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, MaSC celebrated its 10th anniversary and published a commemorative magazine summarizing the history from its founding to most recent activities. Over the past 10 years, many industry-academia collaborative research projects have emerged through the “Real Exchange Meeting” and the “Associate Membership” activities which have been continuously operated as our vital components of industry-academia collaboration activities. On the other hand, the “Real Exchange Meeting” has led to the establishment of three research consortium centered on researchers from our university, and made-to-order collaborations have become active between researchers at each consortium and industrial companies. In addition, the “Real Tour in Tohoku University,” an attempt to explore open innovation that began two years ago, has led to industry-academia co-creation in a wide range of research fields.

 

With the know-how of exploring new ways of co-creating with industries that has been cultivated over the past 10 years, we will continue to promote collaboration in a broader range of research areas with the aim of creating a sustainable green value chain.

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