Katsuro Inoue received BE, ME, and DE degrees in information and computer sciences from Osaka University, Japan, in 1979, 1981, and 1984, respectively. He was a research associate at Osaka University from 1984-1989, an assistant professor from 1989-1995, and a professor from 1989-2022. Since 2022, he has been a professor at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Nanzan University. He has achieved many results in software engineering, especially in the application of program analysis techniques to software development support.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's practical education program, called enPiT, was conducted in two phases, the first from 2012-2016 and the second from 2016-2020. enPiT was designed to form a practical industry-academia collaborative education network, promote practical education such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL), and spread it widely throughout Japan in order to strengthen the ability to develop human resources capable of solving specific social issues through the use of information technology.

In the first phase of enPiT, 15 universities led PBL-based information technology education for master's degree students in the four areas of cloud computing, security, embedded systems, and business applications, in collaboration with 120 universities and 133 companies, producing 1,742 graduates. In the second phase, a new program for undergraduate students was established, and in the same four fields as in the first phase, 45 universities took the lead in collaborating with 116 universities and 167 companies, producing 4,154 graduates. In order to build such a large network, sufficient and close communication among the participating faculty members is necessary. Inoue designed and implemented regular steering committee meetings, executive committee meetings, seminars, working group meetings, and symposiums, etc., to create a highly effective educational network. As for the educational effects of enPiT, it has been shown that, in addition to the improvement of the information technology skills of each student, basic interpersonal skills, basic self skills, and basic problem-solving skills are improved after the program compared to before the program due to the effects of PBL group learning. He has contributed greatly to the success of enPiT through his efforts in establishing enPiT, designing and implementing the educational framework, developing and implementing evaluation methods for educational effectiveness, monitoring the implementation status, and building a network with faculty and partner companies.

We are convinced that he is worthy of the Distinguished Educational Practitioners Award, and we nominate him for the award.