Successful Alumni | Hitoshi Takano (SFC Administrative Director)
2014.02.10
As I'm sure all of you students know, the Miraisozojuku (Institute for Designing the Future) project is underway, with the aim of making it a global gateway for Keio University. (See → http://www.miraisozo.sfc.keio.ac.jp/ )
Since Miraisozojuku (Institute for Designing the Future) is a residential educational and research facility, you can experience learning and research while living and dining together. It will likely be possible to get a glimpse of the experience Yukichi Fukuzawa had in his youth at Tekijuku, and it will also be possible to experience intercultural communication with international students and researchers from overseas.
As a young staff member, I have the experience of participating in the "College of William & Mary Summer Study Program" with SFC students. It is also possible to host summer schools like the ones we have experienced abroad at this Miraisozojuku (Institute for Designing the Future), welcoming people from overseas. It can be said that this is a facility that expands the potential of the SFC campus.
Now, Keio University is conducting a fundraising campaign for this Miraisozojuku (Institute for Designing the Future) establishment project. As part of the "Project for the Development of Educational, Research, and Medical Environments," this fundraising campaign, along with the project to construct the New Hospital Ward at Keio University Hospital in Shinanomachi and the project to form a world-class science and technology education and research hub at Yagami, is asking for the cooperation of many Keio University alumni, other university affiliates, various corporations, and philanthropists.
I am also playing a part in this activity and have had the opportunity to visit companies run by SFC alumni. Among the executives of these companies are alumni who participated with me in the aforementioned "College of William & Mary Summer Study Program" during their student days, as well as alumni I assisted at the extracurricular activities and scholarship counters back then. It is very nostalgic, and getting a glimpse of their current success fills me with a sense of fulfillment that is the ultimate reward for a university staff member.
In addition to asking for donations, I also ask them to write articles for the "SFC Spirits" section of the SFC webpage, so I wonder if some of you students have seen the current activities of our alumni there.
Amidst this, I recently heard from a certain executive who expressed a strong desire for SFC students to take more interest in the IT industry and venture businesses that they are currently involved in. While this may include a desire for more students to take their recruitment exams, I also feel it reflects their expectation that SFC students will be valuable assets after graduation.
An event filled with the aspirations of these SFC alumni executives is planned for Saturday, April 19, 2014. The venue is SFC's Theta Building. It is apparently an invitation-only, off-site conference held twice a year called the Infinity Ventures Summit (IVS), which embodies the meaning of "a place to create and gather venture companies with infinite potential," targeting domestic and international executives and senior managers in the IT industry, including internet, mobile, and software. (See → https://www.facebook.com/events/411540238974211/ ) One of the executives involved in its operation passionately told me that since it is a selective event primarily for SFC undergraduate and graduate students and young alumni, they really want many SFC students to participate.
Through this fundraising project, I have had more opportunities than ever to see the success of our alumni. I hope that current students will also take events like IVS as an opportunity to learn about the kinds of activities and successes our alumni are achieving in society today, as I believe it will be a great help in thinking about your own future.
I would like to conclude this article with the belief that the success of our alumni will continue uninterrupted.