President Yoshikawa Attends Thailand NSTDA International Advisory Board, and Exhibition at Thailand National Science and Technology Fair 2007
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President Yoshikawa and the members of the International Advisory Board of NSTDA (National Science and Technology Development Agency) of Thailand
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The International Advisory Board meeting of NSTDA (National Science and Technology Development Agency), the largest national research institute of the Kingdom of Thailand was held in Bangkok on August 2 and 3, 2007, and President Hiroyuki Yoshikawa attended as chairman. There were active discussions on research management, relationship with industries, research assessment, and missions at the meeting.
There are individual research institutes (MTEC, NANOTEC, BIOTEC, NECTEC) under NSTDA. NSTDA signed a comprehensive agreement with AIST in 2004, and active research collaborations are being promoted in areas as energy, environment, and information.
Moreover, National Science and Technology Fair 2007 which is attended by 1 million people every year was held in Bangkok from August 8 to 19. 2007 marked the 120th year since Japan and Thailand signed a treaty of amity, and Japan opened the Japan booth where 25 universities and independent administrative institutions participated as: AIST, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, New Energy and Industrial Technology Organization, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, and RIKEN; and many companies participated as Toyota Motor Corporation, Honda Motor Co. Ltd, and Murata Manufacturing Co.. There were many visitors at the fair site.
AIST participates every year, and exhibited an intelligent wheelchair, a humanoid robot "Choromet", mental commit robots "Paro", "Hyper-Mirror", a power-saving artificial arm, and panels (on GEO Grid, photovoltaic generation, BDF, photocatalysts, biomass, a sugar sensor).
During the fair, Her Royal Highness Princess Sirindhorn tried the intelligent wheelchair while holding Paro, and the scene was broadcasted through televisions and published in newspapers in Thailand, providing an opportunity for AIST research results to be understood by many thai people.
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Emeritus Advisor Michio Kuriyagawa Acknowledged as Member of National Academy of Sciences of Argentina
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Emeritus Advisor Kuriyagawa receiving diploma from President Alejandro J. Arvia
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Michio Kuriyagawa, Emeritus Advisor of Institute for Geo-Resources and Environment, aist, was acknowledged as the first Japanese member of National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Argenitna (National Academy of Sciences of Argentina), and was given a diploma at Buenos Aires on September 10, 2007 by President Alejandro J. Arvia, and gave a commemorative lecture.
National Academy of Sciences of Argentina was founded in 1874 "for the promotion of progression, development and dissemination of sciences", and having members from home and abroad, it acknowledges as members those who have done distinguished work in science and industry of Argentina. Among its domestic members are 3 Nobel prize laureates, and Albert Einstein who did research in Argentina was one of the overseas members.
Kuriyagawa was in Argentina from May 2001 to March 2005 as a chief advisor of "Industrial Pollution Prevention Project" of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).
While in Argentina, he helped to advance research on environment (training young researchers and acquiring ISO 17025 etc.) at Water Use Technology Center of National Institute of Water, examined many polluted sites within Argentina and offered opinions on strategies. He, for example, did water survey of the city of Rio Gallegos, revealed the polluted conditions, and based on his survey results the city of Rio Gallegos took measures against industrial sewage. Aware of the importance of environmental education in solving environmental problems, he also gave seminars on the subject in various regions in Argentina.
Kuriyagawa says that this award was possible "thanks to the cooperation of many people involved", and that he would like to take the opportunities of visits to Argentina to contribute to the National Academy of Sciences of Argentina through scientific education in the environmental fields.
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Exhibition at "Japan Fair in Guangzhou" in China
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AIST booth
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"Japan Fair in Guangzhou" (sponsored by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) et al.) was held from September 15 to 18, 2007 at Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center.
In April 2007, at the Japan-China heads of state summit talks between the then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, it was agreed that Japan would participate as guest of honor in the 4th China International Small and Medium Enterprises Fair, and the Japan Fair was held as a fair within this Exhibition. With over 300,000 visitors, over 450 Japanese companies, universities, and municipalities participated, exhibiting and publicizing for the entry of Japanese products and services to the Chinese market, and for promotion of expansion of local distribution of locally-based Japanese companies. In addition, during the fair, lectures and seminars as "Chinese Intellectual Property Seminar" were held on subjects useful to Chinese businesses.
AIST opened its own booth and sought to increase AIST recognition in China, as well as to explore possibilities of technological transfer to China. Interest was high towards exhibited technologies of AIST with many visitors enthusiastically listening to technological explanation, and possibilities of further collaboration could be seen at the fair.
