Expectations towards Students in the IT Age

Graduate School Dean, Kazuyuki Saito

The world has entered into the 21st Century, the word ``IT" is heard everywhere. By having Computer Science and Technology, the technology most related to IT, as our university's educational and research backbone, job offers for our students are further increasing despite the recent trend of employment shortages. This is very pleasing to us. However, we should not be too overjoyed with IT, as the future of the IT age rests on our graduates' shoulders. It's been four years since our postgraduate school started, and in March 2002 we are expecting to send out our first Ph.D. students to the world.

I myself obtained my Ph.D. about 30 years ago. At that time, I could not imagine how the era we are currently in would be like. My Ph.D. thesis was on research concerning cold cathode for a vacuum tube (valve). After entering a company I started research on VLSI. It was the age of 10¦Ì m-technology. Professor Shima invented the microprocessor at that time. Over the last 30 years, the progress of miniaturization has improved over 100-fold, and the performance of microprocessors has increased by 10,000-100,000 times. The Vacuum Tube has nearly disappeared from the face of the planet. Times change so fast. Nobody can predict what will happen in the next 30 years.

In the midst of this ever-changing world, I believe that it is most important for our university graduates to develop their abilities day by day based on what they have learned at the university, to have a strong will and desire to realize their dreams, and to play active roles in society with our university's motto ``For Humanity" always in their minds.