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Collaborative Research Based on Industrial Demand Program: “Magnets” Online Symposium
Industry-Academia Collaborative R&D Program
On November 2, 2020, an open webinar for the Collaborative Research Based on Industrial Demand Program was conducted via Zoom: technical theme was “Magnets”*1. One of the major features of this program was that the industrial sector and the academic community had gathered to establish a “space for collaborative creativity” for the exchange of ideas on technical themes*2. Because the technical theme, “Magnets,” will end in this fiscal year, this space for collaborative creativity proved to be a last opportunity for the exchange of ideas. To facilitate candid discussions on the latest research results with the industrial sector, previous symposiums were conducted in a non-public format at JST meeting rooms. This year, however, we organized the first public online symposium due to the coronavirus outbreak.
In the opening remark, Dr. Fukunaga Hirotoshi, the program officer, explained 10-year research activities and results of the underlying technology including magnet materials, simulation technology, evaluation and measurement technology, and outreach activities related to the research results.
Then, the advisor of the program, Iriyama Yasuhiko, Daido Steel Co., delivered a special lecture on the “Current states and future prospect of SmFeN magnets development.” Further, activity reports of two projects that will be concluded in this fiscal year were presented. Two projects that ended in the previous year were also presented: “Recent progress in basic research for next generation iron-based oxide magnets” by Professor Nakamura Hiroyuki, Kyoto University, and “Research on tetragonal FeCo-based alloy magnets” by Lecturer Hasegawa Takashi, Akita University.
A total of 62 participants, including 27 researchers from universities and public research organizations and 29 participants from the industrial sector, had joined the vigorous discussions and exchanged opinions about technological achievements and future developments.
The industrial sector participants thoroughly evaluated the research outcomes and efforts of the program including improvements in the characteristics of rare earth magnets and ferrite magnets, creation of new magnet materials, evaluation and measurement technology, and micromagnetics simulations. Hence, we believe that this program has played a significant role in the given research area.
Finally, we would like to thank all the stakeholders of the program for their support and encouragement. We appreciate your continuous co-operation and hope that the research outcomes of this program contribute to strengthen the industrial competitiveness.
*1: “Magnets” is a short title for High Performance Magnets : Towards Innovative Development of Next Generation Magnets.
*2: Technical theme is a common technical issue of the industry, which demands fundamental research at universities or public research organizations to solve.