Osaka Institute of Technology (OIT) was founded in 1922 to develop specialists with science-based practical skills that play an essential role in the world, the people, and the community. OIT has three faculties Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Information Science and Technology, and Faculty of Intellectual Property, the last of which is the only one of its discipline in Japan. OIT also has its graduate schools, which include doctoral courses.
As of May 2016, OIT has 6,745 undergraduate students, 354 graduate students, 287 faculty staff, 149 full-time administrative staff, and more than 100,000 alumni. OIT has three campuses: Omiya Campus, Umeda Campus, and Hirakata Campus, all located in Osaka prefecture. Umeda Campus is newly opened in spring 2017, located near the Osaka central station. OIT has 37 partner institutions in the world. In the 2015 academic year, OIT sent out 248 students and accepted 162 students in our study abroad programs.
At the Osaka Institute of Technology, our mission is to develop specialists with science-based practical skills that play an essential role in society - for the world, for the people, and the community. Since OIT was founded more than 90 years ago, we have consistently striven to meet society's need for talented workers through thorough practical education, project-based learning, and partnerships with the broader academic and industrial community. We are proud of our contribution to Japan's social fabric and industrial advancement. Indeed, we see this as a tradition that must be passed down from generation to generation.
In addition to the Faculties of Engineering, Information Science and Technology, and Intellectual Property, we established a new undergraduate department in April 2017, the Faculty of Robotics and Design Engineering. The new department will cover robotics from multiple perspectives, including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and spatial and product design. As a result of this comprehensive approach, we aim to produce talented graduates able to help society achieve the advances necessary to make robots an integral part of our everyday lives.
It will be the very model of a modern urban university campus and the ideal environment for nurturing young engineers with talent, innovation, and a focus on making people's daily lives better.
Meanwhile, we are also planning to redevelop the Omiya Campus, which houses the Faculties of Engineering and Intellectual Property. The redevelopment is designed to implement gradual improvements that bring out the best in those departments and combine their unique strengths into something more significant than the sum of their parts. In an increasingly complex age, I believe the world needs a workforce with a balance of specialized expertise and the ability to innovate through cooperation. To that end, we at OIT have several overarching policies in place, including project-based learning. All engineering students undertake a systematic, interdisciplinary study of the sciences starting in their first year. Moreover, the revamp of the Graduate School of Engineering planned for the 2017 academic year will ensure that students can broaden their creative and vocational horizons through interaction with neighboring fields of study and rubbing shoulders with colleagues in different areas of research - all without compromising their opportunities to take advantage of the school's traditionally high level of specialist knowledge and technology. Indeed, the Omiya Campus's redevelopment is not intended to benefit individual departments but instead designed to promote a more splendid fusion of all OIT's academic departments as part of their activities.
As outlined at the beginning of this message, our mission must remain the rock-solid foundation that connects students, educators, and stakeholders the past, the present, and the future as well as Japan and the rest of the world. Although attitudes and approaches may - and should - change with the times, it is only proper that we respect the history and traditions of those who made the Osaka Institute of Technology what it is today. As incoming president, I look forward to your ongoing support for our efforts to achieve OIT's mission in a way appropriate for the present day.
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