History
This photo shows the sixth group of students to graduate from the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1919.
The Department of Electrical Engineering was founded at the same time as Kyushu Imperial University founded the College of Engineering in January, 1911. The number of divisions gradually increased and the department grew into having four divisions (Electric Power, Electric Machine, Electric Theory, and Wire Communication) with a quota of 20 students. After that, two further divisions were introduced to the department: the Division of Radiofrequency Engineering, in 1929, and the Division of Communication Engineering, in 1941. As a result, the department was comprised of six divisions in total. However, when the Department of Communication Engineering was established with three divisions (Communication Transmission/Wire Communication Engineering, Wireless Communication Engineering/High Frequency Tube, and Telecommunication Materials, with a quota of 15 students) in 1945, two divisions offered in the Department of Electrical Engineering were transferred into the Department of Communication Engineering, making it the same scale as the first establishment (Power Engineering, Electrical Machinery, Theoretical Electricity, and Electrical Measure/Electrical Material). During the period of rapid economic growth that followed the difficult war years, demand for electrical engineers dramatically increased. In order to deal with the increased demand, the department was reorganized in 1963, expanding to accept a maximum of sixty students organized in nine divisions (Electromagnetics, Electrical Circuits, Electrical Properties, Electric Metrology, Power Control, Electrical Discharge Engineering/Plasma Engineering, Electrical Machinery, Power Generation and Transformation Engineering/Electric Power Transmission and Distribution, and Applied Electrical Engineering).
This photo shows the landscape around the gate of the School of Engineering in about 1935.
The Department of Electronic Engineering was established in 1959, during the period when innovation of technology was accelerating due to the rapid development of semiconductor technology and electronic computer technology derived from the invention of the transistor. In accordance with the implementation of the annual curriculum, the Division of Electronic Circuit Engineering was first built in 1959. The following year two Divisions, the Division of Electronic Computing Engineering and the Division of Electronic Control Engineering, were built. Additionally, two more divisions were set up in 1961: the Division of Electronic Instrument Engineering and the Division of Electronic Materials Engineering. Finally, one more division called the Division of Electronic Devices was established in 1962. Consequently, the Department of Electronic Engineering possessed a total of six divisions with a quota of 40 students.
The Department of Communication Engineering, the predecessor of the Department of Computer Science, expanded to hold four divisions including the Division of Microwave Engineering in 1961, at almost the same time that the Department of Electronic Engineering was set up. The Division of General Electric Engineering was established in 1964. Later, the Division of Communication Method was established in 1967, alongside the Division of Communication Elements in 1968; thus, a total of six divisions formed the Department of Communication Engineering. Shortly after, the age of information was heralded through the advancement and prevalence of computers, coupled with the development of semiconductor integrated circuit technology. As a result, Japan drastically increased the momentum of establishing Departments of Computer Science. In response to this movement, Kyushu University reorganized and renamed the Department of Communication Engineering into the Department of Computer Science in 1972. At first, it was comprised of six divisions (Information Circuits, Information Systems Theory, Wave Information Engineering, Information Processing, Information Devices, and Information Elements) with a quota of forty students. However, it soon expanded to eight divisions with a maximum of forty students, incorporating the Division of Basic Computer Science in 1972 and the Division of Computer Software in 1973.
This photo shows the campus of the Faculty of Engineering in 1936 (Administration Bureau Ⅰ, Main Bldg. of Faculty of Engineering, and Manuscript Library still remain in Hakozaki Campus).
The Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences comprised of four departments was inaugurated at Kyushu University in 1979. To establish the Department of Energy Conversion Engineering within the Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, the Department of Electric Engineering transferred the Division of Applied Electrical Engineering, and began to run the Division of Power Control as a division in collaboration with the new graduate school. In addition, to form the Department of Information Systems within the Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, the Department of Electronic Engineering began to run the Division of Electronic Computing Engineering as a collaborative division. The Department of Computer Science transferred the Division of Information Circuits, and started to run the Division of Wave Information Engineering as a cooperative division.
To respond to the social demands of each time, all departments of Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, and Computer Science had conducted education and research whilst maintaining close coordination with each other through reorganization. Nevertheless, due to diversification of research fields, demanding social needs, and the expansion of the field of intelligent engineering, all three departments were largely reorganized in April 1990: the Department of Electrical Engineering (7 divisions, a quota of 55 students), the Department of Electronic Engineering (5 divisions, a quota of 35 students), the Department of Computer Science (Computer Science Course: 6 divisions, a quota of 40 students), and the Department of Computer Science (Intelligent Systems Engineering Course: 5 divisions, a quota of 30 students). Although each department offered special research fields and curriculums, students who belonged to either of three departments were allowed to choose any programs from which the departments offered.
This picture shows a U.S. Navy 'Phantom' jet that had crashed into the Computer Center building of Kyushu University on June 2nd, 1968, causing much controversy.
With the establishment of the Graduate School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering (ISEE) in 1996, all divisions of the three departments were transferred into the Department of Intelligent Systems, the Department of Computer Science and Communication Engineering, the Department of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering, and the Department of Electronic Devices. All three departments of Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, and Computer Science were integrated into one, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
(Reference cited: The Report on Self-Inspection and Evaluation of the Graduate School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering published in 1999).
Photos are from "the Photographic Collection of Kyushu University Chronicles (Kyushu University's memorial project board in commemoration of Kyushu University's 75th anniversary)".
