Signing of an Agreement Related to Comprehensive Collaboration with Waseda University Developing Analytical & Measuring Instruments and Fostering Highly Specialized Human Resources through Collaboration between Industry and Academia
On October 10, Shimadzu signed an agreement related to comprehensive collaboration with Waseda University, with the aim of promoting mutual collaboration, including research and development, and the fostering of human resources. Based on this collaborative agreement, both parties will work to develop new products and foster highly specialized human resources through collaborative research aiming at the realization of a carbon neutral society conducive to well-being.
Waseda University established the Waseda Center for a Carbon Neutral Society in 2022 as an organization under the direct supervision of the University President, to promote collaborative research between industry and academia and research integrating both science and the humanities in the realm of carbon neutrality. In the Shimadzu medium-term management plan, two domains are designated for the creation of social value: healthcare, which includes the life sciences field, and Green Transformation (GX), which is aimed at carbon neutrality. In addition, in promoting a program for developing highly specialized human resources, Shimadzu is involved in the REACH Project, which places researchers and technicians in doctorate programs at graduate schools in research domains that are strategically important from a business perspective.
Shimadzu and Waseda University started three-party collaborative research with Horiba, Ltd. in August 2020. In June 2021, the research results led to the commercial release of the LC-Raman system by Shimadzu and Horiba, an analytical instrument that can easily estimate unknown components in mixtures. Two-party collaborative research began in 2022, and in August 2023, this was expanded with the establishment of the Waseda Shimadzu Collaboration Laboratory in the Waseda University Research Innovation Center. A measurement sequence was established to quickly identify unknown natural compounds using mass spectrometers, which should lead to the creation of pharmaceuticals, functional food products, and chemical products.
Collaboration is progressing further through this agreement, and in the future, there will be initiatives to develop new analytical and measuring instruments that will contribute in fields such as next-generation pharmaceuticals, food sustainability, and a decarbonized society. We will also continue to foster human resources capable of creating new social value whatever the field, through the integration of our respective comprehensive expertise as a measuring instruments manufacturer and an academic institution.
From the left is Tairo Ogura, General Manager, Life Science Business Depertment, Analytical & Measuring Instruments Division, Shimadzu; Masami Tomita, Managing Executive Officer and General Manager of Analytical & Measuring Instruments Division, Shimadzu; Hiroto Itoi, Managing Executive Officer and CTO, Shimadzu;
Professor Aiji Tanaka, President, Waseda University; Professor Yasuhiro Hayashi, Director, Waseda Center for a Carbon Neutral Society and Professor, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University; Professor Haruko Takeyama, Associate Director, Waseda Center for a Carbon Neutral Society and Professor, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University