Message from the Dean

Dear alumni, colleagues at our partner universities, high schools teachers, and friends,
The new academic year has started and many freshmen have enrolled in our School of Engineering. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I want to reconfirm the mission of “Engineering”. We believe that people and society expect universities to employ a long-term vision in order to solve social issues that are difficult to solve in the short term and help society prosper in the future. As we put forth a vision of a prosperous, future society, let us pool our wisdom to identify issues that must be resolved so that we may fulfill our responsibilities to society and carry out our mission. Building upon the brilliant foundation laid down by those who came before us, we foster dreams while pursuing efficient research. The School of Engineering will do its utmost to fulfill its mission of bringing joy to society. We ask for your continued support in our endeavors.

Hirotsugu Takizawa, Dean and Professor

Research Highlight--A guiding light, spirited in face of disasters--

The most powerful earthquake on record in Japan, a 9.0 magnitude undersea tremor with an epicenter 70 km from the northeast shores of Miyagi Prefecture stuck east Japan on March 11, 2011. Tohoku University and its School of Engineering (SoE) were not exempt from damage. Yet, the SoE's leading edge R&D has since been put to use in dealing with the wide range of engineering problems emanating from that fateful day. Our faculty members are now paving the way into the future through application of various technologies to recover from this tragedy and move ahead toward a safer and sustainable society. There are many technologies being born at SoE, and you are invited to discover those stories at the website of the Tohoku University Research News of Engineering (Tune) at http://tune.eng.tohoku.ac.jp/.

National Projects in Tohoku University--Globalization of education--

Tohoku University (TU) has been actively promoting various new educational projects worthy of a leading world-class university. It has been selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to develop large scale national educational programs with strong governmental support. Now various new programs are being undertaken as follows.

Super Global University Project (SGU)
National program for Leading Graduate Schools: 2 programs at SoE
- Science for global safety
- Multi-dimensional materials science
Tohoku University Global Leader Program (TGL)
Future Global Leadership Program (FGL)

Student Interview: Nathan Britton (USA)--Dream with space rover--

Nathan Britton comes from Colorado in the United States. His interaction with Japan started when he joined a Rotary youth exchange program at 16 of age which gave him a chance to study at the Sagae High School in Yamagata for one year. When he went back to USA he missed the good time he had spent in Japan and decided to keep studying Japanese in order to return to Japan someday. After graduating from high school, he went to University of Hawaii to study in the Eastern Asian Language program. After various experiences in several countries, he finally became a main member of the “Google Lunar X-Prize Team” in the Yoshida lab of Department of Aerospace Engineering, Tohoku University, which is engaged in paving the way for future lunar development.

Campus News

Japanese tradition at the heart of AobayamaCampus

A couple of times a year, everyone at School of Engineering (SoE) is invited to participate in a tea ceremony at the Aoba Memorial Hall on the Aobayama Campus. This is a unique opportunity for foreign students to experience the quiet and relaxing atmosphere of Japan’s traditional culture. Many international students experienced such a “campus tea ceremony” last November.

Temaki Sushi Party

For the majority of foreigners, sushi is emblematic of Japanese food. However, in Japan, there are other types of sushi besides the clump of rice topped with a slice of raw fish that is commonly called nigiri sushi. The Division of International Education and Exchange (IEED) of SoE organized a temaki sushi (hand-rolled sushi) party at the end of last year.

Aizu Tour: The frozen samurai

Each year SoE organizes a one day trip around Sendai for foreign students. This year, students and staff members went to the Aizu basin. Our trip started with a clear sky, while we were cruising towards our destination, we met an snowfall unexpectedly. Finally we reached “Nisshinkan”, the famous old samurai school located a few km at Aizuwakamatsu