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Report of Workshop with NSTDA and TISTR (thailand) and VAST (Vietnam)
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Director Harada(middle, front row)signing MOU on drainage water treatment at 4th Japan-Vietnam workshop with Senior Vice-President Katsura, Vice-President Yamazaki, VAST Deputy Director Son in back row
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A workshop on research cooperation was held on October 1 and 2, 2007 in Thailand. AIST has signed a comprehensive agreement in 2004 with National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Thailand, and Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR). With NSTDA, we have especially close relationship as President Sakarindr Bhumiratana of NSTDA is a member of AIST Advisory Board, and President Yoshikawa of AIST serves as chairman of NSTDA International Advisory Board.
At this 5th workshop held in Bangkok, the collaborative research themes were discussed in three sessions according to the research clusters of NSTDA, and future research expansion and project plans were summarized. A session on "R&D management and collaboration" was also arranged where management strategies, innovation strategies, TLO, collaboration among industry, academia and government, and evaluation methods of each institute were presented. There was great interest expressed by the Thai in the AIST cases. We will further exchange views on these subjects at the workshops that will follow.
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Thailand-Japan Collaboration Workshop 2007 opening ceremony from right, President Sakarindr of NSTDA, Senior Vice-President Katsura, Governor Nongluck of TISTR
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The 4th VAST-AIST Workshop on Science and Technology Cooperation was also held with Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), a core research institute of Vietnam, in Hanoi on October 4 and 5, 2007. We have also signed a comprehensive agreement with VAST and have alternately held workshops. We discussed research reports and future plans in different session groups as "biomass/new energy", "IT", "environment", "GEO Grid, marine geology for sustainable development and land-sea interaction". There were also discussions between Vietnamese and Japanese participants from industry and universities of the openly proposed newly selected project of 2007 (Ecological Waste Water treatment system for dyeing industries) of New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization on implementation specifics. In light of the project, project implementation leader, Dr. Koh Harada, Director of Research Institute for Environmental Management Technology, AIST, Dr. Luu Cam Loc, Director of Institute for of Chemical Technology, VAST and Dr. Nguyen The Dong, Director of Institute of Environmental Technology, VAST, signed MOU. Progress of the project is expected in the future.
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Minister of Science and Technology of Sri Lanka Visits AIST Tsukuba
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Exchanging views
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The Minister of Science and Technology of Sri Lanka, Hon. Prof. Tissa Vitarana, visited AIST Tsukuba on October 4 with Prof. Sirimali Fernando, Advisor of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and a Secretary of Sri Lanka Embassy. Minister Tissa Vitarana, a M.D., who majored in virology at Ceylon University, has been in his position since 2004. Sri Lanka planning to build a nanotechnology park, the minister strongly requested to visit AIST Tsukuba as it is one of the major research institutes of nanotechnology in Japan and time was taken within his tight schedule.
On the day of the visit, Vice-President Naoto Kobayashi gave a greeting speech followed by an AIST briefing by International Affairs Department. During the exchange of views that followed, an interest toward nanotechnology research done at AIST was shown. The minister stated his desire to relay specific wishes concerning possibility of collaboration between corporations of Sri Lanka and AIST.
This visit by Minister Tissa Vitarana is expected to provide an opportunity to form a broader human resource network for the future for AIST as an innovation hub.
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Keynote Lecture at the 6th Taiwan National Industrial Development Conference
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President Chen Shui-bian and AIST Vice-President Yamazaki at the conference
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The 6th Taiwan National Industrial Development Conference hosted by Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEC) (equivalent to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan) was held at Taipei International Conference Center on November 12, 2007.
Around 300 people from the government, universities, and industries attended, and after H.E. Chen Shui-bian, President of Taiwan, and Chen Ruey-long, the Minister of Economic Affairs, gave their greetings, Masakazu Yamazaki, the Vice-President of AIST, as proxy for President Yoshikawa, gave a keynote lecture titled “AIST management policies for innovation promotion” on AIST organizational reform, research policies, and research management. There was great response to this conference and Yamazaki's lecture was widely published in the local press.
AIST, having been cooperating in research with Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan (ITRI), a foundation under MOEA, responded to the request for such a lecture. ITRI has brought forth as spin-off companies such international good-standing companies as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, and United Microelectronics Corporation which receives the top and second most manufacturing commissions of semiconductors in the world market.
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A variety of information on AIST, such as research results, organization, access map, etc. is available on the AIST web site. The entire contents of the newsletter "AIST Today" is posted in HTML and PDF formats on the day of publication.
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• Research Information Data base
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• Database for Research Result Presentations
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In order to encourage the creation of new industries by providing intellectual infrastructure, AIST has incorporated the accumulated research information from its numerous research and development projects and presentations of research results in databases, which is available via the internet as organized, easy-to-use information.
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• Information on Development of Technology in AIST
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IDEA presents a wide range of intellectual property rights, including patents and others owned by AIST in order to enable use of the research products developed at AIST. (currently only in Japanese)
Companies or others interested in a particular AIST technology are invited to contact AIST Innovations (TLO) of Intellectual Property Dept, AIST.
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