The president of Shibaura Institute of Technology, Professor Dr. Masato Murakami, was born in Iwate prefecture, Japan in 1955.
He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate study in University of Tokyo in 1984.
For his profession, he worked in some research laboratories and was appointed as a director in Seperconductivity Research Laboratory in 1993.
After those industrial careers, he started his academic career from 1995.
In 2003, he was appointed as a professor in department of materials science and engineering at Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) and in 2006, was promoted to be a dean of graduate school of engineering at SIT.
In 2008, he was appinted as a vice president of SIT and in 2012, was elected as a presiden t of SIT.
Since 2012, he has continuously served as a president of Shibaura Institute of Technology.
Education
-Bachelor’s Degree from Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tokyo in 1977
-Master's Degree in Materials Science from Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo in 1979
-Doctor of Engineering from Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo in 1984
Experience
-Research Scientist, Research Laboratories I, Nippon Steel Corporation in 1984
-Director of Division VII, Superconductivity Research Laboratory in 1993
-Visiting Professor, Nagoya University from 1995 to 1997
-Visiting Professor, Iwate University from 1997 to 2001
-Visiting Professor, Tokyo University of Mercantile Marine from 2001 to 2003
-Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology in 2003
-Dean, Graduate School of Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology in 2006
-Vice President, Shibaura Institute of Technology in 2008
-President, Shibaura Institute of Technology in 2012
Areas of Expertise
His research is concerned with the fabrication of superconducting materials and their applications, and he has published more than 1000 scientific research papers with over 20,000 citations. He has been recognized by the international community by invitations to speak over 100 international conferences and received 1992 World congress superconductivity award of excellence, and 1991 Nikkei business promotion award. With this superconductivity research, he has achieved the world-first success of human levitation by high temperature superconductors. He has also demonstrated the human levitation for the Japanese emperor.
What have been the main lessons you have learned in your career and how do you implement them in your management?
I spent a year in US high school as an AFS exchange student. Through a one-year stay abroad, I learned that experience is the best teacher. Therefore I always tell my students and my colleagues “Go abroad and see the world.”
As president of the university, I learned that critical (or logical) thinking based on evidence is very important to run the institute smoothly. I manage the university administration on the basis of culture of evidence, and try to implement critical and creative thinking.
Mentors
My parents and teachers in elementary, junior high and high schools. They always encouraged me to try new things. They also allowed me to go abroad when I was seventeen years old.
Quotes
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” As a scientist, I learned that it is important to have hope for future and be optimistic about research results. You never see serendipity and never achieve anything if you are a pessimist.
“The sky is the limit.” As a teacher, I learned that the potential of young people is enormous. We are surprised by how much young people can achive, when they really try.
