Tohoku University Material Solutions Center (MaSC) was founded on Tohoku University’s Katahira campus in January 2014. It aims to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and industrialization from the endeavors of joint-research on new materials in order to contribute to society in the future. The construction cost of the center was provided by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s subsidization for the improvement of industrial technology development facilities. The remaining cost was shared by the Institute for Materials Research (IMR), the Institute of Fluid Science (IFS), the Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials (IMRAM), and Tohoku University headquarters.

 

In 2018, the Research Institute of Electrical Communication (RIEC) also began participation in the operations of the center, expanding the scope of research and development to both materials and their applied devices, allowing the University to create a cooperative creation base between industry and academia in the Katahira area.

 

Tohoku University is proud of its world-leading practical accomplishments and its tradition of material science research. Katahira campus in particular has a number of excellent research institutes for material science. Bringing together these strengths, MaSC will help the solution of your problems to meet various industrial demands.

Operations of MaSC is financially independent from the university and its funds come from usage fees for spaces and equipment, as well as other sources while attention is given to uphold security and safety.

 

The main research themes of this center are categorized into three fields: “Social Infrastructure”, “Electronics” and “Energy”. Each research project is determined by open application.

 

Last year marked the 9th year since the establishment of the center, we held “Real Exchange” meetings and associate membership activities online while taking preventive measures against the Covid-19 infection. And we co-sponsored the online symposium for the Multi-Material Consortium and the Soft-Material Consortium which were established in the wake of past “Real Exchange” meetings.
In addition, we held the “Real Tour in Tohoku University” for the first time, which is a new attempt to explore novel open innovation based on the technical seeds of our young researchers.

 

This year, the three-year-long Covid-19 crisis becomes to an end, and we will hold face-to-face “Real Exchange” meetings and “Real Tours in Tohoku University”. We also will continue to support the industry-academia collaboration activities such as the Consortium for Bulk Soft Magnetic Materials, aiming to greatly contribute to the industrial recovery of the Tohoku area and the strengthening of Japan’s global competitiveness.

MaSC would like to express its appreciation for your continued support.