Overview - College of Engineering

Educational Philosophy

The College of Engineering has an educational mission, “Develop innovative individuals with the basic academic intellect to contribute to society”. Professors overemphasized lecture-based knowledge and focused to teach “how to manufacture” rather than “what to manufacture” in many engineering universities. By reviewing the tendency, the College implements an educational policy based on three stages as described below.

The first stage is to elucidate "what purpose engineering and technology is applied for?" To do this, the significant breakthroughs and deficiencies must be surveyed in the history of humankind. The second stage is to ascertain "why we produce artifacts?” Society of humankind always generates demands and the demands require the practical implementation of engineering. True professional engineers would not be unconditionally obedient to all the demands. They behave themselves objectively with critical thinking. The education of the College nurture considerable insight. Therefore, it is essential to expose students to in-depth critical insight. The third is to study the innovative aspects of "how to manufacture?" and thus to enhance creativity.

Policy

Diploma Policy

College of Engineering confers a Bachelor's degree to those who have fulfilled academic requirements for graduation, and have attained the abilities specified in the following learning and educational objectives:
  • Have acquired the basis to cultivate positive character and basic academic knowledge and skills, and to explore problems beyond the confines of the specialized field.
  • Have developed the capacity to systematically understand the essence of engineering and solve problems; can work on a team while communicating with others.
  • Can work out solutions to problems while taking into account multiple approaches, constraints, and societal influences.
  • Can recognize the diversity of the world and society through a world-class engineering education and a variety of overseas experiences, and can work as a scientifically and technologically trained individual with a high level of ethics.

Curriculum Policy

College of Engineering provides the curriculum with emphasis placed on “how to create.” rather than mere knowledge acquisition. SIT has adopted the following three stages as its educational policy.

The first stage is to investigate “for what” engineering and technology is used in each field of engineering. For this, it is necessary to examine history to evaluate the achievements and failures humanity has accumulated. The second stage is to investigate “why.” Each stage in society has its own requirements: needs, desires, and concrete demands. An education that equips students with the knowledge and skills to tackle, examine, and apply the task critically for these demands is indispensable. The third stage is to learn “how to create” and to improve one’s creativity based on it. Drawing from these educational goals, the College of Engineering’s curriculum consisting of common subjects and specialist subjects is led by the following five objectives:

  1. Systematic learning to cultivate a rich academic background: establishing the academic abilities necessary to master specialist education in engineering.
  2. Development of creativity: enhancing the motivation to overcome challenges in an unknown field.
  3. Systematic learning of engineering knowledge: systematic acquisition of basic knowledge and logical thinking in engineering.
  4. Co-existence with others: collaboration, harmony, and co-existence with diverse cultures and environments.
  5. Establishing SIT’s historical uniqueness: to maintain autonomy and enhance trust among members of SIT.

Each subject is designed based on these objectives and sets learning/educational achievement objectives. The credit is awarded when the result meets the required level.

Admission Policy

The College of Engineering has revised its traditional teaching, which over-emphasized knowledge acquisition as is carried out in many engineering universities, and its curriculum places emphasis on “manufacturing.” Applicants who wish to join the College are expected to have formed a clear understanding of the “characters we seek” as specified below in the College’s educational policy, the College’s curriculum, and its teaching and research.
Student characters traits the College of Engineering seeks:

  • Those who have acquired the basics of the related fields to learn engineering.
  • Those who are interested in technology in each engineering field and its basics and application.
  • Those who find meaning in touching the real object and being engaged with designing, producing, and running things.
  • Those who, as a member of society, wish to contribute to the development and change of technology through their concern with the relationship between society and technology.
  • Those who wish to actively engage in various human activities based on engineering with an international perspective.

Those who agree with the above and wish to join the College are expected to acquire the following prerequisites in high school:

  1. The knowledge and skills of the high school curriculum (in particular, foreign languages, mathematics, and natural sciences).
  2. The abilities to think, judge, and express.
  3. The ability to actively collaborate with diverse people.

The College carries out the following selections in order to evaluate the capacities listed above and others in a comprehensive and multifaceted manner. For the distribution of marks, please refer to details of each selection method.

  • In the first half, second half, and all university exam route, an emphasis is placed on 1 as above and 2 is evaluated by means of written exams.
  • In the National Center for University Entrance Exam route, the evaluation is made by aggregating marks of multiple subjects while placing an emphasis on 1 as above.
  • In the recommendation by the designated schools, affiliated schools, and attached schools route, evaluation of 1 and 2 is made based on the school report, and interviews are carried out in order to evaluate 1, 2, and 3 comprehensively.
  • In the special entrance exam for foreigners and returnees route, written exams and externally awarded qualifications are used to evaluate 1 and 2, and interviews are carried out to evaluate 1, 2, and 3 comprehensively.

Features

The curriculum of the College of Engineering is structured to meet the following five objectives:

Systematic learning to cultivate fertile academic intellect:

The College enhances students to gain the necessary academic intellect, required for mastering the engineering specialty. The College causes students to understand functional purposes behind not only their enrolled academic discipline but also other disciplines. Another measure is to develop cognitive skills including multidimensional thinking, excellent analysis, and a strong awareness of problem-solving to meet social needs.

Development of Creativity:

The College encourages individual student to challenge the unexplored fields of engineering and technology and thereby facilitates an environment of cultivating highly creative individuals. Frontier spirits with broad perspectives will be developed in the intellectual atmosphere of human communications among the creative individuals.
Systematic learning of engineering knowledge:
To acquire critical thinking utilizing the fundamental engineering knowledge, a systematic approach is adopted. Lectures are well prepared with carefully selected materials, Fundamental concepts that underpin the discipline of each department are presented in easily comprehensible way, incorporating practical trials (demonstrations and experiments).

