AGC and Tokyo Institute of Technology to Open

June 24, 2019R&D

AGC and Tokyo Institute of Technology to Open "AGC Material Collaborative Research Cluster"

Developing Material Solutions through the Integration and Enhancement of Technologies

AGC (Headquarters: Tokyo; President and CEO: Takuya Shimamura), together with the Tokyo Institute of Technology ("Tokyo Tech"; President: Kazuya Masu) have partnered to establish the "AGC Material Collaborative Research Cluster," opening on July 1, 2019. In addition to securing 66 m² of dedicated space at Tokyo Tech's Suzukakedai Campus, AGC has agreed to dispatch collaborative researchers in an aim to promote cooperation between both organizations.

AGC and Tokyo Tech have, to date, carried out collaborative research initiatives in a number of fields including glass, ceramics, and organic materials, which have succeeded in producing impressive results. This Collaborative Research Cluster will provide a new framework that will allow companies and Tokyo Tech to overcome the limitations of conventional independent research and realize large-scale collaborations between the organizations.

The AGC Material Collaborative Research Cluster will combine Tokyo Tech's academic knowledge in a wide range of fields including substances and materials, with the technological expertise that AGC has built up and refined over decades. This will enable the cluster to carry out comprehensive organization-to-organization R&D in ways that were impractical with independent research before now. To generate new research themes and business fields, a new research theme planning team comprising members from both AGC and Tokyo Tech will be assigned to take responsibility for research planning.

Coinciding with the launch of this cluster, joint research will begin in the 'Multi-material Field' with five labs (namely, the School of Materials and Chemical Technology: Toshiaki Ougizawa Lab; School of Engineering: Akira Todoroki Lab; Institute of Innovative Research: Chiaki Sato Research Group; School of Engineering: Takatoki Yamamoto Lab; and School of Engineering: Jiro Hirokawa Lab). Meanwhile, joint research will begin as 'NEXT Theme Candidates" with two labs (namely, the Institute of Innovative Research: Ryoji Kanno Lab; and School of Materials and Chemical Technology: Taro Hitosugi Lab).

In the 'Multi-material Field' category, AGC's diverse range of materials―including proprietary glass and fluorinated materials―will be combined and optimized to create solutions by intensifying development of the high-performance materials and innovative technologies/processes needed in next-generation mobility, high-speed communication, electronics and other applications. Meanwhile, the 'NEXT Theme Candidates' category will explore concepts with the goal of identifying, solving, and realizing challenges based on innovative and challenging research themes.

AGC and Tokyo Tech, by setting up the Collaborative Research Cluster, will facilitate close interaction between researchers and establish an R&D network, through which they aim to effectively drive the process of envisioning, developing, validating, and releasing into the world new themes, while also contributing to the development of talent and emergence of new innovation.

REFERENCE

Overview of the AGC Material Collaborative Research Center

Name:	Open innovationPlatform Collaborative Research Cluster, Tokyo Institute of Technology AGC Material Collaborative Research Cluster
Address:	4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Room 514, J3 Bldg., Suzukakedai Campus of Tokyo Institute of Technology
Implementation period:	July 1, 2019–June 30, 2022
Research area:	The creation of material-based solutions through the integration and enhancement of technologies held by AGC and the Tokyo Institute of Technology
Site Director:	Akira Nakajima (Professor and Associate Dean, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology)
Deputy Site Director:	Hiroki Kamiya (General Manager, Planning Div., Technology General Div., AGC Inc.)
Representative Collaborative Researcher:	Tsuguhide Isemura (Planning Div., Technology General Div., AGC Inc.)

J3 Bldg., Suzukakedai Campus, where the Collaborative Research Center will be set up

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