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Taiwan's National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) has opened a liaison office at Tohoku University's Katahira Campus.

Thirteen representatives from NCTU, including President Mau-Chung Frank Chang, were in Sendai for the ceremony on November 3, hosted by President Susumu Satomi, and attended by Executive Vice Presidents Toshiya Ueki, Sadayoshi Ito, Yoshinori Yajima and other senior university officials.

Tohoku University already has a liaison office at NCTU, which was opened on May 4 this year. NCTU's liaison office, situated within the Institute of Fluid Science, will similarly aim to improve communication between the two universities and promote further academic exchanges.

Ceremony and Workshop

The opening ceremony began with addresses from Tohoku University President Susumu Satomi and NCTU President Mau-Chung Frank Chang.

Both universities also received congratulatory messages from Shih-Ying Lin, director of the Education Division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, and from Michi Kakizawa, director of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association's General Affairs Department.

During the ceremony, Professor Seiji Samukawa of AIMR and the Institute of Fluid Science, who had led the effort to establish both liaison offices, hosted a discussion on future academic exchanges between the two universities.

The group spoke of plans for double degree programs, which are currently being fine-tuned, and the establishment of joint laboratories and/or joint research centers. Both universities already have a commitment to collaborate in the areas of semiconductor nanodevices, autonomous energy systems and biomedical engineering.

Another area that could see bi-lateral cooperation is renewable energy technology and research on autonomous energy systems.

Later that afternoon, the Second Tohoku University x NCTU Joint Workshop was held, featuring keynote speeches from Professor Hideo Ohno, director of Tohoku University's Research Institute of Electrical Communication, and Chair Professor Yuan-Pern Lee of NCTU. Researchers from both universities also presented their work.

Tohoku University and NCTU first began working together in 2005, mainly on semiconductor devices, a major strength of both institutions. With NCTU planning to set up affiliated hospitals, there is interest in additional collaboration in the areas of medicine and biomedical engineering.

At a welcome reception the day before, University Hospital Vice Director Hideo Harigae and the executive director of the Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Masayuki Yamamoto, presented the work of both organizations, and held a question-and-answer session.

Campus Tour

After the ceremony on November 3, the NCTU delegation visited laboratories at the Advanced Institute for Materials Research and the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering.

While Yuh-Jyh Jong, Dean of the College of Biological Science and Technology at NCTU stopped by the Graduate School of Medicine to discuss future collaborative research, President Chang toured the Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization for a first-hand look at the supercomputer and other biobank facilities.