On July 14, Shimadzu Corporation signed a comprehensive collaborative agreement with Osaka Metropolitan University. The objective is to promote mutual cooperation, including research & development and human resource training. On the basis of this collaborative agreement, both parties will, through collaboration in a living lab for co-creation by industry, academia, government, and the private sector (hereinafter “living lab”), solve social problems in the fields of all-solid-state batteries and infectious diseases, aiming to create new value for society.
In 2023, Osaka Metropolitan University was adopted into the Program for Promoting the Enhancement of Research Universities with a Regional Core and Distinctive Characteristics, and the Program for Forming Japan’s Peak Research Universities (J-PEAKS) by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. As an innovation academy co-creation research site, it also constructed and prepared the Smart Energy Building on the Nakamozu Campus (see photo below). This building houses the living lab, into which have been introduced a Shimadzu laser diffraction particle size analyzer, dynamic particle image analysis system, mass spectrometer, and the iMScopeQT imaging mass microscope under the Co-Creation using Evaluation Equipment program. Collaborative research is being performed to develop new analytical and measuring methods, instruments, and applications related to cutting-edge battery material development and evaluation techniques. At the same time, initiatives are underway for human resource training, including training in cutting-edge equipment operations and comprehensive data analysis methods.
In addition, as infectious disease countermeasures with the Osaka International Research Center for Infectious Diseases (OIRCID) of Osaka Metropolitan University, Shimadzu is co-creating surveillance projects* for sewage and the environment, and is taking initiatives in the development of new instruments and reagents.
In our medium-term management plan, Shimadzu Corporation stipulates several so-called social value creation domains: healthcare, including the life sciences field; materials, with the aim of achieving a safe and comfortable society; and industry. As an international partner, Shimadzu will continue such collaborations, contributing to solving social problems.
- * For the purpose of detecting the spread of an infectious disease at an early stage, assessment of the status of infectious disease occurrence, analysis of the information obtained, and reduction and utilization to avoid contraction of the disease. (Excerpt from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website.)
Smart Energy Building, Nakamozu Campus
