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Kyushu Institute of Technology
九州工業大学
Established:	1907
Type:	Public (National)
President:	Teruo Shimomura
Location:	Kitakyushu and Iizuka, Fukuoka prefecture, Japan
Campus:	Urban
Mascot:	None
Website:	www.kyutech.ac.jp

Kyushu Institute of Technology (九州工業大学, Kyūshū Kōgyō Daigaku^?) is one of the 87 national universities in Japan. Located in Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū, it is dedicated to education and research in the fields of science and technology. It is often abbreviated to KIT and sometimes to Kyutech.

The founder was Yasukawa Keiichiro, and the links with the Yaskawa Electric Corporation (founded in 1915) remain strong to this day. The centenary of the opening of the Tobata campus will be celebrated in 2009.

The most famous alumnus is "Dr. Tornado", the severe storms researcher Tetsuya "Ted" Fujita. He graduated in 1943 and was an associate professor of KIT until 1953 when he was invited to Chicago University.

[edit] History

KIT Tobata campus front gate (Seimon) with the flags out on a national holiday

The university was granted government permission to be founded in 1907 as a private training school for engineers called Meiji Senmon Gakkō (Meiji Vocational School), towards the end of the Meiji period. The first campus opened its doors in Tobata in 1909. KIT became a Japanese national university on May 31, 1949, and has since April 1, 2004 been incorporated as a national university corporation under a new law which applies to all national universities.

Despite the incorporation which has led to increased financial independence and autonomy, KIT is still quite strictly controlled in many respects by the Japanese Ministry of Education (Monbukagakushō, or Monkashō).

The Hoo-Ryuu 鳳龍　(Oriental Phoenix-cum-Dragon) emblem of KIT is featured and explained in English here.

In 1995 the Satellite Venture Business Laboratory was opened at Tobata campus, and the university plays a leading role in Kyushu in promoting link-ups with industry (sangaku renkei). Graduates of KIT have a good reputation as employees and over 90% find employment soon after graduation which is better than most comparable institutions.

[edit] Founding principles

The first president of KIT, Yamakawa Kenjirō who studied at Yale University declared that the aim of the school was to produce "gentlemen well versed in technological skills" (gijutsu ni tannō naru shikunshi). Nowadays the university aims to produce both ladies and gentlemen with these skills, and enjoys a high reputation with employers.

Founder's day is May 28. It coincides, not accidentally, with the Battle of Tsushima of May 27-May 28, 1905 - the decisive naval battle in the Russo-Japanese War. Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō once visited KIT, and his visit is commemorated in the school's archives.

[edit] KIT's three campuses

KIT has three campuses. Two of these are in Kitakyushu and one is in Iizuka. All three are in Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyūshū.

[edit] Tobata campus (Kitakyushu)

Faculty of Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering. This is the oldest campus, opened in 1909. It originally had three departments: Mining, Metallurgy, and Mechanical Engineering.

[edit] Iizuka campus

Faculty of Computer Science and Systems Engineering, Graduate School of Computer Science and Systems Engineering. This is the second campus, established in 1986. The first students were admitted in 1987.

[edit] Wakamatsu campus (Kitakyushu)

Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering. This is the newest campus, established in April 2001.

[edit] International partnerships

KIT has partnership agreements with several overseas universities, including the University of Surrey (UK) and Old Dominion University (USA).

[edit] See also

• Kagoshima University
• Kyushu Institute of Design
• Kyushu University
• Nagasaki University
• Nagoya Institute of Technology
• Tokyo Institute of Technology
• University of Kitakyushu

• Institute of Technology

[edit] External links

• KIT official home page (English)
• KIT official page (Japanese)
• National Universities incorporation - the new law
• The Japan Association of National Universities