News

International Student Seminar 2013 with ITB, UTM, and HCMUT

The International Student Seminar was held at Toyohashi University of Technology from 3 to 10 September 2013 with collaboration with Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Indonesia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), Vietnam. This programme is aimed at promoting international, intercultural and mutual understanding among the students of Toyohashi Tech and partner universities, thus contributing to fostering young engineers who can play leading roles in the world of internationalization.

A total of 18 students from ITB, UTM and HCMUT were joined by 21 students from Toyohashi Tech to discuss the 'The Role of Engineers in Solving Environmental Problems'. The students were divided into 6 groups and each group chose one sub-topic. The results of their three-days of discussions were presented on the final day in front of students and academic staff of Toyohashi Tech.

The overseas participants were given opportunities to experience short lectures given by Toyohashi Tech academic staff. They also visited two leading research centers of Toyohashi Tech—EIIRIS (Electronics-Inspired Interdisciplinary Research Institute) and the Center for Human-robot Symbiosis Research—and one of the global manufacturers of this area, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

A little cultural experience was also an important part of the programme. The participants attended lectures on Japanese language and culture, experienced the traditional tea ceremony, and at the weekend stayed at Japanese families near Toyohashi City.

The International Student Seminar 2013 was partly sponsored by JASSO (Japan Student Services Organization).

President Yoshiyuki Sakaki Selected as Person of Cultural Merit

President Yoshiyuki Sakaki has been selecter as a Person of Cultural Merit for 2013 by the Japanese Government.

President Sakaki was born in 1942. He gained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Graduate School of Science of the University of Tokyo. Following that, he became a researcher at the University of California Center for Virus Research, a research fellow at the Mitsubishi Kasei Institute of Life Sciences, a professor at the Research Center for Genetic Information, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, a professor at the Institute of Medical Science, the University of Tokyo, director of the Human Genome Center of the aforementioned institute, and director of the RIKEN Genome Sciences Research Complex. Since April 2008 he has been the president of Toyohashi University of Technology.

In the field of genome science, President Sakaki has applied molecular biological techniques to complex humans and primates to clarify the functions of their genetic structure. Furthermore, President Sakaki also played a central role as leader in planning both the Japanese and international human genome projects to map the human genome. He is also the recipient of the Chunichi Cultural Prize in May 2003 and the Medal with Purple Ribbon in November 2003.

The Person of Cultural Merit system honors those recognized as having contributed to the advancement and development of culture through their achievements in academia or the arts. The system was established in 1951 under the Law on Pensions for the Persons of Cultural Merit, honorees being decided by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology from selections made by a panel of judges. The award-giving ceremony was held on November 5 in Tokyo.

President Sakaki is also well-versed with the arts and culture, and has made significant contributions to local musical culture since his appointment to Toyohashi. In particular, he appeared in the opera Carmen performed in 2009 by the Mikawa City Opera, and as a learned advisor to the 2013 opera Turandot, helping to create major achievements in the history of the local opera. Currently serving as the director of the Mikawa City Opera Chorus Group and the Mikawa City Chorus Club, he continues to be an irreplaceable presence in local musical culture.

The Irago Conference 2013

The Irago Conference 2013 was held 24–25 October 2013 at the Irago Spa and the Irago Sea-Park & Spa Hotel, Tahara, Aichi, Japan. Underscoring the increasing awareness for an interdisciplinary approach to research and access to on-line live streaming of the proceedings attracted a total of approximately 200 people participants in the one and a half day conference.

Highlights included a talk via internet conferencing by Prof. S. Ramaswamy from the National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore on "Converting Discovery to Innovation in an Academic Environment". Professor Ramaswamy described a program at The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms to nurture and develop commercially viable academic discoveries “through a combination of scientific and non-scientific expertise and infrastructure, along with its collaborators in the science and business domains.”

Dr Hiroshi Fujiwara, president of Broadband Tower, Inc., Japan, emphasized the impact of ‘big data’ on the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Developments in science and technology in Korea were described by Professor Kwang Sun Kim, Korea University of Technology and Education and Eun Kyu Lee of the National Research Foundation, Korea. Similarly, Dr Chadaram Sivaji, Embassy of India, Tokyo, described science and policy in India.

In the life sciences speakers discussed advances in unlabeled chemical image sensing; cancer diagnostics; and open innovation in biotechnology.

Innovative contributions by mathematicians were described by Professor Toru Uzawa of Nagoya University, Japan.

The Graduate Student Session was held during the lunch break, with members of the audience given the taks of selecting the best student speaker.

Papers from the Irago Conference will be published in AIP Conference Proceedings.

The Irago Conference 2014 is scheduled to be held 24-25 October 2014 at AIST, Tsukuba.