History

April 2022: Department of Energy and Materials opens in the Faculty of Science and Engineering

The Department of Energy and Materials provides education and conducts research on energy-related technologies and the materials that support them. Let’s look at how this new department was established and what makes it special.
The department was founded on the dual principles of “sustainability” and “quality of life”. The world today needs technological innovations that lead to a carbon-free society and that also allow us to keep our comfortable lifestyles. At the same time, we need to make ever smaller communication devices and medical sensors that don’t require charging; this will require utilising molecular motors, small amounts of energy from sources like static electricity and friction, and even the efficient energy conversion of living organisms. And of course, new energy technologies cannot be realised without the development of new materials.
To respond to these societal needs, the Department of Energy and Materials offers subjects in three fields: Next-Generation Infrastructure Energy, Life Device Energy, and Material Creation. Students first gain a wide perspective through comprehensive study in the three fields in which they master the fundamentals of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. From their second year on, students choose a field in which to major in and develop expertise according to their career goals. One way that students put into action Kindai’s principle of “Learning for the real world” is through firsthand study at Kindai’s research nuclear reactor, the only such facility owned by a private university in Japan. Students also take a wide range of information literacy courses that teach them how to utilise simulations, informatics, and other key aspects of future manufacturing.
The teaching faculty at Kindai put their heart and soul into education and research activities with the sole purpose of seeing students find and develop their strengths, contribute to attainment of the SDGs, and venture into the world as the builders of future society.