Department of Bioengineering,
School of Engineering,

Development of innovative medical systems through elucidation and
manipulation of the interactions of materials and systems with living bodies

Eighteen years have passed since its establishment in 2006, and the Department of Bioengineering has become well known both domestically and internationally. Until then, most bioengineering research was conducted in specific laboratories within existing departments, but with the establishment of the Department of Bioengineering, we organized related faculty members across existing departments and started the Department of Bioengineering as an extremely innovative department that integrates disciplines ranging from physics to chemistry. Since then, we have attracted excellent students with a high sense of purpose from all over the world, and we are very happy to see that many excellent human resources and research results have been produced.

Because bioengineering research covers a very wide range of subjects, it is almost necessary to integrate various academic disciplines and the latest life science knowledge in order to succeed. It is natural that a strong sense of purpose, a broad perspective, and a high level of expertise through daily research and self-improvement are also required. The Department of Bioengineering provides students with the opportunity to learn and grow in this way. After 16 years since its establishment, we are proud to say that we have successfully brought together outstanding students, young and mid-career faculty members who are extremely active, and senior faculty members with extensive experience in integrating different fields, including biotechnology, to create new value.

Modern society is becoming increasingly complex, and the future is not always a simple extension of the present. It is important to continuously update one's high level of expertise through daily study and research, but in addition to that, it its further important to draw a roadmap to reach one's ultimate goal and the image of society in which it will be utilized, sometimes through backcasting. This will not only identify short- and medium-term bottlenecks and streamline the solution process, but it will also make it possible to discover medium- and long-term issues that need to be addressed in order to realize the ultimate goal. On the other hand, especially in the life sciences, breakthroughs that overturn the conventional wisdom often change the conventional way of doing things in a short period of time. However, if we have drawn up our own roadmap to the ultimate goal, we will be able to calmly assess the value of the discovery and deal with it.

The 21st century is truly the century of life science. There are still many unknowns about our bodies, and life science is advancing rapidly to elucidate them. However, an engineering perspective is indispensable to make these results useful to society, and this is exactly what bioengineering is all about. We hope that students will acquire a broad perspective that enables them to deal with many complex problems, as well as problem-solving and problem-finding abilities through their studies in this department.

Head of the Department of
Bioengineering, Professor,

Takanori ICHIKI