The School of Engineering (SoE) of Tohoku University has successfully endeavored to develop space technologies. Space engineering at SoE has always been greatly served by leading professors, such as Professor Yoshida, who is conducting research on space robotics at the Department of Aerospace Engineering. You can see what he has to say in a special issue of “Driving Force” at SoE homepage (http://www.eng.tohoku.ac.jp/driving_force/english/vol1-1.html). Three other luminaries, Professor Ando from the Department of Electrical Engineering, and Professor Asai and Associate Professor Makihara from the Department of Aerospace Engineering have also been invited to launch the first issue of the SoE periodical Research News of Engineering “Tune” (http://www.eng.tohoku.ac.jp/media/files/pdf/english/intro/tune01.pdf) with a focus on space engineering.
The Tohoku University Chinese Alumni Association, which was established in 2006, will celebrate its 8th anniversary at the end of this year. Having more than 500 members all over China, it is proud of being the largest foreign university alumni association in China, as well as the largest TU overseas alumni community in the world. There are more than 60 members who graduated from SoE or had roots in SoE. The “big members” and advisers of the association are the former President of Tsinghua University, Prof. Binlin Gu, and the current President of Peking University, Prof. Enge Wang, both of whom worked at IMR (Institute for Materials Research), TU in the 1990s. The current chair of the association is Prof. Qikun Xue, a famous physicist in the Department of Physics and Vice President of Tsinghua University, as well as a professor in AIMR (Advanced Institute for Materials Research) of TU.
The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 severely damaged some buildings on campus, three of which were declared unsafe by the authorities and had to be demolished. The professors and students had to move into temporary buildings for the duration of the reconstruction. The long wait of over 3 years for their new facilities and research equipment has finally come to an end with the completion of all three buildings! After a busy period of relocation in Sep. and Oct., all affected personnel have now returned to their research activities and have started to enjoy their new environments.
Sports Day
This year, the event took place on May 23, 2014 and was participated in by all departments of the School of Engineering. All students joined the event, either to compete or support their teams. Even the professors were invited to compete! Finally, the Department of Applied Chemistry became the overall winner.
Open Campus
One of the most important annual Aobayama events is the Open Campus at the end of July. For two days, the campus is visited by many high school students. This is a unique opportunity for public to access all laboratories and to look into the research being conducted. We had a total 7,000 visitors during the two days this year.
With Robots in Sendai
Tohoku University Engineering Summer Program (TESP) on Robotics was created in 2010 to offer international students a unique opportunity to be involved in cutting edge and pioneering research. The program is divided into a series of English lectures conducted by internationally renowned specialists and hands-on work in leading laboratories on various research topics such as nano-robots and space rovers.
Exchange Programs for International Students in Partner Universities Overseas