Since I wrote about university-industry collaboration for the past two entries, I would like to introduce an evolutionary form of this collaboration for my last guest blogging. 

Toyota Technological Institute, usually known by its nickname “Toyota University”, was established in Toyota-city, Nagoya-prefecture, in 1981 as a social contribution by the Toyota Motor Corporation. TTI’s Nagoya campus offers undergraduate and graduate (both Masters and PhD) programs in materials science and engineering, mechanical systems engineering, and electronics and information science.

According to the TTI’s catalogue (available at http://www.toyota-ti.ac.jp/english/catalog/index.html), Kiichiro Toyota, the founder of the biggest Japanese automobile company, wanted to “establish a university and contribute to society by training engineers and researchers who wold lead Japan into the future.”

In 2002, the TTI opened it’s Chicago campus on the University Chicago campus in collaboration with the University of Chicago (Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago, TTIC).  This campus is a “cutting-edge organization aimed at the global development of research and education”.  This is also the “first case for a Japanese university to open a graduate school aimed at serious research in the United States”, the catalogue claims. 

TTI boosts 100% employment rate for its graduate which is unbelievably good considering long-lasting economic recession of the country.

 Featuring a feather pen and an engineering hammer (http://www.tti-c.org/), the university logo represents none other than the concept of “university-industry collaboration”.  I think it is pretty cool.

About Ai Takeuchi

Ai Takeuchi recently completed her doctoral dissertation at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Educational Policy and Administration. Her research interests focus on international development with a special interest in gender issues and international study and training. In her study, Dr. Takeuchi explored the issues related to post study-abroad for Asian women. She has lived and worked in multiple countries, including Thailand, the U.S.A., and her native country, Japan. Her work experiences include both governmental and non-governmental organizations, mainly in the fields of international aid and development.

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