Now
that we are in the 21st Century, we are
confronted with such crucial issues as a rapidly progressing aging
society and
various environmental problems including global warming. Science and
technology
must play a pivotal role in analyzing and solving these matters in
order to
sustain the well-being of people in modern society.
Researchers
and engineers of the new generation
need to have a solid academic foundation and the ability to cope with
contemporary problems as well as technical know-how. They should also
have a
global view and the ability to acquire and transmit information. To
educate researchers
and engineers who can intelligently deal with these problems, we at
Oita University
place emphasis not only on basic education but also on communication
abilities
such as practical English language and presentation skills. In
addition, to
make further improvements in the standards of education at the
university, our
faculty is working towards promoting reforms such as the adoption of a
detailed
syllabus, strengthening of out-class learning, and the introduction of
a
ranking index system as well as the adoption of maximum number of
courses
students may enroll in per semester.
Based on
our
understanding that the 21st
Century is characterized by the globalization in many aspects, we
believe that
the aptitudes or capabilities of researchers and engineers have to meet
standards set by the international community. In this regard, JABEE (Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering
Education) has
been established in Japan to approve curricula that meet the
international
levels of engineering education. All the departments in our faculty are
now in
the course of obtaining the JABEE accreditation by 2007.
The
Faculty
of Engineering is working towards
building state-of-the-art technologies in Mechanics, Electric and
Electronics,
Applied Chemistry, Energy, and Assistive Technology, which is a new
field of
research whose goal is to promote barrier-free environments for the
imminent
elderly society. You can visit homepages to find information about
research
activities and other details of each department and laboratory. In
addition, an
interdisciplinary research center has been established as the new
Research
Center for Applied Medical Engineering in collaboration with the
Faculty of
Medicine.
The
University is also expected to contribute to
the local community. In this respect, the Faculty of Engineering is
also
playing a major role in establishing local venture businesses and in
re-educating local engineers for intellectual property, MOT (Management
of
Technology), or other new fields of engineering, in cooperation with
Local
Community Research and Development Center and Venture Business
Laboratory
(VBL).
Like many
universities in Japan, Oita University is
also facing very difficult circumstances due to problems of
reorganization. In
view of this, we are committed to keeping abreast of innovations in
important
research and development as well as in education reforms.
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