Kyushu Institute of Technology

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The Oriental Phoenix-Dragon Emblem of Kyushu Institute of Technology

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

1 History
2 Founding principles
3 KIT's three campuses
4 International links
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

The university was founded in 1907 with government permission 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.

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

[edit] Founding principles

The founder 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 27-28, 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.