Osaka Institute of Technology

OIT was originally founded in 1922 as Kansai Engineering Technical School by Kyosaburo Honjo, Businessperson together with Yasushi Kataoka as the first principal, Architect who graduated from Tokyo Imperial University (present University of Tokyo).

In 1940, the school foundation established Kansai Advanced Technical School, a three-year college for men (for ages 17–20). Kansai Advanced Technical School was renamed to Setsunan Advanced Technical School in 1942, further renamed Setsunan Engineering Technical School in 1944.

In April 1949, Setsunan Engineering Technical School was upgraded to Setsunan Institute of Technology, a four-year university under Japan's new educational systems. In October 1949, it was renamed to Osaka Institute of Technology (OIT).

At first, OIT had one faculty, so-called Faculty of Engineering, which consisted of three departments(Architecture, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering). Later on, OIT added some departments(Mechanical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Applied Chemistry, Environmental Engineering, Biomedical Engineering) and also three faculties(Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Faculty of Intellectual Property, Faculty of Robotics and Design) and graduate schools which include doctoral courses.

• 1949: Faculty of Engineering
• 1965: Graduate School (Department of Engineering Research : master's courses only)
• 1967: Ph.D. courses
• 1996: Faculty of Information Science and Technology
• 2003: Faculty of Intellectual Property
• 2017: Faculty of Robotics and Design

As of April 2017, OIT has four faculties. Especially, Faculty of Intellectual Property is the only one and first-ever Faculty in Japan. Moreover, Faculty of Robotics and Design provides Design Thinking education as innovative & creative approach.

OIT has three campuses:

• Omiya Campus: Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Intellectual Property
• Umeda Campus: Faculty of Robotics and Design
• Hirakata Campus: Faculty of Information Science and Technology

Umeda Campus is newly opened in 2017 near Osaka station and it is housed in a 21-storey building with 2 basement floors, to be called OIT Umeda Tower located in Central Business District (CBD).[1]

From Academic Year 2017, OIT offers 16 undergraduate degrees and 6 master's degrees in the field of engineering, robotics and design, information science and technology, and intellectual property. It also offers 5 doctoral degrees in the field of engineering, robotics and design, information science and technology. OIT offers a number of project-based learning opportunities.[2]

• Solar Car Project
• Challenge of the OIT MONOLAB. Robot Project
• Human-Powered Aircraft Project
• Development of Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging System (Kawakami-mura Eco Project)
• Science À La Carte École Project
• Smartphone Application Design Project
• Computer Design Project
• The IP(Intellectual Property) PR Project

• Intellectual Property (in Omiya) *The only one and first-ever Faculty in Japan
  • Department of Intellectual Property
• Engineering (in Omiya)
  • Department of Architecture
  • Department of Civil Engineering and Urban Design
  • Department of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering
  • Department of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineering
  • Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • Department of Applied Chemistry
  • Department of Environmental Engineering
  • Department of Biomedical Engineering
• Robotics and Design (in Umeda) *"Design Thinking" education as innovative & creative approach
  • Department of Robotics
  • Department of Design and Architecture
  • Department of System Design *IoT, AI
• Information Science and Technology (in Hirakata)
  • Department of Computer Science
  • Department of Information Systems
  • Department of Media Science
  • Department of Information Networks

• Intellectual Property (Professional Degree Course)
  • Major in Intellectual Property
• Engineering (Master's and Ph.D. Courses)
  • Major in Architecture, Civil Engineering and Urban Design
  • Major in Electrical, electronic and Mechanical Engineering
  • Major in Applied Chemistry, Environmental and Biomedical Engineering
• Robotics and Design (Master's and Ph.D. Courses)
  • Major in Robotics and Design
• Information Science and Technology (Master's and Ph.D. Courses)
  • Major in Information Science and Technology

In Omiya Campus:

• Center for Monodzukuri Management
• Nanomaterials Microdevices Research Center

In Umeda Campus:

• Human Robotics R&D Center
• Robotics & Design Center[3]

In Hiyakata Campus:

• Yawata Engineering Laboratories
  • Structure Research Center
  • Hydraulic Research Center
  • High Voltage Research Center
• Digital Archive Center
• Virtual Reality Laboratory
• Visualization Software Developing Center

