Tohoku University of Japan Announces the Opening of its U.S. Office and First Tohoku University International Innovation Forum

LOS ALTOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tohoku University U.S. Office will hold its Opening Ceremony on April 26 and the First Tohoku University International Innovation Forum on April 27 at the Marriott San Mateo at San Francisco Airport, 1770 South Amphlett Boulevard. The U.S. Office is the international promotion center of Tohoku University. The two day event will feature over 50 world renowned experts in their fields speaking on a broad spectrum of science and technology issues to include Nobel Laureate Roger Kornberg, Stanford University Professor, speaking on The Gene Reader in Our Cells. California Governor, the Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger, is scheduled to present the opening keynote address. The creation of Tohoku’s Silicon Valley California office demonstrates the beginning of its intention to create a portal for the facilitation of collaboration with U.S. companies and educational institutions.

Tohoku U.S. Deputy Director Dr. Toshihiko Nishimura said, “June 2007 will mark the 100^th Anniversary of the founding of Tohoku University. It is significant to hold the Opening Ceremony and First International Innovation Forum in the centennial year of 2007. Tohoku University has established unique policies and principles that are 'Research First,' 'Open Door' and 'Practice-Oriented Research and Education.' Our goal for this event is to introduce Tohoku University and showcase its extensive professional and educational achievements, technologies, and intellectual property which are founded on our excellent research and education programs. The goal of the Tohoku University U.S. office is to share and transfer these resources and to contribute to the U.S. industry and society. We want to achieve the position of a world-known university which excels in technology research. We have selected Silicon Valley as the location of our U.S. office, the heartland of technology, from both an academic and commercial perspective. Our slogan is: Be The Center Of Reference; COR.”

More than 50 world renowned experts, in all facets of science and technology including the president, directors, vice directors, deans, and professors from Tohoku University, will attend this event. Delegates from Miyagi Prefecture and Sendai City of Japan and the Federation of Tohoku Economic World will also attend this event. Delegates from the State of California, local counties and cities including government officials and political figures are scheduled to attend this ceremony. Stanford University and University of California will send more than twenty professors to the anniversary ceremony. The Governor of California, the Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to give a congratulatory speech.

On April 27, Professor Shuji Nakamura, University of California Santa Barbara will open the all-day program of the International Innovation Forum. The 2006 Chemistry Noble Laureate, Roger Kornberg, Stanford University Professor, is the luncheon keynote speaker. Eight sessions are planned for the afternoon. This forum’s philosophy is to introduce Tohoku University’s endeavors to address key current worldwide societal issues in a road show style. Sessions are: environmental issues, energy issues, international pandemic diseases (HIV, Avian Flu), population issues, and issues associated with our aging society.

Tohoku University, being a world leader in the technology fields of Materials Science and Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), has created sessions devoted to these topics. The MEMS session will be moderated by world renowned Tohoku University Professor Masayoshi Esashi and will include local Silicon Valley MEMS luminaries including Dr. Kurt Petersen, CEO of SiTime, Roger Howe, Stanford University Professor, Al Pisano, Professor and Director of the University of California Berkeley, Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center and Masahiko Ogirima, MEMS Core. The Materials Science session will be moderated by Tohoku University Professor Sadamichi Maekawa with panelists including Stuart Parkin of IBM, Robert Sinclair of Stanford University and Masashi Kawasaki of Tohoku University.

Additional sessions include intellectual property collaborations with Tohoku University and future universities collaborations based on the sister city relationship between Riverside and Sendai, Tohoku’s home. At the end of the forum, distinguished U.S. venture capitalists including Koji Osawa, Co-Founder of Global Catalyst Partners, Steve Domenic, General Partner of Sevin Rosen Funds and James Wei, Co-Founder of Worldview Technology Partners will be joined by Stanford Professor Tom Byers. They will discuss the business vision for universities.

The event is hosted by Tohoku University/Tohoku University U.S. Office; co-organized by NPO, TOHOKU University Global Promotion Center and supported by the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, JETRO, JSPS, JUNBA, Ozeki Sake and SiTime, a Silicon Valley MEMS startup.

For more information, a detailed conference agenda and for registration, please go to the Tohoku University US Office website at http://www.tohoku-u.us/. English will be the official language.

Editors are requested to contact Mr. Roger Grace of Roger Grace Associates to register.

About Tohoku University

Tohoku University was founded in 1907 as the imperial university, during the period when Japan had begun to transform itself in to a modernized society. Since then, it has played a leading role in both research and education in Japan, and is now ranked among the top universities in the Asia-Pacific region. From the start, Tohoku University has maintained uniqueness within Japan. The university has always conceived strong loyalty to science while other former imperial universities have tried to meet the governmental needs. This has resulted in remarkable success in the University's own research and also the cultivation of brilliant students. Most recently, Tohoku University has been striving for global excellence under the slogan — “Tohoku University, Creating Global Excellence”, providing opportunities for world-class research and education. Tohoku University is located in the northern part of Honshu Island — the main island of Japan — in the City of Sendai. Tohoku University U.S. Office is located in Los Altos, California.