新生・京都先端科学大学記念式典に各界から約500人 大学創設50年、来春工学部開設で総合大学へ 新たな学び舎へ大改革、決意新た

大学創設50年を迎え、京都先端科学大学として新たな総合大学へ生まれ変わることを祝う記念式典・祝賀会が2019年10月19日（土）、京都市内の京都ホテルオークラで開かれた。式典・祝賀会には各界から本学ゆかりの関係者約500人が出席した。

式典では、最初に挨拶に立った前田正史学長が、50年の歴史を踏まえ先端科学大学として新たな出発をしたことを報告。来春の工学部開設で5学部11学科の総合大学となるとし「本学は大きく前進する。皆様のご支援によりこの歩みを少しでも早く進め、この京都から課題解決できる人材を送り出し、イノベーションを起こす研究活動を産医官学と共に進めていきたい」と力強く宣言した。

次に永守重信理事長が挨拶に立った。冒頭、「１時間ぐらい話そうと思ったがが、10分しか時間がない」といきなりの“永守節”で堅かった会場をわかせ、招待客を引き込み「人は教育で変わる。新たな大学改革を起こし、全く新しい大学を創るという夢と理想を必ず実現してみせる」と決意を新たにした。

記念講演では「日本の進むべき道」と題して、総理大臣を務めた小泉純一郎氏が熱弁。総理時代の巧みな話術を駆使し、持論の原発廃止論を中心に約１時間にわたって聴衆を魅了した。

前田学長挨拶要旨

工学部は定員200人。留学生は最終的に半分の100人を予定しています。授業は英語が主たる言語になる。日本人学生の英語は徹底的に最初のセメスターで鍛え上げます。週に90分授業が10コマの英語を設けます。英語による専門科目が開始されるまでには一定の英語力が身に付きます。もちろん十分理解できない学生には、日本語による演習でフォローしますので心配ありません。カリキュラムも教える側が教えたいことを教えるのではなく、ゼロから見直し、実践的な課題を１年生から見出すように工夫しています。例えば、ロボットをまず実習で動かす、作ってみる、から始める。基礎となる物理と数学に重きを置き、従来のカリキュラムの1.5倍の時間をかける。特定の研究室に配属される卒業研究の代わりに複数の教員と学生からなるチームによるキャップストーンプログラムを用いた課題解決プロジェクトを実践します。この課題は産業界から提案してもらう。すでに日本電産をはじめ50社を超える企業の申し出をいただいています。

国際化については、既にヨーロッパ、北米、アジア、中東の大学と学生交換、単位互換、研究交流の協定を結ぶ準備をしており、年度内には具体的に発効します。インターンシップでも国内はもちろん、日本電産グループの海外拠点の協力により、海外インターンシップも実現できました。この効果は極めて大きく、学生のモチベーションの向上は信じられないくらい大きなものがありました。私としては１年単位のインターンシップ、海外提携校とのジョイントディグリーもなるべく早く実現したいと考えています。

小泉元総理の記念講演要旨

2011年３月の東日本大震災で福島原発が事故を起こした。これをきっかけに原発のことを勉強し始めた。それで私の考えは変わった。総理時代、原発は必要だ、と言っていた。 原発は安全だ、ほかの電源よりコストが安い、二酸化炭素を排出しないクリーンエネルギーだ、というのが原発推進論者の大義名分で、私もそう思っていた。勉強を続け、それらが全部ウソだと分かった。そうでしょう。福島原発の補償一つとっても莫大だ。東京電力は払えないから国に助けてくれ、と言っている。どこが一番コストが安い、ですか。

それでも経済産業省は今後も電源の約２割は原発だ、という。どういうことか。過ちから学ばないと。過去にも原発事故があった。米でのスリーマイルズしかり、ソ連のチェルノブイリしかり。何十年も経つのに、いまだに人が住めないままだ。

国会の事故調査員会の委員長を務めた方に「福島原発事故は地震が原因か津波が原因か」と尋ねたら、「人災です」と即答された．専門家が言っているんですよ。当時でも「安全対策は万全でない」という声はあったそうだ。それなのに、今でも世界一厳しい安全基準を敷いたから大丈夫だ、などと言って原発再稼働を唱えている。あきれる。

フィンランドに核燃料の廃棄物処理施設がある。これを見学に行った。強固な岩盤に地下400メートルほど掘ったところにある。２キロ四方の施設だ。そこに円筒形の頑丈な容器に詰めて保管されていた。フィンランドには４期の原発があるそうだが、こんな広いところでも２基分にしかならないそうだ。日本はどうだろう。こんな強固な岩盤の地層などあるだろうか。日本で400メートルも掘ったら温泉が湧き出て貯蔵庫にはならない。現に日本には処分場がなく中間貯蔵施設に仮置きしているだけだ。この核のゴミを処理する方法がまだない。原発を廃炉にするにも時間がかかると同時にコストも膨大にかかる。

