Abstract
Since its foundation fifty years ago, Colleges of Technology (KOSEN) have contributed to social and economic advancement by providing engineers with development skills. However, severe environments facing industry, the popularization of higher education, and the lessons learned from the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, will require future engineers with more evolved skill sets. The ability to overlook the whole, flexibility in mind, and sensibility as the basis of communication are particularly important for an engineer to be prepared to take up and deal with tomorrow’ s technological challenges. KOSEN has a unique advantage to offer programs to nurture engineers in developing these higher skills. These include the introduction of interdisciplinary long-term project exercises, the promotion of student plan type career education, and the cultivation of basis that induces closer cooperation within the local community.
