Department of Earth Resources Engineering
Outline
Department of Earth Resources Engineering addresses a wide range of global issues related to the development of underground mineral and energy resources such as geothermal energy, oil and natural gas. Our research covers the entire resource development process from upstream to downstream, including prospecting, development, mining, refining, separation, environmental remediation, and disaster prevention. Beyond conventional resource engineering, we are also involved in frontier research on carbon capture and storage (CCS), the development of methane hydrates and deep-sea resources, the recycling of urban mined resources, the remediation of metal-polluted environments, and even the exploration of extraterrestrial resources such as the Moon and Mars.
These resources are not only essential to our daily lives, but also form the basis of all industries. Students who acquire a wide range of expertise in this department will go out into the world as global resource engineers.
What do you learn?
A four-year course in this department provides opportunities for lectures, laboratory experiments, field work, an internship program, and graduate study. Students learn the holistic background of engineering and earth sciences in the first two years and earth resources engineering in the following two years. In the third year, students participate in internships at relevant companies in Japan or abroad and gain practical experience of mineral and energy resource-related technologies. In the fourth year, students are assigned to one of seven laboratories (Economic Geology; Exploration Geophysics; Geothermics; Resources Production and Safety Engineering; Rock Engineering and Mining Machinery; Mineral Processing, Recycling and Environmental Remediation; Energy Resources Engineering). While conducting their own graduation research, a global perspective can be developed through daily interaction and discussion with a diverse range of international students.
