Yamagata University
Japan’s Yamagata University is a prestigious school that has won many awards. Not only that, its Telerobotics Laboratory is making a name in the world of robotics.
Established in 1949, Yamagata University’s origin can be traced back to Yamagata Normal School, which was a public training institution founded in 1878 in Yamagata City. This Japanese national university is located in three Japanese cities: Yamagata, Yonezawa and Tsuruoko in the Yamagata Prefecture.
Aside from the Yamagata Normal School, the university has its roots from several institutions: Yonezawa Higher Technical School, the Yamagata Higher School, Yamagata Youth Normal School, and the Yamagata Prefectural Agricultural College. These schools were the predecessors of the current university which is the second largest university in the Tohoku Region.
On May 31, 1949, following the National School Establishment Law, Yamagata University was established. The five old institutions of higher education in Yamagata prefecture merged to form the university. It offered four faculties, the Faculty of Literature and Sciences, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Engineering, and the Faculty of Agriculture.
Today, YU offers 750 fundamental courses which feature broad disciplinary areas. Among the prominent fields of research done at the university are organic electroluminescence, or EL, at the Faculty of Engineering; the study of nucleon spin structure done at the Faculty of science; the Lines and Geoglyphs of Nazca and Pampas de Jumana at Faculty of Literature and Social Sciences.
Not to be outdone, the university’s research on genes for the treatment of malignant brain tumors at the Faculty of Medicine has given the school awards and prestigious recognitions.
Aside from its Faculty of Medicine, the university’s Telerobotics Laboratory is slowly making a name in the world of robotics. They have developed a robot which is called the MH-2, short for “20-DOF Miniature Humanoid robot.” This wearable telepresence robot doubles as an avatar that can be manipulated by someone remotely through the use of an internet connection. Its developer designed this robot to mimic human actions as accurately and realistically as possible.
And just like their MH-2 shoulder robot, YU is fast becoming one of Japan’s leading institutions and is slowly becoming a global name.
