Kitami Institute of Technology (KIT) is Japan’s northernmost national university, located in a nature-rich region known for its primary industries. Our institution is committed to providing education and conducting research for sustainable social development. Engineering is the art of conceptualizing and creating, akin to art itself, and it serves as an academic realm that crafts a new world, one not merely envisioned by divinity.

We are nurturing highly specialized engineers through practical educational courses, including management, enabling them to tackle various social challenges by applying knowledge in key areas of mechanical, civil, electrical, information, and chemical engineering. Our undergraduate courses have been certified by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology’s Program for Mathematics, Data Science, and AI Education. These courses are designed to foster the abilities needed to create new value by using data to address social issues with specialized engineering knowledge.

We operate four research centers: the Environmental and Energy Resources Research Center; the Research Center for Winter Sports Science; the Research Center for Okhotsk Agriculture-, Forestry- and Fisheries- Engineering Collaboration; and the Research Center for Strategic Assistance in the Prevention of Floods, Earthquakes and Regional Hazards. Additionally, we have established the AI Commons to support these research activities cross-sectionally and enhance our educational initiatives.

Education and research are intertwined aspects of the same basic quest for knowledge. Our expectation is to enable students to engage in research activities and to channel the outcomes of their research helping to improve the next educational curriculum. Additionally, KIT is a member of the Hokkaido Higher Education and Research System, which has integrated the management of KIT, Otaru University of Commerce, and Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine since April 2022. Together with these two universities, KIT is planning innovative education and research methodologies that transcend the boundaries between the humanities and the sciences.

Although KIT is small in scale, it provides a warm and welcoming environment where everyone can interact face to face. With a ratio of approximately one instructor for every five students, our instructors not only facilitate learning but also serve as guides, supporting students in their daily lives and as they contemplate their futures. A university is not an isolated or lonely place; rather, it is deeply rooted in community, connected to the world, and evolves alongside society, from which it draws expectations and empathy. Together with the Hokkaido Higher Education and Research System, which encompasses primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, KIT is poised to embark on a new journey in this age of unpredictability, and we invite you to join us.