About Tokyo Tech
Tokyo Institute of Technology merged with Tokyo Medical and Dental University to form Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo) on October 1, 2024.
Over time, content on this site will be migrated to the Science Tokyo Web. Any information published on this site will be valid in relation to Science Tokyo.
About Tokyo Tech
Yoshinao Mishima was inaugurated as president and a new board was appointed on October 1, 2012. The Tokyo Tech community embraces challenge with spirit, enthusiasm and confidence as it seeks to become the world's best science and technology university.
The Green Hills Building 1 (Environmental Energy Innovation Building), completed in the spring of 2012 at the Ookayama Campus, emits 60% less carbon dioxide than most buildings and is nearly self-sufficient at producing the energy it consumes, making it unparalleled in the world. The installation of high-efficiency equipment produces significant energy savings. A unique feature of the building is its sloping steel outer framework which is covered with 4570 high-density solar panels. The building also boasts a renewable-/fossil-fuel composite distributed-model-type power generation fuel cell. Environment and energy research is conducted on the premises, which includes obtaining and analyzing data on the building's own electric power generation and consumption. At Green Hills Building 1, the building itself is a subject of scholarly research.
Professor Kei Hirose's Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, was chosen in October to become another center in the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Based on the idea that life and the environment are interconnected, ELSI researchers seek to unravel the mystery of the origins of Earth and life to better understand evolution.
Professor Hideo Hosono of the Frontier Research Center was selected to lead an Elements Strategy Initiative to Form a Core Research Center in the field of electronic materials by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Professor Hosono will spearhead this research effort to enhance Japan's industrial competiveness by creating innovative and alternative materials for a sustainable society in the face of an increasing global scarcity of rare metals.
The Academy for Global Leadership (AGL) established in April 2011 was adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as one of the institutes in the Program for Leading Graduate Schools in October 2012. Every year, the AGL provides 15 selected postgraduate students with the academic and practical skills necessary to shape the world.
Tokyo Tech's inaugural Homecoming Day was feted in May at both the Ookayama and Suzukakedai Campuses. On May 20 many Tokyo Tech alumni attending Homecoming Day events at the Suzukakedai Campus took advantage of the beautiful weather and also attended the Suzukake Festival and the Open Campus which were being held on the same day. A week later on May 27 at the Ookayama Campus, approximately 950 graduates including their families attended the first Homecoming Day events there.
The works of art of fifteen outstanding artists were displayed at the Tokyo Tech Museum. Mashiko Town in Tochigi Prefecture, the home of Mashiko-yaki pottery, and the Institute have a long and intertwined history. Revered Tokyo Tech alumni, Kanjiro Kawai, Shoji Hamada and Tatsuzo Shimaoka, resided and potted in Mashiko. Visitors to this special exhibition enjoyed a taste of the daily life of people in Mashiko.
2012 marked another year of high achievement by Tokyo Tech students in extramural and community-service oriented activities.
"Chor Kleines" wins gold medal at the National Choral Competition 15 years in a row
Tokyo Tech's choral group Chor Kleines took the gold in the university, company and community categories of the Japan Choral Association's National Choral Competition for the fifteenth consecutive year in November. At the same competition Chor Kleines also won an NHK award.
Tokyo Tech students take third place at BIOMOD competition
The six-member Team Titech Nano-Jugglers won five prizes at the International Bimolecular Design Competition (BIOMOD) at Harvard University this year. Their Biomolecular Rocket took 3rd place in the Grand Prize and Best Wiki categories and 2nd place in the Best YouTube Video category. Additionally, it won the 2nd Annual MOLBOT Award and took gold in the Project Awards. BIOMOD is an international undergraduate competition for the design and construction of nano/micrometer-sized biomolecular robots.
Tokyo Tech students take third place at BIOMOD competition | Tokyo Tech News
Tokyo Tech students received "Best Information Processing Project" at iGEM World Championship Jamboree
The Tokyo Tech team won the Best Information Processing Project at the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) 2012 World Championship Jamboree held in November at MIT. Tokyo Tech was the first Japanese team to be awarded this prize back in 2010. iGEM is a worldwide, undergraduate synthetic biology competition. Standardized biological parts, called BioBricks, are provided to the student teams and they compete by presenting their design and formulation of a new biological system. This year the nine-member Tokyo Tech team recreated Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet using two kinds of Escherichia coli cells and cell-cell communication. The team advanced to the World Championship Jamboree after winning gold in the iGEM 2012 Regional Jamboree-Asia held in October at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Tokyo Tech won a gold medal for the sixth consecutive year at the regionals. Of the 190 participating teams worldwide, only 4 universities, Tokyo Tech, UC Berkeley, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Freiburg, boast this record.
Tokyo Tech Photo Cleaning Project
Tokyo Tech volunteers clean photos collected in disaster-stricken areas for victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. This project was started in September 2011 by the Student Support Group of the Student Division.
Photo Rescue Project | Outreach Stories | Outreach
Student Support Center Student Initiative Support Section (Japanese)
The Special Topics component of the Tokyo Tech Website shines a spotlight on recent developments in research and education, achievements of its community members, and special events and news from the Institute.
Past features can be viewed in the Special Topics Gallery.
Published: December 2012