Tolerance and coexistence with others:

Reviewing engineering aspects that prioritize efficiency by adapting oneself based on ethics and morals, the College nurtures individuals having a spirit of trust and generosity towards different civilizations and a variety of engineering concepts, which put emphasis on cooperation, harmony, and coexistence with different cultures and natural environments.

Historical uniqueness of the University:

By forming the University as a place for living, and by increasing networking opportunities of students with University faculty and staffs, the College enhances mutual trust, and promotes a greater sense of belonging to the University, whilst individually maintaining a sense of self-reliance and independence.

JABEE and Fundamental Subjects

The College provides fundamental subjects: mathematics, physics, chemistry, and English, thereby developing individuals with fundamental knowledge. Specific subjects are prepared in each department.
The educational programs offered by our four departments are accredited by JABEE(Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education), which was established to ensure that the quality of Japanese engineering professionals is of an international standard. The four departments are Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Science and Mechanics, Applied Chemistry, and Electrical Engineering. Department of Electronic Engineering has begun preparations to be JABEE accredited, thus ensuring a high level of education for the entire College of Engineering. 
Another prominent system in the College is “Gakugun” (a cluster of academic interests), which was introduced in 2009 in order to foster wider perspectives and academic intellect. The academic system has seen a progression in educational quality and the cultivation of individuals who will be assets in supporting the next-generation.

JABEE

JABEE (Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education) targets higher educational institutions that confer bachelors’ degrees. The Accreditation serves to enhance the quality of education and to ensure engineering education in Japan as internationally equivalent. If an educational program meets the standards set by the society and it passes JABEE’s accreditation exams, the program is thus recognized as of an international standard. In addition, graduates from the program will be recognized as individuals who have fulfilled the basic education required for an internationally recognized engineer.

Fundamental Subjects

To realize the mission of our Institute, i.e., “to obtain basic academic capability necessary for mastering professional education in engineering", fundamental subjects focus on four core subjects. They are compulsory for all students enrolled in whatever department in College of Engineering. All students must complete the fundamental subjects by their 3rd year. Students can utilize the "learning support room", made permanently available for the study on fundamental subjects, or for self-directed learning support necessary to retake certification exams. The learning support room facilitates one-to-one support, allowing students to ask questions to lecturers in charge of each of the four core subjects. Support programs unique to each subject, e.g. mini-lectures are also prepared.

Objectives in Education and Research

The mission of the College of Engineering is to foster human resources who are equipped with basic knowledge and essence of engineering that has been built up through systematized learning, so that they can contribute to mankind and globalized society by solving problems. In order to complete the mission, students will be developed with the following competencies:

  1. An essential engineering know-how and a capability to face challenges through different perspectives and approaches based on the awareness of social and ethical responsibilities. This can be successfully achieved by learning core modules integrated with general modules.
  2. A capability to employ their academic disciplines with the knowledge of its foundation, its principles, and its basic applications that can be accepted and allowed by the society. This can be successfully achieved by learning special module.
  3. An attitude to pursue problems beyond their professional discipline. This can be successfully acquired by rich and diverse experiences in university.
  4. A problem-finding skill based on the systematic comprehension of engineering principles.
  5. A problem-solving skill upon due consideration of a number of different approaches, the trade-offs, and the potential impact to society from a global perspective.

Curriculum Outline

Specialized subjects

Specialized Subjects are taught so that students can argue how engineering has developed as an academic discipline, and how it can be utilized to mankind. Each department consolidates the curriculum subjects and specifies the core subjects so that students can fully understand the concepts. The subjects are structured to acquire the fundamental theories and basic technological competences pertaining to their specialized subjects by learning and research study of core academic disciplines.

Core/General Subjects

The vision is to ensure students have the basic academic intellect required for mastering the specialized engineering education along with human-orientated general education intended from a broad perspective in disciplines outside their major field of study. The subjects comprise of compulsory mathematics, languages and information, humanities and social sciences, compulsory health and engineering culture. Here, by touching on the basic ideas embraced by each subject that makes up these subjects, hopefully, motivates students to develop a broader perspective and multidimensional cognitive skills founded on an engineering knowledge base.

  1. Compulsory Mathematics
    This subject is preliminary to mastering the specialized engineering education, focusing on fundamental concepts and methodologies typically exploited by the academic disciplines and incorporating the logic created by human intelligence with the laws of nature.
  2. Languages and Information
    For building one’s personality traits vital for social needs through academic discipline, essential knowledge and skills are required. The curriculum, therefore, facilitates students to gain such knowledge and skills, with the lectures comprising science and technology subjects, classified both as specialized subjects and core/general subjects. Here, fundamental skills necessary for studying such academic disciplines is essential to make this educational system effective. Therefore, both English and the information subjects support these skills.
  3. Humanities and Social Sciences
    The curriculum comprises humanities, social sciences, and comprehensive subjects. The lectures involve the fundamental concepts of the academic discipline pertaining to a variety of manmade concepts and cultures, manmade organizations and institutions, and the human mind and body with science-based perspectives.
  4. Compulsory Health
    The subjects engage students to learn theories and practices regarding one’s health such as communication skills realized by physical exercise.
  5. Compulsory Engineering Culture
    Learning other academic disciplines is essential as they can be merged to produce new opportunities and therefore potentially new disciplines. The compulsory engineering culture, classified as a compulsory/general subject, focuses on exploiting a conventional science knowledge base, a fundamental concept of natural science, and the associated methodologies.