日本では産業廃棄物処理業者の認可を得ようと思ったら、再利用できない最終廃棄物を処分する施設をつくらないと許可が出ない。なのに、原発はどうか。単なる産廃でもこうなのに信じられない。あきれてしまう。

また、原発がないと停電になる、といったが、2013年９月から昨年まで５年間、原発は１基も稼働していなかったが、停電はおろか、電気は余ったではないか。その間、政府の援助もないのに、風力など自然エネルギーは電源全体の15パーセントを賄うまでになった。原発が３割だというのを考えると、政府が積極的に援助したらすぐ３割ぐらいにはなるだろう。

日本は今原発をやめたら、世界からも注目される。ぜひ政治家は決断すべきだ。

（総合研究所　講師　上島誠司）

Full text of the President's Greetings at the Memorial Ceremony and Celebration for the Kyoto University of Advanced Science in October 2019.

The University, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding and made a fresh start as the Kyoto University of Advanced Science, is now promoting major reforms over the next 50 to 100 years.

A brief history of Kyoto University of Advanced Science

Kyoto University of Advanced Science started in Kameoka City, Kyoto, in 1969. Later, successive chairmen established Uzumasa Campus and created the Faculties of Economics and Business Administration, Humanities, and Health and Medical Sciences. In addition to the original East and North buildings, a new West building was completed in April this year. The South building, housing the Faculty of Engineering, is under construction and will be completed early next year. Together these four buildings will have an area of about 50,000 square meters. Kyoto University of Advanced Science, where four faculties, ten departments and five graduate schools had previously been established, plans to establish the Faculty of Engineering in April 2020, bringing the total to five faculties, eleven departments and five graduate schools. The admissions capacity per school year is 340 students in the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, 170 students in the Faculty of Humanities, 190 students in the Faculty of Bioenvironmental Science, 200 students in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, and 200 students in the Faculty of Engineering, making it a medium-sized university of 4,400 students.

I'm often asked, "Is Kyoto University of Advanced Science aiming to become a science university by establishing Faculty of Engineering? Are you turning into a science college?" That is not the case. Kyoto University of Advanced Science is a general university, and although we are compact we aim to be very unique. I'd like to talk a little bit about this.

Education and research at Kyoto University of Advanced Science

The new Faculty of Engineering will consist of one department. It's called the Department of Mechanical and Electrical System Engineering, and it teaches and studies actuators and their applications. An actuator is a device that realizes action, or movement. A motor is the most obvious actuator although it can be said that a plant organ that closes and opens like a leaf of a hemp tree, or that our human muscles, are also actuators. At the Faculty of Engineering, basic research and education will be conducted on robots, autonomous driving devices, and other applications using actuators.

Can the Faculty of Engineering explore and study this new field alone?

The answer is no. As has already been pointed out by various researchers, for example, in order to truly use automatic machines that do not require human intervention in society, it is necessary for them to coexist with humans. There are various issues the we have to solve. For example, in order to construct social systems such as accident insurance programs that coexist with automated machines, the necessary foundations of traffic laws, municipal ordinances, and other social-scientific frameworks must be established. The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration will be asked to support such progress.

In order for automated machines to coexist with humans whose behavior is very difficult to predict, their programs must have heuristics that describe human behavior. Human behavior includes such variables as religion, historical view, the geopolitical environment, and climate. This means that you can't program an automated machine unless you understand the human body and have a lot of sample data about human behavior. Studies of psychology and human ethology by the Faculty of Humanities are vital.

Let me give you another example, that of machine translation. The ability of AI to translate is determined by how good a dictionary it has. However, this dictionary is not the traditional fixed dictionary of word-for-word meanings that you imagine. It's like a phrasebook, where you have so many sentences for each word. The accuracy of the translation depends on how well it is prepared. It will be needed in various languages. The Faculty of Humanities is therefore expected to play an active role in such technologies.

Data science study in the Faculty of Engineering has many commonalities with that in the Faculty of Bioenvironmental Science; other areas that are currently attracting attention, such as drone-based farm management and automated farm machinery, have much in common with engineering. The Faculty of Health and Medical Science's goal of extending healthy life expectancy is to be achieved through sports as well as nursing, speech and hearing.

The Faculty of Engineering will jointly interpret the needs of society in this area and provide elementary technologies such as vital sensors and behavioral prediction. Assessing the economic rationality of medical care and nursing care is a big task. The evaluation of the social security system and the current situation of nursing care will be a joint activity of the Faculties of Health and Medical Sciences, Economics, Business Administration, and Humanities, where the Faculty of Engineering plays an adhesive role by providing data science knowledge.

