Tokyo Institute of Technology: Super Smart Society Promotion Consortium hosts spring 2021 matching workshops
The Super Smart Society (SSS) Promotion Consortium hosted online matching workshops for participating institutions, i.e. Consortium Partners, and Tokyo Tech students and faculty on June 9 and 30, 2021. The aim was to match the needs of Consortium Partners with the technological and human resource seeds provided by members of Tokyo Tech, and to offer an opportunity for direct discussions that lead to the creation of cross-disciplinary research teams. In addition to the SSS Promotion Consortium, this event was co-hosted by the Tokyo Tech Academy for Super Smart Society.
During the Seeds Round on June 9, participating students presented their current research. At the Needs Round on June 30, Consortium Partners shared their company profiles and research contents.
Seeds Round — Student presentations
The Seeds Round was attended by 30 students, 52 Tokyo Tech faculty and staff members, and 62 members from 27 Consortium Partners. After opening remarks by Nobuyuki Iwatsuki, vice president for global communication and professor at the School of Engineering, Hajime Nakamura, president and CEO of KDDI Research, Inc., gave a keynote speech titled “Lifestyles of advanced consumers and technology of advanced researchers in the Beyond 5G era.” After the speech, participating students gave brief outlines of their research. The students then moved to individual online conference rooms to present their research in more detail and conduct lively Q&A sessions and discussions with Consortium Partners.
Needs Round — Research required by companies
The Needs Round was attended by 29 students, 42 faculty and staff members, and 56 members from 21 Consortium Partners and other organizations. After three-minute presentations by each of the participating partners, Tokyo Tech students and faculty joined active discussions in virtual conference rooms. Members from the following Consortium Partners and organizations presented during the Needs Round:
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO)
National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (QST)
Azbil Corporation
Anritsu Corporation
LG Japan Lab Inc.
KDDI Corporation
JTEKT Corporation
Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central)
Toshiba Corporation
Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Co., Ltd. (Hitachi-IES)
Fujitsu Limited
Mazda Motor Corporation
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
Rakuten Mobile, Inc.
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
Ota City
Ocean Policy Research Institute, Sasakawa Peace Foundation (OPRI)
Positive feedback from workshop participants
Feedback from workshop participants was generally very positive. Some students noted that, compared to their usual seminars and discussions, they were able to gain more fresh ideas thanks to insightful opinions from people who work closely in the field. Others thought the workshops were a great opportunity for students and professors to present their lab research and make it applicable for companies and the broader business world.
This was the third set of matching workshops held after sessions in June and July of 2020 and again in November and December. The next workshops will be held in November and December 2021. In the future, the SSS Promotion Consortium plans to proceed with the matching of specific research based on the intentions of the participants.