Past Events | March 26, 2024

On March 22, 2024, the Graduate School Completion and Undergraduate Graduation Ceremonies were held. President Terashima and doctoral course graduates wore academic gowns for the ceremony.

• The 2023 Academic Year Graduate School Completion Ceremony and Undergraduate Graduation Ceremony (TUT Official YouTube Channel)

President Terashima delivered the following address at the ceremony.

Today, we are very pleased to announce the graduation of a bachelor graduates 450, a master's graduates 335, a doctorate　graduates 5. To all graduates, congratulations on your graduation and completion of your studies. We would also like to extend our sincere congratulations to the families who have warmly watched over their children until now. Furthermore, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the faculty, staff, local community, industry, and all other related parties who have provided guidance and support to the students until today. Now, on this blessed occasion, I would like to deliver my congratulatory address as President of the University.

First of all, I would like to say that, in the three years since the pandemic of the new coronavirus, we have experienced rapid changes in the environment, including wars, energy problems, price hikes, earthquakes, and other disasters, but you have persevered through all of this and have successfully completed your educational programs and research papers to reach the goal of graduation and completion. I would like to express my respect for your intellectual, physical and mental strength. On the other hand, the university has done its utmost to respond to the situation by establishing a hybrid format that combines online lectures, face-to-face lectures, and both, and by improving the environment and facilities. However, I believe that there were many points in which we fell short. I sincerely apologize for that. Now, once people are down, they sometimes think that their misfortune will continue forever and never get better, but at such times, please remember, there is a Chinese　proverb that says, inscrutable are the ways of heaven. The original story of this proverb is written in an old Chinese book, "Huainanzi. Let me explain it a little more briefly. At the northern tip of China, near the border town of Toride, there lived an old man who was good at divination. One day, his horse ran away and everyone felt sorry for him, but he told them that it was a sign of good luck. And just like that, the horse that ran away came back with a fine horse. So everyone congratulates him, and now he says, "This is a sign of bad luck. In fact, after a while his son fell off the horse and broke his leg. When everyone again sympathized with him, his answer was, "This is a harbinger of good luck. Thanks to his injury, his son did not have to go to war. The moral of this story is that in a long life, there are happy times and sad times, but what is happy and what is unhappy is not immediately determined. I believe that it is important for all of us to have a long-term vision for ourselves, to be disciplined when we are happy and to believe that happiness will surely come in the future when we are sad, and to live our daily lives cheerfully and vigorously, and to be fulfilled every day. As Shakespeare said in his play "All's Well that Ends Well", keep going toward your goal.

Next, you have studied mainly science and technology-related studies and research at our university, but basic skills are most important for their development. I believe that you have learned various specialized studies, deepened them, and acquired specialized skills. Based on these basic skills, students at our university have learned and acquired applied and human skills through study abroad, internships abroad, cooperation with technical colleges, and industry-university collaboration, so it is said that our students have excellent practical application and implementation skills, especially in manufacturing. As evidence of this, Nikkei Newspaper reported that the number of students employed by the university is expected to increase in the future. Nikkei Newspaper ranked us first in the nation for universities that want to increase the number of job seekers and first in the nation for universities that are improving their classes, and we have received extremely high evaluations from industry and society. In addition, in terms of the amount of joint research funds received per individual from industry, the university has been ranked in the top five in the nation for the past several years, including first place in FY2020, making it one of the leading universities in Japan with strong industry-university collaboration and high expectations from industry for joint research. The foundation of the university's success is its basic academic skills. Please do not merely apply what you have learned, but always hone your basic skills even when you go out into the world. If you are particularly interested in something, pursue its theory, mechanism, etc. thoroughly until you understand it. Furthermore, mathematics and physics are the foundation of many studies, so even after entering the workforce, if you find yourself stuck in an application, please relearn the fundamentals. In addition, it will be even more important in the future to apply and implement the study in a way that is useful to society. This university is highly regarded by society and industry in this respect, so I hope you will contribute to society and the world by linking your studies and research to practical applications and recognizing the fields in which you can contribute.

If you find something you want to do in the many research fields you are studying, continue to challenge them with passion and without fear of failure. The development of academics and research is essential to the advancement of our society and the world. To develop your studies and research, it is important to recognize what you are good at and what you are interested in, and once you find it, pursue it with passion until you understand it. This is greatly aided by creative trial and error in the field, including encounters with mentors, peers, people, and books, as well as failures and successes in everyday experiments. Imitating others is not enough. Originality is the most important thing. You have learned the foundation for this at our university. I hope that you will have confidence as you go out into the world, and that you will not forget what I have just said, and that you will devote yourselves to it.

I will say it again. When you find something you want to do, do not be afraid of failure, but challenge with passion toward the bright future of mankind, and contribute to the world. These are my words of farewell to you all.