In this way, the Faculty of Engineering's participation will enable each faculty to take a larger step forward and provide a venue for solving the challenges of complex societies.

Education in the Faculty of Engineering

I'd like to introduce the Faculty of Engineering a little more.

As I mentioned before, this faculty consists of the Department of Mechanical and Electrical System Engineering. I would like to review the 150 years of engineering education in Japan from the ground up. Instead of teaching what the teachers want to teach, I would like students to experience practical tasks from their first grade within a logical framework, and I would like to devise ways for them to experience the results of their learning during that process. For example, have them start practically by building and animating a robot.

Because of our strong emphasis on the underlying mathematics and physics, the duration of our courses in those subjects is 50% longer than traditional Engineering curricula. Using internationally recognized textbooks, multiple teachers take charge of subjects regardless of their specialties. Instead of a graduation thesis assigned to a specific laboratory, that assignment will be implemented in a capstone program by a team of faculty and students. The issue they address will be proposed by, and the results evaluated by, members of industry. We are very grateful to Nidec and over 50 other companies for their cooperation. We look forward to their continued support.

The Faculty of Engineering plans to admit 200 students each year, of which half (100) will be international students. Classes will be conducted in English, with Japanese students' English ability thoroughly developed in their first semester during which they will receive ten English classes every week. After that they will continue learning in an English language environment of the same level. By the time their specialized subjects begin, they will have been able to acquire the necessary level of English ability. Of course, students who do not understand English well will be supported with exercises in Japanese, so there is no need for them to worry.

One third of the teachers in the Faculty of Engineering are non-Japanese. Most of the teachers from the Faculty of Engineering are here today, so please talk with them later.

About the University's entrance examinations

The number of applicants for admission to our University last year was 60% higher than in the previous year. The competition rate is increasing, but we believe that further efforts are needed to improve the content of education, improve the campus environment, and enhance research facilities. The content of each department's education and career paths after graduation will be shown in a poster display in the foyer and I encourage you to view it.

We would like to ask the high school officials present today to continue to introduce prominent students to us. We will also try to make practical connections with high schools and, if necessary, with junior high schools and even elementary schools.

For the Faculty of Engineering, we have designed a curriculum that allows students with a certain level of English proficiency to enter in September. We would like high school students who have acquired an international baccalaureate qualification overseas to enroll at our university.

We will also work to conclude international exchange agreements. We are already preparing student exchange, credit transfer, and research exchange agreements with a number of universities in Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East, which will take effect within this fiscal year.

Various types of cooperation

The first and most important aspect of educational cooperation between industry and medical institutions, government, and academia, is the exchange of teachers. Already, many faculty members from industry, government, and political circles have come as Visiting Professors. The Faculty of Engineering uses a cross-appointment system to welcome industrial engineers as Professors.

The second is the sharing of issues. As I mentioned earlier, in the Faculty of Engineering, the Capstone Program will replace graduation research and, in this process, I believe that we will be able to realistically understand the challenges which industry is facing and that industry will be able to understand the flexible educational system of this university.

Internships are also a very useful tool. We have already implemented three-month internships in Japan and, from this year, overseas internships thanks to the cooperation of the Nidec Group. Their effect was enormous, and the improvement in student motivation was incredible.These programs have already gained the attention of the media. I would also like to realize a one-year "joint degree" program through collaborative guidance with overseas partner universities, and a "dual degree" program conferring degrees from two universities, as soon as possible.

The Kameoka Campus has 30 hectares of space, and we have developed facilities that support joint projects with industry, government, and academia. We have already started projects with Nidec Corporation such as research and development of motors for automobile drives. In addition, joint research on small personal mobility vehicles will start soon, and various data collection and data science research activities using drones will start based mainly in Kameoka. For these activities, collaboration with Kameoka City and Kyoto Prefecture is very important. For example, even if we can develop a small mobile device and demonstrate good motor performance, sensor performance, and safety performance on campus, it is not possible to demonstrate the same in a real social space – on public roads, amid real social activity – without cooperation with local communities. When a start-up company is established as a result of research, support from the government is essential to locate that company in Kameoka City or in Kyoto City.

Final remarks

As I said above, Kyoto University of Advanced Science has been reborn as a new university. The funds required for the relocation and maintenance of the university were from the large donations made by all of you and the efforts of successive generations of chairmen. The major reforms currently underway, and the buildings for the Faculty of Engineering, were realized through the large donations made by the current Chairman. Thank you very much.

Kyoto University of Advanced Science is about to make great strides. With your support we would like to advance along this path as quickly as possible, produce human resources who can contribute to solving problems, and promote educational and research activities that generate innovation together with the industry, government, and academia of Kyoto.