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Round-table talk−56−Synthesiology - English edition Vol.4 No.1 (2011) companies to actual practice. This was a challenge for reliability, durability, and achievement of high speed.On the other hand, in the energy project called the New Sunshine and Moonlight Projects, there are many technologies that cannot find their way out of the valley of death. Therefore, I ask this question. Is there an effective method for overcoming the valley of death, and to what degree is the perspective of technology integration i.e. synthesis important in overcoming the valley of death? Also, which characteristic of the Japanese manufacturing should be emphasized to lead the world? I wish to open the discussion now.Importance of synthesis in MonozukuriTsuge“Japanese manufacturing or so called monozukuri that leads the world” is the creation of front-runner type innovation, YabeThe main purpose of the journal, Synthesiology, is to appeal the importance of “synthesis in manufacturing” and to share the methodology of synthesis with all the people in the world.For the result of an R&D to become practical, technological issues must be solved to overcome the “valley of death”. Giving some examples, the R&D for super heat pump energy integration system was a national project, in which I was involved, to double the performance of the heat pump in about 10 years up to 1993. When the project was completed, the late Dr. Katayama of the Tokyo Institute of Technology said, “We have a wonderful racing car, but we still don’t have a luxury commercial car”. After that, dozen more years were required before the technology could be commercialized. This period was called the “valley of death”, and it took over 10 years to improve both the economic feasibility and the performance, where various technologies were fortified and reinforced. Now, it has become widely utilized both in Japan and abroad. In the eco-energy city system, we developed the cold heat storage and transport system using the hydrate slurry, and it took six years until practical use. In the case of energy technology, economic feasibility is a major factor, and the six years was a period of challenge in economics. Another case is the automation of product inspection procedure of automobile, which was a project conducted jointly with a medium company. This automated inspection device employed the specular diffraction of the laser, and although the principle was set up in five years, it took seven years from the time we started to apply it to the automobile “Monozukuri” (manufacturing) of Japan and synthesiologySynthesiology Editorial BoardNew advantage must be added to Japanese manufacturing (monozukuri) for which Japan has held the leading position. To do so, it is necessary to build a new mechanism for research and development and innovation. We heard from the people who have led the Japanese manufacturing about the new strategy for monozukuri, the importance of synthesis, and the role of Full Research that AIST is trying to achieve.[Translation from Synthesiology, Vol.4, No.1, p.46-51 (2011)]Dr. Ayao TsugeHideki NariaiAyao TsugeAkira Yabe Professor Emeritus, University of Tsukuba; and former President, Japan Nuclear Energy Safety OrganizationPresident, Shibaura Institute of Technology; former Executive Member, Council for Science and Technology Policy; and former Executive Representative Director, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Vice-President, AIST (Editor, Synthesiology; Moderator)Participants of the round-table talk

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