• International
  • Joint team "JoiTech" from Osaka University and OIT won "World Championship"(*Category: Humanoid League Adult Size) in RoboCup 2013 for Robotics in Eindhoven.[12][13]
    Moreover, OIT’s own team ”OIT Trial” from Faculty of Robotics and Design together with Faculty of Information Science and Technology won the “World's No. 7 place” (*Category: @Home) in RoboCup 2017 in Nagoya.[14]
  • Student team from Department of Electrical and Electronics Systems Engineering won the "3rd prize" and "Best Innovative Design Award" in the international student contest on IFEC(International Future Energy Challenge) 2015 hosted by IEEE at the University of Michigan–Dearborn. The topic was "High-efficiency Wireless Charging System for Electric Vehicles (EV) and other Applications". As Japanese university, OIT got through to the Final Competition and also won the award for the first time ever.[15]
  • Student from Department of Electrical and Electronics Systems Engineering won "Excellent Paper Award" in the International Conference on IEEE PEAC(Power Electronics Application Conference) 2014 in Shanghai. The topic was "A New V2H System with Single-Ended Inverter Drive Bidirectional Wireless Resonant IPT.[16]
  • Student team from Faculty of Information Science and Technology passed the Domestic Preliminary competition(82 universities, 372 teams in Japan) on ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest(“ACM-ICPC”) 2015 and got through to the Asia Regional competition in Tsukuba. From the private universities in Japan, the qualifiers were only 3 universities, Keio University, Meiji University and OIT.[17]
    In addition, back to the Asia Regional competition 2006, only Tokyo Institute of Technology and OIT were in the “Top 10” from Institute of technology in Japan, and also OIT was the only ranked from private universities in Japan.[18] The OIT graduates who experienced this event joined Google, Yahoo and Information technology(IT) companies.[19]
  • Graduate student from Electronics, Information and communication Engineering won "Student Award" in the International symposium on ALC(Atomic Level Characterizations) 2015 for New Materials and Devices in Nagoya. The topic was "Surface potential distribution of insulating film on a conductive substrate irradiated by electron beam with an application of the bias-voltage". From the private universities in Japan, it was awarded only to Tokyo University of Science and OIT.[20]
  • Graduate student from Electronics, Information and communication Engineering won "Best Paper Award" in Photomask Japan 2014 organized by SPIE(Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers). The topic was "Electron beam current dependence on a surface potential distribution at a resist film on a conductive substrate".[21]
  • Graduate student from Electronics, Information and communication Engineering won "Student Travel Award" in the International Conference on EIPBN(Electron, Ion, and Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication) 2012 organized by IEEE Electron Devices Society in Hawaii. The topic was "Measurement of Surface Potential Distribution at an Insulating Film Produced by Fogging Electrons in a Scanning Electron Microscope".[22] A variety of universities, countries, and topics were represented among the students receiving support. Students from 10 countries (including the US) and 33 universities(including MIT, Stanford University, Yale University, Carnegie Mellon University, Princeton University, University of British Columbia and more.) were among the recipients of student travel financial support. From the universities in Asia, it was awarded only to National University of Singapore, Peking University and OIT.[23]
  • Student from Department of Architecture got through to "The 3rd Asian Contest of Architectural Rookie's Award" in Dalian as a member of Japan national team after winning the top prize in "Kenchiku SHINJINSEN"(Architectural Rookie’s Contest)2014 in Japan.[24]

• IAESTE (International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience)Japan:

OIT is one of the "University member"[25] and "Business supporting member"[26] as well as The University of Tokyo, Tohoku University, Hokkaido University, Yokohama National University, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo University of Science and Waseda University. Especially from the universities in Kansai region, OIT is only listed as "Business supporting member" who can receive foreign trainees. OIT accepts a limited number of international research students under this program each year, and also dispatches students to other universities.[27] - Trainees Accepted in OIT from; 2018: Slovak University of Technology (Slovakia) 2017: Gdańsk University of Technology, Lodz University of Technology (Poland) 2016: Brno University of Technology (Czech Republic), Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Hungary) 2015: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Republic of Ghana), Tomas Bata University in Zlín (Czech Republic) 2014: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway), Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) - Trainees Dispatched from OIT to; 2017: Manipal University (India) 2016: University of Information Science and Technology "St. Paul The Apostle" (Republic of Macedonia) 2014: Karunya University (India)

• WIPO(World Intellectual Property Organization)

OIT cooperates with WIPO on organizing the conferences in order to evangelize the Intellectual Property(IP) in Asia. For instance, “Conference for Presidents/Vice-Presidents and Technology Transfer Officers of Universities and Research Institutions on Creating an Enabling Intellectual Property(IP) Environment for Technology Development, Management and Commercialization” in 2017. The overseas participants were mainly from Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. [28]

• JICA(Japan International Cooperation Agency)

OIT supports as Training Institution for JICA Training Course mainly related to Intellectual Property, such as "Japan-Mexico Strategic Global Partnership Training Program - Intellectual property rights" [29] Other than Mexico, OIT received the trainees from Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.[30]

• Australia
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • Swinburne University of Technology
• Austria
  • Technische Universität Wien
• Hong Kong
  • City University of Hong Kong
• China
  • Tsinghua University
  • Tongji University
  • Zhejiang University
• Finland
  • Tampere University of Technology
• France
  • EPITECH(Paris Graduate School of Digital Innovation, formerly European Institute of Information Technology)
• Germany
  • Technische Universität München
  • Universität der Bundeswehr München
  • Bergische Universität Wuppertal
• India
  • Manipal University
• Indonesia
  • University of Palangka Raya
  • Widya Mandala Catholic University
  • Mulawarman University
  • Bakrie University
• Malaysia
  • Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
  • Universiti Teknologi Petronas
  • Universiti Malaysia Sabah
• Mexico
  • University of Guanajuato
• Mongolia
  • Mongolian Institute of Engineering and Technology
• Netherlands
  • Delft University of Technology
• Norway
  • University of Stavanger
• Philippines
  • University of San Jose–Recoletos
• Poland
  • Wrocław University of Technology
• Saudi Arabia
  • King Abdulaziz University
• South Korea
  • Inje University
  • Daejeon University
• Spain
  • University of Salamanca
  • Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
• Sweden
  • Uppsala University
• Taiwan
  • National Taipei University of Technology
  • National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
  • National Tsing Hua University
  • National Formosa University
  • National Yunlin University of Science and Technology
  • National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology
  • Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology
  • Shih Hsin University
  • Tatung University
• Thailand
  • Thammasat University
  • Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology
• United States
  • Georgia Institute of Technology
  • San Jose State University
  • Rice University
  • Clemson University
  • Angelo State University
• Vietnam
  • Da Nang University of Technology
  • Can Tho University

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