The last meeting on “Heterogeneous Structure Control,” ^(*1) one of the technical themes ^(*2) adopted for the Collaborative Research Based on Industrial Demand Program, was held on October 25, 2019 at the JST Tokyo Headquarters in K’s Gobancho. One of the major features of this program is that the industry and the academic communities gather to establish a platform entitled “space for collaborative creativity” to foster the exchange of ideas for solving technical themes. This year will conclude the technical theme, so this meeting was also the last gathering of the “space for collaborative creativity.”

In his opening remarks, the program officer Dr. Masaharu Kato delivered a lecture on the research outcomes and the progress of activities undertaken in the ten years since the technical themes were established in FY2010. Subsequently, each research leader reported on the state of research and development and the research outcomes of eight ongoing projects that are scheduled to end in this fiscal year. Furthermore, the participating researchers engaged in active discussions and exchanged their opinions through a poster session wherein a total of 25 posters were exhibited that encompassed both the ongoing projects and 15 completed projects.

Despite the bad weather, the meeting was attended by a total of 86 participants: 56 researchers from universities and public research organizations, 20 participants from three organizations proposing technical themes and from the R&D sections of eight companies with membership of these organizations, and 10 other JST members, including the program officers/advisors. The meeting was fruitful because of the interchange of robust discussions and opinions between the participants. Such a vibrant exchange of ideas will lead to industrial competitiveness and will help strengthen industrial foundations.

Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to all the stakeholders of the program for their longstanding support and encouragement. Although only a few technical themes now remain, we appreciate your continued support of the development of research that will contribute to the reinforcement of industrial competitiveness through the results of this program.

*1:

Heterogeneous Structure Control is a name of establishing new instruction principle based on heterogeneous structure control aiming for creation of innovative metal material.

*2:

Technical theme is a common technical issue of the industry, which demands fundamental research at universities or public research organizations to solve.