Industry-academia-government collaboration
Comprehensive Open Innovation Center
The Saitama University Comprehensive Open Innovation Center is designed to strengthen ties between Saitama University and the local community. The center engages in a wide variety of activities, including introductions to intellectual property within the university, coordination of innovation projects that originate from the community and help with project applications, coordination and support related to joint research on consultation projects with local companies, technical guidance support for technical consultations and the training of engineers, and entrepreneurship training aimed at cultivating entrepreneurs.
Specifically, the center hosts the ‘TECHNO-CAFÉ’, a gathering of prominent technology managers; ‘Venture Lectures in SAIDAI (Saitama University)’, which are lectures by budding entrepreneurs designed to encourage new entrepreneurs; and ‘Comprehensive Open Innovation Center Lectures’ for practitioners, which focuses on technological aspects. Also, the center actively participates in various events and exhibits, providing public access to the seeds of research conducted by the university’s professors.
Most of these activities are conducted concurrently with the cooperation of the Saitama University Comprehensive Open Innovation Center’s Industry-Academia -Government Partnership Council, which has been formed through a collaboration among the university and the industrial sector, economic associations, and public organizations. In addition, through a comprehensive agreement with Saitama Prefecture, a Saitama University consultation office has been established within Industry-Academia Collaboration Support Center Saitama to make it easy for local residents to seek consultations with the university.
For more information regarding consultation services and seminars, e-mail: tiiki@ml.saitama-u.ac.jp.
>>Comprehensive Open Innovation Center Website(Japanese)
Joint Reserach Activities
Saitama Bio-Project
Saitama University is a worldwide pioneer in developing the evolutionary molecular engineering. Saitama Bio-Project began in 2003 to apply this evolutionary biotechnology to advanced bio-industries as a project in CREATE Program of JST under the name of REDS. The REDS project finished in 2007, and the Saitama Bio-Project continued as a project in City Area Industry-academia-government Cooperation Support Program (Basic Stage) of MEXT from fiscal year 2007 to 2009 under the name of REDS2. Saitama Bio-Project will continue further three years as a project in the special program of MEXT for supporting the regional innovation under the name of REDS3, if Saitama Prefecture will be a successful applicant.
The aim of the City Area project (REDS2) is to develop the seeds of drugs to combat diseases such as cancer, metabolic syndrome, and Alzheimer-type senile dementia. This will be attained by novel biotechnologies based on evolutionary molecular engineering developed in Metropolitan Saitama. The project also seeks to obtain new target biomolecules for drugs and the development of a new high-level bio-industry. Cooperation is encouraged between medical organization, universities, research institutions, major companies, and ventures, with the aim of developing high-value seeds from “antibodies” and “peptide aptamers”. Thus, the project promotes the development of new drugs, the mechanisms of which are unique and in global demand. The project also seeks to develop a regional R&D cluster that would contribute to the development of the regional economy.
By Antibody Group, unique advanced monoclonal antibodies were produced based on innovative homologous recombination techniques (the ADLib system), a technique of producing high-quality proteins using silkworms (Superworm system), and a novel gene-targeting technique. By Aptamer Group, unique advanced peptides (aptamers) were produced based on innovative evolutionary molecular engineering techniques such as cDNA display method. Examples were antagonist aptamers against Ghrelin receptor, inhibitor and activator aptamers against Cathepsin E (a cancer-related protease), and aptamers against Amyloid protein.
Framework of REDS2
The core managing organization: the Saitama Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation.
Project Director: Akira Horie
Chief Scientist: Yuzuru Husimi (Specified Professor at Saitama University)
Science&Technology Coordinator: Toshiatsu Kusaki, Koji Nishikori
Major Participating Research Organizations:
[Industry] Chiome Bioscience Inc., Katakura Industries Co.Ltd., Taisho Pharmaceutical Co.Ltd., Asubio Pharmaceuticals Inc., Janusys Corporation, Lifetech Co.Ltd., Enplas Corporation
[Academia] Saitama University, RIKEN, The University of Tokyo, Kyushu University, Niigata University, Toyohashi University of Technology, Ochanomizu University
[Government] Saitama Cancer Center, Saitama Industrial Technology Center
Glossary
CREATE= Collaboration of Regional Entities for the Advancement of Technological Excellence
JST= Japan Science and Technology Agency
MEXT= Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
REDS= Rational Evolutionary Design of Advanced Biomolecules, Saitama
ADLib= Autonomously Diversified Library
>>Saitama Bio-Project Website(Japanese)
Research and Development of a High-Efficiency Noncontact Charging System for Next-Generation Vehicles
Adopted as a NEDO1 2009 Innovative Energy-Saving Technology Development Project2
1. New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization
2. Project jointly developed by Aisin AW Co., Ltd.; Technova Inc.; and Saitama University
Shigeru Abe, Yasuyoshi Kaneko, and Toshiaki Tsuji; Department of Electrical and Electronic Systems
Overview
Today’s plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles are generally charged using power cables connected to power outlets. To offer improved convenience, safety, and high capacity through high-speed charging, cars in the future will be charged using noncontact systems that charge cars when they are parked on power-feeding transformers. However, there are challenges with such systems related to the size of the transformer, positioning tolerances when parking a vehicle over the transformer, efficiency, and price.
We devised a method of charging a vehicle with maximum efficiency using a unique two-sided coil configuration. We are conducting research and development of a system that can supply 1.5 kW of power at 90% or greater efficiency using a transformer the size of an A4 sheet of paper, a gap length of 70 mm, and a left-to-right positioning tolerance of +/- 150 mm.
We have already presented three papers on this topic (Journal of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan) and have applied for six patents.
Features
1. Electric vehicles can be charged without the use of power cables.
2. Our unique coil configuration allows the device to be compact, lightweight, and tolerant of positioning gaps.
3. Achieves 90% or greater efficiency, including the power source (Cable-based methods depend on the efficiency of the charging mechanism.)
Conceptual Diagram
Figure 1 Noncontact charging system for electric vehicles
Figure 2 Power feed transformer prototype (1.5 kW)
Figure 3 Structure of the main circuit of a noncontact charging system
Development of a novel type microarray-based system for ultrahigh-speed screening
This project is supported by JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency) under the name of Development of Systems and Technology for Advanced Measurement and Analysis, which is led by Prof. Koichi Nishigaki, Saitama University in the cooperation of 3 entrepreneur-minded companies in Saitama Prefecture. The project is to continue for 3 and a half years beginning from Oct. 2009.
The aim of this project is to develop a system which enables us to acquire functional molecules that can proliferate/apoptosis cells, illuminate or else. Those molecules can be screened using a small amount of only 100 nl or so at an ultra-high speed (i.e., 103-4/day), where a kind of microarray termed MMV (microarray with manageable volumes) is used, which makes us able to operate highly in parallel without depending on pipettes. Drug discovery and many other projects will be remarkably enhanced by this technology. As concrete examples for this project, the followings are considered: i) Peptides that have been in vitro translated in an MMV of 1000 wells are transferred to another MMV of the same number and analyzed in situ on their activity to a cell (possibly, CHO or PC12 cells) to convert it differently shaped or to lead it to apoptosis, or fluorescence-illuminate. Appropriate clones will be selected and further analyzed. This must contribute to the advancement of drug-discovery. ii) Those cells separated into a clone in MMV wells from a mass of microbes (such as bowel germs) are PCR-amplified and then transferred to another larger MMV to further amplify them. The resultant DNA molecules are GP (genome profiling)-analyzed to provide identification and clustering of microbes. This must be helpful for the promotion of Health Sciences.