The College of Media Arts, Science, and Technology was founded in 2007. Since the very first group of students graduated in March 2023, we have sent off a total of 804 graduates into the world. 60% of those graduates decided to go on to Master’s and Doctoral studies, and most of the other graduates have chosen a career in an industry setting. Some have even started their own businesses. Most of the students who decided to pursue a higher level of studies chose to stay with us, within the University of Tsukuba. The students who went for a career in the industry have found positions in various areas: Informatics and Communication, Internet Services, Manufacturing, Transportation, and Entertainment, just to name a few. Some have found careers in the public sector and teaching. The College of Media Arts, Science, and Technology accepts 50 freshmen students every year. And in the third year of studies, we accept 10 or so additional students, making the total number of students around 60. Wehave 31 lecturers and professors as of February 2024, so we have a generous ratio of 1.6 to 2 students per one faculty member.
Our curriculum has its basis in science and engineering, and we build our educational foundation on mathematics and coding. In addition, we put a unique emphasis on the technology that supports the “network (media)” and its “contents (information).” If we break down what is behind these things, we find many different areas of study such as imaging and audio technology, human-computer interaction, networking, information management and search methods, content creation, optimization and process control, and the scientific study of the human body and its functions. These are all fields of research for our faculty members and the topics of their courses. Our faculty keeps the courses up to date with recent technological advances and progress in research. On top of that, we prepare courses such as Embedded Technology Campus OJT and enPiT, which invite professionals from the industry for more hands-on group work. These courses challenge students to form and collaborate in a team while applying their studies to practical tasks.
It has been 40 years since I myself have graduated from university. Those 40 years came with dramatic advances in information technology that changed society as a whole. From the 1980s personal computers began to appear and in the 1990s, the internet became commercialized. In the 2000s people started interacting on social media on their smartphones and in the 2010s AI and cloud computing became mainstream. The 2020s so far has been an age of digital transformation and remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When I look back upon these changes, I feel that they continue to happen more rapidly each year. And now, the change is happening faster than ever. I hear that some jobs will disappear in the near future. However, I believe that newer, more modern jobs will replace them. Some people will learn to adapt and optimize while others will invent something completely new. People like to polarize things by classifying other people into those who can accept change and those who can’t, but we suggest that the world is more complex than that. We feel that whether you choose to be the change, adapt to change, fight the change, or run away from change, those are all valid choices in considering where you want to be. But to make those choices, we need to know that the change is happening in the first place, and then analyze the nature of it.
Our university is not exempt from change. One day, the education we provided may become completely useless, and we would need to think of another way to provide knowledge. Actually, we feel that that change may be happening now. And aspiring students will need to mold their career while it is ongoing. But however things may unfold, let us give you an invitation. If you are willing to learn information technology to create or challenge change with like-minded people, you are welcome to join us at our College of Media Arts, Science, and Technology.