Five students receive 2024 Tokyo Tech Award for Student Leadership

Five students have received the 2024 Tokyo Tech* Award for Student Leadership. Awarded annually since 2002, the award aims to encourage highly motivated students with extraordinary intellect, humanity, creativity, and energy to continue with their studies and work towards becoming global leaders. The scope of eligible candidates for the 2024 award was expanded to include not only students in the second through fourth years of the bachelor’s degree program, but also students who graduated from the program last academic year.

At the awards ceremony held at Hisao & Hiroko Taki Plaza (Taki Plaza) on September 19, 2024, the students received a certificate and a prize for their efforts from then-Tokyo Tech President Kazuya Masu, and discussed their achievements and future plans with several faculty and management team members.

* Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) merged with Tokyo Medical and Dental University to form Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo) on October 1, 2024.

• Appeared as the youngest team leader on the 9th episode of the NHK technology entertainment program "Night of the Makaizo Society," leading a diverse team from Tokyo Tech. Guided his team to victory and received a special award from the judges. This victory over strong corporate teams drew a lot of attention both on and off campus.
• Served as the head of the Society for the Study of Robotics, where he worked hard to create an environment conducive to design and manufacturing.

I am deeply grateful to be recognized with this award. I want to express my thanks to everyone who has supported and worked with me on “Night of the Makaizo Society” and the Society for the Study of Robotics. I am especially indebted to Takamaru Saito, our general representative at “Night of the Makaizo Society,” and Professor Gen Endo, the director of the Collaboration Center for Design and Manufacturing. Despite many challenges, it has been great to experience Tokyo Tech's technical ingenuity, which I have admired since enrolling here, and to be actively involved in fascinating design and manufacturing projects as a leader. Using what I have learned here, I will work even harder during my future studies and activities.

• Society for the Study of Robotics (Japanese)
• Collaboration Center for Design and Manufacturing

• Served as the 2023 representative for Peer Supporters, a student-run group that advises other students. Handled over 200 peer support cases with other group members throughout the academic year. With an eye on the integration with Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), made efforts to meet and exchange information with peer support groups at TMDU.
• In addition to providing support for disaster-affected areas as a key member of the Tokyo Tech Volunteer Group (Tokyo Tech VG), showed leadership skills as a member of Taki Plaza Gardner (TPG), a student group that supports the operations at international exchange hub Taki Plaza.

I am truly honored to receive this prestigious award. Through my dedicated involvement in various groups, such as Peer Supporters, Tokyo Tech VG, and TPG, I have sometimes faced challenges that left me uncertain of myself as a leader. At every step, I have been supported by my passionate colleagues, and thanks to close guidance from faculty and staff, I feel I have been able to gradually grow as a leader. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all those mentioned. Moving forward, I will continue to work hard to develop new initiatives, without being constrained by precedent.

• Peer Support | Former Tokyo Tech
• Tokyo Tech Volunteer Group (Tokyo Tech VG) | Former Tokyo Tech
• Taki Plaza Gardener (Japanese)

• As president, led the executive committee for Tokyo Tech Festival 2023, which was held without restrictions for the first time in five years, and succeeded in creating a new event that was different from those held before the covid-19 pandemic.
• Held safety and other training sessions for event operation staff, drove crowdfunding efforts for major LED display installations on campus, and coordinated the work shifts of over 200 committee members to ensure that activities ran smoothly over the course of the two-day event.

Thank you very much for this prestigious award. I worked as the Tokyo Tech Festival executive committee president last year. It was the first time in five years that this event was held on site without any restrictions. With that in mind, we focused on two main points for 2023 — reconstruction and evolution. The culmination of our work was that we were ultimately able to have a total of 40,000 visitors take part in what would be the very last Tokyo Tech Festival before the merger. Going forward, I hope to continue to refine the leadership role I have cultivated through this experience, and fully demonstrate it in broader society. Finally, I encourage everyone to participate in future festivals organized by the younger students who supported me as a leader.

• Tokyo Tech Festival 2023 held without restrictions for first time in five years | Former Tokyo Tech

• Came up with the idea of setting up a food stall with his department classmates for Tokyo Tech Festival 2022, and was able to organize a project that saw 90 percent of his peers participate. While serving as an opportunity to restore a sense of solidarity among his classmates that had waned during the pandemic, this project also created and established a place for mutual learning among younger cohorts. In academic year 2023, the group won the first “Best of Tokyo Tech Festival” award in the food stall category.
• Demonstrated leadership abilities by persistently solving operational problems that arose in academic year 2022, and the creation of planning guidelines for future iterations of this event.

I deeply appreciate being selected for the Tokyo Tech Award for Student Leadership. This award is not the result of my own efforts alone, but also the support and cooperation of my fellow students. The experience of bringing everyone together to plan the food stall and deepen bonds within and outside Tokyo Tech was the most rewarding thing of all. I will continue to value teamwork and strive to contribute to a better society.

• Tokyo Tech Festival 2023 held without restrictions for first time in five years | Former Tokyo Tech
• Tokyo Tech Festival 2022 | Former Tokyo Tech

• Led the Tokyo Tech Kendo Club as captain during his second and third years. Studied abroad at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from the fall semester of his fourth year, where he established and managed the MIT Kendo Club, including organizing training sessions. Contributed to Japan’s cultural exchange with the U.S. through these efforts.
• Researched plasma turbulence at MIT and attended an international conference of the American Physical Society with MIT graduate students.

I am very honored to receive such a prestigious award. During my time studying at MIT, I faced many challenges related to lectures and research. I was able to persevere, however, thanks in no small part to the support of the Boston kendo community.

Through that same community, I was able to start a kendo club at MIT itself, and it has been a great joy to continue interacting with those club members even after returning to Japan.

Currently, as the coach of the Tokyo Tech Kendo Club, I am working on discussion and coordination regarding the new kendo club at Science Tokyo. I will continue to work hard on my graduate research and kendo club activities, so that I can live up to the Tokyo Tech Award for Student Leadership.

• Kendo Club (Japanese)