Outline

Concept

Philosophy

Engineering is an academic field directly related to the human society, and is an academic system of technology for enabling sustainable development of the society. We will provide education and conduct research in all engineering fields and make contributions to the sustainable society.

Objectives

  1. We will foster highly talented engineers who have comprehensive ability of creation, decision making, self-learning and communication, in addition to expertise in the specialized areas (Education).
  2. We will transmit our cutting-edge research accomplishments to the society, by dynamically synergizing practical developments of engineering technologies that meet up-to-date social needs and fundamental engineering research that will be the seeds for future industries (Research).
  3. We will integrate and systematize intellectual assets related to engineering technologies, and will contribute to the sustainable development of regional communities and international society (Contribution to Society and Academe).

Towards IMAGINEERS, Engineers Realizing Their Dreams

A society in which all people can live healthfully and safely, enjoying affluent life successively, is needed. Engineering is intended to contribute to the fields of science and technology to realize such a society. In addition, what is demanded for engineering is Imagineers, or the engineers who can imagine their dreams and realize them.
Various academic staffs covering almost all areas of engineering get together in the Graduate School of Engineering and the Faculty of Engineering, University of Fukui. We will contribute to the sustainable development of an affluent society through education and research in a wide variety of engineering fields, extending our achievements to the society. The objectives of our activities are as follows:

1. We foster Imagineers.

To realize a dream, basic knowledge and noble ambition as a scientist are required. It is important for our students to examine their conscience in a critical manner and to demonstrate the ability with their own effort. With awareness of being a member of society, it is necessary for our students to sharpen their leadership spirit and communication skills to form good relationships proactively with many people involved. We foster such types of engineers, or Imagineers.
Many imagineers have already graduated from the University of Fukui and are taking an active part in various fields in Japan and worldwide.

2. We remain Imagineers.

Our dream is to provide excellent research results, and thereby responding to the social needs to create the intellectual assets and the seeds for future industries. To this end, we keep on working on world-class research.
We all boast our insatiable spirit exploring the unknown and our active participation in research activities. Our students are growing as Imagineers by being involved in research together with us.

3. We contribute to communities and industries as Imagineers.

A university is a “mine of knowledge” for the community, where knowledge and wisdom are accumulated and distributed. We will contribute to the community and industries with our vigorous creativity.
Our students as well as our teaching staffs proactively participate in research and development projects for regional collaborative activities and for practical use in industries on the basis of advanced knowledge obtained in our university. Such activities are warmly acknowledged by the communities and industries.

The Faculty of Engineering of the University of Fukui was established in 1949 under a new educational system in Japan introduced after World War II. Since then, the Faculty has been promoting research and education related to science and technologies and contributing to the reconstruction and development of our country. During that period, in order to meet the needs of the times, the Faculty of Engineering was reorganized and restructured several times to grow into one of the leading faculties in the nation. As a result of reorganization in which all national universities are turned into the independent administrative corporations in April 2004, our university was reborn as a national university corporation, University of Fukui. The fundamental philosophy and objectives of the Graduate School of Engineering and the Faculty of Engineering have remained unchanged. One year after the incorporation, however, the philosophy and objectives were restated in easier ways, as shown the above.

The objective “1. We foster Imagineers” is an educational objective. We are executing the following activities, for example, to achieve the objective:

  • Development of systematic and diversified curricula;
  • Freshman camps and step-up classes (supplementary classes);
  • Enhancement of introductory education programs, such as small-group instruction in the “introductory seminar for university education”;
  • Friendly consultation on learning and daily life, by the advisory teaching staff members;
  • Introduction of new educational system fostering creative engineers who can devise and implement imaginative concepts;
  • Execution of FD (Faculty Development) activities aiming at continuous improvement of educational skills;
  • Education programs conforming to the JABEE (Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education) standard;
  • Course evaluation by the students;
  • Evaluation of educational skills when recruiting teaching staff;
  • Evaluation of educational activities of the teaching staff;
  • Commendation of honor students and excellent teaching staff;
  • Careful career support service for the students.

The objective “2. We remain Imagineers” is a research objective. We are executing the following items to name a few:

  • Guarantee freedom of research;
  • Synergize basic and applied researches;
  • Selective research funds for priority research topics;
  • Promoting interdisciplinary research projects
    (e.g. optical engineering area, bio-systems and environment, research and development utilizing far-infrared region, issues on nuclear energy and local communities, collaborative research with medical school);
  • Sharing of large-scale experimental facility;
  • Open recruitment system for the academic staff;
  • Enhancement of the graduate school’s educational system
    (e.g. establishment of new graduate courses on Fiber Amenity Engineering and Nuclear Power and Energy Safety Engineering) ;
  • Promoting research characteristics of the region
    (e.g. fiber, nuclear power, optical engineering, intelligent machinery) ;
  • Promoting government-industry-academia collaboration and large-scale research projects (high-intensity laser beam, nano-plating technologies, supercritical carbon dioxide textile processing, fuel cells, solar batteries, power distribution systems, etc.).

We believe that active research activities are the basis of leading education in engineering.

The objective “3. We contribute to communities and industries as Imagineers” is an objective to contribute to society. Contributions to the regional communities and industries through the fostering of human resources and research achievements are the most basic social contributions executed by our university. In addition, we are conducting other versatile activities including the following:

  • Activities in various governmental and regional committees;
  • Holding open lectures and open seminars;
  • Classes open to citizens where citizens will learn together with students;
  • Promotion of high school and university collaboration through lectures and lab courses both at high schools and our university;
  • International exchanges of researchers and students based on our academic exchange agreements with universities and institutions abroad.

From the viewpoint that social contribution activities constitute important part of research and education, we encourage students to proactively participate in collaboration activities with the regional communities and industries.