[2006.11.6]
More than 450 participants attended Kumamoto University Forum in Daejeon
Kumamoto University Forum in Daejeon, Korea was held on September 26 and 27, 2006. Daejeon City is located in the heart of Korea, between Seoul and Pusan, and has been growing as a research town with more than 1.5 million of population.
This forum was held for the purpose of introducing Kumamoto University to the Korean universities and industries in order to promote the international university-industry cooperation between Japan and Korea. Ten Korean universities having the exchange agreements with Kumamoto University, the Small and Medium Business Administration in Korea, and Daejeon City supported the forum on the Korean side. In addition, the forum was backed up by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, Kumamoto University Alumni Association and others. Thanks to these special supports, the forum was successfully conducted with 450 or more Japanese and Korean researchers, students, and businesspersons.
On September 26, at the beginning of the forum, President Tatsuro Sakimoto of Kumamoto University gave a keynote speech titled “Now and Future of Kumamoto University”. In addition, presidents of Paichai University and Dong-A University, and representative of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), gave presentations in the morning. In the afternoon, Professor Hidenori Akiyama, Professor Yoshihito Kawamura, Professor Kenichi Yamamura, and Associate Professor Hiroki Obata of Kumamoto University, Professor Yong-Soon Lee of Seoul National University and two other researchers gave research presentations mainly in the field of engineering and biotechnology.
On the following day, September 27, a student presentation session and student exchange meeting were held in the morning. Two students from Kumamoto University and three from Korean universities gave research presentations in English. In the following student exchange meeting, Korean and Japanese students introduced their life on campus and the local community, and also talked with each other. Moreover, Industry-University joint session titled “2006 International Symposium Daejeon-Kumamoto Industry-University Cooperation” was held in the afternoon. In the symposium, eleven Japanese and Korean companies presented their cutting-edge research activities.
In the forum, 150 research panels were displayed during two days, and as a whole, this forum became a fruitful conference that brought discussions on various potentials of the international collaboration between Japan and Korea.
