Foundation Background and History of National Institute of Technology, Suzuka College

Shinji Fujimoto, President

  National Institute of Technology, Suzuka College is called Suzuka KOSEN for short in Japanese. It originated from National Colleges of Technology, which were established in April 1962, as part of Japan's higher educational systems under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The purpose of the foundation of National Colleges of Technology was to foster promising engineers who will contribute to the development of Japanese industry, conducting practical and professional engineering education based on a five-year integrated system with both general and specialized learning organized systematically.
  Suzuka KOSEN was one of the first 12 National Colleges of Technology. It initially consisted of 3 departments: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering (currently Electrical and Electronic Engineering), and Industrial Chemistry (currently Chemistry and Biochemistry). Now, it has been expanded to 5 departments with the establishment of Metal Engineering (currently Materials Science and Engineering) and Electronic and Information Engineering. The number of students is 40 in each year of each department. Students are cultivated to be creative and practical engineers in broader fields who thereby acquire expertise in technology development. Graduates play important roles in society as engineers, researchers and business managers, and have achieved outstanding reputations in both the educational and industrial worlds.
  To remain competitive in the ever-advancing field of technology, two-year advanced courses were established in 1993. After completing the five-year associate degree course, students can continue on to a two-year advanced course or transfer to a university, and receive a bachelor’s degree. That is why the Colleges of Technology are recognized as institutions that are equal to engineering colleges.
  In April 2004, National Colleges of Technology underwent an organizational change from the direct jurisdiction of MEXT to become the "Institute of National Colleges of Technology, Japan" as a single legal entity to organize all National Colleges of Technology.

History

April 1, 1962 The National Institute of Technology (KOSEN), Suzuka College, was established (Starting with three departments: The Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Department of Electrical Engineering and The Department of Industrial Chemistry).
April 1, 1966 The Department of Metallurgical Engineering was established.
April 1, 1986 The Department of Metallurgical Engineering was reorganized as the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
April 1, 1989 The Department of Electronic and Information Engineering was established.
June 5, 1990 An International Academic Exchange Agreement was concluded with The Ohio State University (USA).
October 9, 1991 An International Academic Exchange Agreement was concluded with Georgian College (Canada).
April 1, 1993 The Advanced Courses (Advanced Electronic and Mechanical Engineering Course and Advanced Applied Chemistry and Material Engineering Course) were establishe
April 1, 1997 The Department of Industrial Chemistry was reorganized as the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, starting with two courses of Biochemistry and Applied Chemistry.
April 1, 2002 The Joint Research & Development Promotion Center started.
April 1, 2003 The Department of Electric Engineering was reorganized as the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
April 1, 2004 The jurisdiction transferred from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to National Institute of Technology.
May 10, 2004 The engineer educational program “Complex Production System Engineering” was accredited by the Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (JABEE).
March 20, 2006 The standards for evaluation of National Institute of Technology were accredited by the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation.
April 18, 2006 An International Academic Exchange Agreement was concluded with Changzhou College of Information Technology (China).
November 3, 2012 The 50th Anniversary Ceremony was held.
November 26, 2012 A memorandum was signed with the School/Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, regarding the agreement for exchange of education and study and the assignment of trainees.
March 27, 2013 The standards for evaluation of National Institute of Technology were accredited by the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation.
April 1, 2017 The Advanced Courses (Advanced Electronic and Mechanical Engineering Course and Advanced Applied Chemistry and Material Engineering Course) were reorganized into one Advanced Course (Advanced Engineering Course of Science and Technology for Innovation).
November 10, 2017 The International Academic Exchange Agreement was concluded with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Leibniz University Hannover (Germany).
February 9, 2018 The Coordination and Cooperation Agreement was concluded with the Institute of Engineering and Technology (Mongolia).
February 16, 2018 The Research Exchange Agreement was concluded with Suzuka University of Medical Sciences.
March 27, 2019 The standards for evaluation of the National Institute of Technology were accredited by the National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education.