14 To enrich the University’s practical and creative education, the Language Center, Library, Physical Education and Health Center, International Student Center, and Research Center for International Cooperation in Engineering Education, among others, were established. In addition, in 2004, to streamline administration, the Committee for the Education Support Organization was established to oversee the three educational centers related to language education, physical education and health, and international students. Moreover, in order to improve and enhance the quality of education, the University has undertaken efforts aimed at obtaining JABEE accreditation for all programs. 2.3.4 Research Structure in the 30th Year After the Founding Faculty members belong to one of the following divisions: Mechanical Systems Engineering, Production Systems Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Civil Engineering, Knowledge-Based Information Engineering, Ecology Engineering, or Humanities and Social Engineering, and conduct research under a chair system. To support faculty research, promote research projects within the University, and strengthen collaboration with industry and the local community, various centers and facilities were established one after another, including the Center for Frontier Technology Research and the Venture Business Laboratory. The 21st Century COE Program launched by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in FY2002 attracted considerable attention nationwide, with 274 centers selected. Two centers at The University were selected: “ Intelligent Human Sensing” and “ Ecological Homeostasis Engineering for Future Society.” From FY2005 onward, the Committee for the Research Promotion Organization comprehensively reviewed important matters concerning research-related centers and worked to establish an efficient research structure. Existing centers’ operations and research equipment were consolidated, service contact points for local companies were unified in order to make effective use of research equipment, and reorganization and integration were carried out so that external services could be provided smoothly and efficiently. Through these institutional improvements, the University strengthened its contribution to engineer training. Furthermore, in order to build education and research organizations capable of responding to social demands, various research centers were established on a time-limited basis, and fixed terms were also introduced for some faculty positions, thereby enabling periodic review of education and research organizations. To promote advanced research, two core centers of the 21st Century COE Program—the EcoDesign Research Center for Future Environment and the Intelligent Sensing Systems Research Center— were established in FY2005 to further develop and sustain research activities in those fields. To strengthen collaboration among industry, academia, and government and to facilitate technology transfer, the University concluded basic agreements concerning collaboration with Toyohashi Campus Innovation Co., Ltd. (TCI), including arrangements for the transfer of University-held patents, thereby establishing the basic framework for promoting industry–academia–government collaboration. This in turn led to the start of technical consultation services and industry–academia–government technology exchange activities. To promote research contributing to the development of the local community, the Future Vehicle Research Center was established as a comprehensive technological research base to advance science and technology relating to new transportation systems for future society. In addition, the Community Collaboration Urban Development Research Center was established to promote collaborative work with the region. With the appointment of three intellectual property and collaboration managers responsible for industry– academia–government cooperation, systems were also established to formulate the regulations concerning intellectual property that became necessary with incorporation and for creating and utilizing intellectual property. The University’s original patent information system (PLIST) was made available on its website, and awareness-raising activities concerning intellectual property were also undertaken, including patent and intellectual property seminars and explanatory sessions in each division using the document “Handling of Intellectual Property.”
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