Visit of Vice-President of Shibaura Institute of Technology at AGH UST

During his stay at our university, Professor Takasaki also met with employees and doctoral students of the Faculty of Energy and Fuels and the staff of the Centre for International Affairs. Furthermore, during a seminar at the Department of Fundamental Research in Energy Engineering, he gave two lectures titled Energy situation and its perspective in Japan and Hydrogen storage in solid materials.

The AGH UST and the Faculty of Energy and Fuels have been cooperating with the Shibaura Institute of Technology since 2004. On the SIT part, the agreement on cooperation was signed by its contemporary President, a Nobel Prize Laureate, Leo Esaki. The exchange programme with the SIT focuses not only on research (related mostly to energy engineering and materials science), but also on student exchange and joint education of doctoral students (double diploma agreement). In 2012, the Sandwich programme was launched, which gives undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in research trips. There is also the Spinaker programme available to all students. The cherry on top of our cooperation is the Katamaran project and the establishment of a full-time joint second-cycle degree programme in Energy & Environmental Engineering (E3).

This programme, taught in English, responds to the growing need for staff in the international industry related to energy and environmental protection. E3 is compatible with the strategy for the internationalisation of education at the AGH UST and other activities within the Initiative for Excellence – Research University project. It also constitutes a brand new and attractive field of study. The double diploma system of this programme means that the graduate will receive a Master of Science in Engineering degree from both universities, which makes this opportunity stand out in comparison to similar offers in Poland.

The Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo is our strategic partner. The following facts confirm our fruitful cooperation so far:

• 150 students in exchange and internship programmes
• 8 double doctoral students
• 5 international projects supported by the European Commission, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, the National Science Centre, and the Polish Academy of Sciences
• 80 research papers published in renowned Philadelphia-list journals

Professor Akito Takasaki has been a Visiting Professor at our university a number of times. He has been a member of joint research projects and a supervisor of two Polish-Japanese doctoral dissertations. He initiated and organised six editions of the Japanese–Polish Winter School of Energy Technology and three editions of the Japanese–Polish Summer School of Energy Technology. In 2017, he received the title of Honorary Consul of the AGH UST.