Feature

President Takashi Onishi outlines his plans to create a multicultural and intellectually active campus at Toyohashi Tech

Takashi Onishi was appointed the president of Toyohashi University of Technology on 1^st April 2014. “My expertise is in urban engineering and planning,” says Onishi. “I am looking forward to working with my colleagues at Toyohashi Tech to ensure the success of programs in progress as well as launching new projects and initiatives in broad subjects of technology.”

Toyohashi Tech currently has three major programs in progress: The National University Reform Enhancement Project being run with Nagaoka University of Technology and Institute of National College of Technology to nurture globally-minded human resources. This program led to the establishment of the TUT-USM Campus in Penang, Malaysia. The second project is the Leading Graduate School Program to “strengthen brain information educational research capabilities”. And the third initiative is the Program for Promoting the Enhancement of Research Universities. All three programs are funded by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

In addition to supporting these programs, President Onishi has set new innovative goals for his tenureship.

“Enhancing the level of globalization of the entire university is a high priority,” says Onishi. “I want to promote greater international collaboration in both education and research.” President Onishi also wants to encourage greater interaction with the local community. “I think that Toyohashi Tech researchers can contribute to regional disaster management and mitigation.” In particular, President Onishi wants to build on the excellence in research at the Electronics-Inspired Interdisciplinary Research Institute (EIIRIS) by enhancing international collaboration over a wide range of multidisciplinary research areas.

In education, President Onishi plans to improve the communication skills of students by collaborating with Nagaoka University of Technology and Institute of National Colleges of Technology (KOSEN). “I want to establish a bilingual and multicultural curriculum and campus life to encourage more students from overseas to study at Toyohashi Tech.”

Reforming the university administration is another goal for President Onishi. “I want to streamline our administrative system and improve our research environment to attract even more world class researchers to Toyohashi,” says Onishi. “My goal is to create a multicultural and intellectually active campus.”