Congratulatory Address

I am Hiroo Yugami, the head of the Division of Mechanical Engineering.

Congratulations to all of you who will graduate or complete your studies in the Division of Mechanical Engineering in March 2021. Originally, we were planning to hand out degrees at the Degree Conferral Ceremony of Division of Mechanical Engineering to be held at Hagi Hall on March 25, but due to the rapid spread of the new coronavirus infection in Miyagi Prefecture and Sendai City, we had to cancel the ceremony. It is with great regret that we are unable to hold the conference for the second year in a row. I would like to ask for your kind understanding.

Last year, we sent degree certificate by post, but this year, we decided to present and distribute it in your laboratory. We hope that the ceremony at each laboratory will be a good farewell for you with your supervisors and laboratory students.

On behalf of the faculty and staff of the Division of Mechanical Engineering, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on behalf of the award ceremony.

Congratulations to all of you who are graduating from the Division of Mechanical Engineering. Today’s day is the result of four years of undergraduate study at our university. Since we first gathered here, I believe that you have had great opportunities to learn in Sendai, not only through lectures in class, but also in your clubs and part-time jobs. The third year, you were assigned to a laboratory, and you experienced a different atmosphere of human relations and research than before. In particular, I am sure that your activities in the laboratory under corona environment has been accompanied by many difficulties. However, these experiences will help you grow. Many of our graduating students will go on to the master’s program. I hope you will do your best with a positive attitude.

Congratulations to those of you who are completing the master’s program in Division of Mechanical Engineering. I believe that you have learned a lot in your two years as students, mainly through research activities. The new corona will change society drastically, and even in the after-corona, some parts of the social system will never be the same.
Many of you will be going out into the world to work for companies and other organizations. Under the rapid changes in the social and corporate environment caused by the new corona, you will be required to produce results within a set deadline and time frame, even more so than at universities. Although I understand that there are few students whose research in university is directly related to their work, I believe that their attitude toward problems and the way they think about solving them are the very things they learned during their master’s research. I believe in your success.

I would like to express my respect and congratulations to those of you who are completing the doctoral course and have obtained a license as a researcher. I would like to express my sincere respect to you for completing your doctoral thesis in the corona environment. You must have faced many difficulties, but you should be proud of the fact that you overcame them and are here today. A doctoral degree is important not only in academia, but also in companies in order to be active on a global level as an engineer or researcher. While being aware of its value and responsibility, I would like you to be active as a leader in all sectors of society. For those of you who have completed the master’s program and are now moving on to the doctoral program, I hope that you will be standing here three years from now, looking out at the world.

I would like to express my congratulations again to all of you who are graduating or completing your studies. I hope you will be able to express your gratitude to your parents and others who have supported you.　I hope that you will take what you have learned in Division of Mechanical Engineering, Tohoku University, and Sendai to heart and play an active role on the stage of Japan and the world.

March 25, 2021
Head, Division of Mechanical Engineering

Hiroo Yugami