cross-sectoral Regional Revitalization Tech Program at our northern Kyoto Fukuchiyama campus where organic collaboration among KIT, Kyotango, and Ayabe is making promising headway. From Kyoto to the world! The ripple effect of Kyoto Institute of Technology is about to be felt in the realm of novel science and engineering innovation. We are driven to achieve our goals. History The history of KIT began over 100 years ago with two forerunner institutions; one specializing in engineering, design and the applied arts and another in sericulture, spinning and weaving. Throughout their half century of influence, both predecessor institutions produced human resources vital to the demands of the times. They aided modernization and conserved the applied art traditions of Kyoto at the point of industrialization. With post-war educational revision in 1949, these forerunner schools became the undergraduate Faculty of Engineering and Design and the Faculty of Textile Science. This was the birth of Kyoto Institute of Technology as we know it. KIT responded to post-war social and industrial needs by modernizing and reorganizing existing courses during this period of national reconstruction and subsequent rapid economic growth. A three-year evening program, the Technical College, ran from 1951 making university programs available to persons who worked during the day. To accommodate a growing student body, the Faculty of Textile Science joined the Faculty of Engineering and Design at our current northeast Kyoto location in 1968. A master’s program was established in the mid-1960’s for each faculty. In 1988, the two master’s programs merged and a doctoral level was added. Another change taking place at that time was the gradual discontinuation of the Technical College in favor of evening programs within the engineering and textile faculties. In 2004, with the advent of the National University Corporation Law which increased the autonomy of national tertiary institutions; KIT planned a reorganization. Faculty were to be separately organized into departments to enable flexibility in interdepartmental teaching. All ten undergraduate programs were to be consolidated under the single faculty of the School of Science and Technology and graduate programs were to branch into twelve master’s and four doctoral programs. This went into effect in 2006. KIT encourages students to participate in internships, experience the realm where design and science converge and take part in projects with our partner universities abroad. KIT also promotes collaboration in business and research with industries. The close rapport maintained with area industries over the past 100 years has allowed us to continue to have our fingers on the pulse of Kyoto design and technology.