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Features

Outline of Program

The International Program of Maritime and Urban Engineering is an interdisciplinary program instructed by faculty members in naval architecture and ocean engineering, civil engineering, and architectural engineering departments. The students in the program receive advanced education across the three fields through courses offered by the program. They deepen their expertise by taking lectures in English which the Japanese students also attend, provided by the respective departments. The lectures and exercises taught in English cover required credits for program completion. The international students in this program are assigned to a laboratory and mixed in the lab with the students from the above three departments. They also learn how to apply their education and research to real-world situations through exercises and internships, and the importance of team building and discussion. The program is based on a five-year program, but the students are assessed after one to one and a half years of enrollment to determine whether they can advance to the doctoral program. The students can choose not to continue to the doctoral program after completing the master's course.

Program Feature 1
Exercise in Global Architecture

One of the highlights of the lectures provided by the program is “Exercise in Global Architecture.” In this class, for example, Osaka Bay area, the second largest metropolitan area in Japan, is taken as the main field for this exercise. The students are requested to find social or spatial issues in the objective area and propose a renovation design that connects maritime and urban spaces from the aspect of transportation, energy, safety, resilience, and attractiveness. The students from different departments form several teams and collaborate to develop sustainable urban development strategies. This lecture includes field surveys, team discussion and presentations. The proposal theme of this class is often given by the regional community association or the municipality governments. Each team also makes a final proposal to local communities or governments.

Program Feature 2
Cross-Boundary Seminar and International Research Forum

To cultivate an interdisciplinary research culture, students organize and manage monthly Cross-Boundary Seminars. In these seminars, participants present their research, sharing ideas with other students who have diverse academic backgrounds to encourage mutual understanding. These seminars align with the concept of the International Research Forum (IRF), which is a yearly event, co-organized by the program and students. The IRF features keynote talks from distinguished speakers at the forefront of their fields, followed by research presentations by selected students. If sufficiently funded, students may have the opportunity to travel abroad as a group to co-organize IRF in collaboration with host universities. These events often include research presentations from the host university, fostering academic exchange, and are complemented by social activities to know more about the cultures and to promote professional connections.

Program History Summary

In 2004, Department of Naval Architecture & Ocean Engineering (NAOE) launched an international course conducted in English (combined Master's and Doctoral program) for international students. In 2007, all lectures in the graduate course of NAOE started to be conducted in English. This enabled Japanese and international students to attend the same class and to receive the same education. From 2006 to 2012, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) provided three preferential slots with the Japanese government scholarship for international students who wish to study in the international program at the NAOE department. Division of Global Architecture, which consists of the departments of NAOE, Civil Engineering, and Architectural Engineering, proposed a new International Program of Maritime and Urban Engineering, and the new program was approved as an extension of the NAOE program, in March 2014, by MEXT. This program was renewed twice with MEXT approval as of 2025. Currently, all the program students learning NAOE, CIVIL, or ARCH can earn all the lecture credits required for the program completion by the lectures offered by the program and lectures offered in English in their respective departments.