【創域会ニュースマガジン】2022年11月号　Souiki-kai News Magazine November 2022

To all members of Souiki-kai,

Greetings from the Souiki-kai secretariat.
This month’s News Magazine is full of announcements. Will we soon be able to hold in-person events as before?

◇　November Issue
◇◇　　 Department of Integrated Biosciences
◇◇◇　　　Message from associate professor Suzuki Masataka

I have been at the Kashiwa campus for 12 years. When I first arrived, the Environment Building was still under construction, and there was no Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute. The northern side of the campus was uncomfortably left void as a copse. One day, I heard the students chatting from the laboratory. I went to see what was going on and found that all the students were covered in mud. Then I understand they had a little adventure crossing the copse from south to north. Now it would only take less than 10 minutes to walk from the Life Science Building to the northern side of the campus. But back then, the students spent two hours. Forest floors crowded by tall weeds, dense trees blocking the path, deep depressions with steep slopes, ponds… They also made tempura using the fish they caught in the pond. I always wanted to know what the inside of that copse was like, and I kind of envy the students who have been inside. These adventurous students are now all holding permanent positions at famous universities and research institutes both in Japan and abroad. Research is just like an adventure, so it is no surprise to see them flourish in the research field.

Within these 12 years, the Kashiwa-no-ha campus has developed beyond recognition. The population surged, new elementary and junior high schools were established on stylish campus that makes you second-think whether this is actually a school. The details of the design of the Campus station and shopping district have been so carefully thought out. As a ‘smart city’ with SDGs incorporated into its design, it also attracted overseas visitors.

One day this summer, my daughter, who came home from the station under the rain, said, “The station smelt so bad that I almost vomited.” The smell was caused by the excretion of grey starlings. In recent years, many starlings have gathered around the tall trees in front of the station, damaging the landscape of the smart city. Starlings usually form flocks of thousands or even ten thousand and spend their time in roosts. I told my daughter, “The starlings must have chosen the trees in front of the station only because they have no other options.”

It was at this moment a scenery popped into my mind. One early morning, when I was walking through the campus to my laboratory, a flock of starlings flew out of the woods on the northern side of the campus. The scenery was fascinating, as if a dragon was dancing in the blue sky. It continued for a few minutes, then gradually disappeared into the distant sky. After that, the Northern side of the campus got reconfigured, and the copse no longer exists. I wonder where the starlings roost now.

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Upcoming Issue: Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences, Assistant professor, Yamagishi Makoto

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Click here for the latest photo what Kashiwanoha looks like↓
http://souiki-kai.net/archive/photo/

Click here for the back numbers↓
http://souiki-kai.net/archive/column/

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< 2022 Souiki-kai Conference Report>

The 2022 Souiki-kai Conference was held online on Saturday, October 22nd, from 16:00.

For the first part of the special lecture, we invited Mr. Yosuke Otsubo (Completed the doctoral program in Complexity Science and Engineering in 2014),
who is active at the Mathematical Technology Research Laboratory, Advanced Technology Research　& Development Division, Nikon Corporation, and introduced Nikon’s data science and AI research efforts. During the question-and-answer session, questions were asked one after another, demonstrating the high level of interest of the participants.

At the second general meeting, Dean Deguchi Atsushi introduced the current status and future efforts of the developing Kashiwa II Campus, the Kashiwa area including the satellite in front of the station, and the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences.

The 2023 fiscal year budget proposal and the revision of the constitution, which were matters for deliberation, were approved by a majority of the attendees.

In the presidential election, Mr. Hironori Yamamoto (2001 master’s degree in Dept. of Advanced Materials Science, representative director of CROSS PLUS INC.) was elected as the new president.

<Inaugural greeting from President Yamamoto>

We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your long-term support and participation in the activities organized by the Souiki-kai.

My name is Yamamoto Hironori, the newly elected president of Souiki-kai in October 2022, following Mr. Akizuki, our former president. To briefly introduce myself, I completed my masters in materials science in 2001, and am currently the president and CEO of CROSS PLUS INC. I will work hard on the development of Souiki-kai together with everyone’s support.

Since its establishment of Souiki-kai in 2008, it has been working to promote exchange between graduates and current students at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences. We aim to support the student life of current students, development of the graduate school and contribution to society. In 2022, we have expanded to more than 7,000 members, in which 20% are overseas students. On the other hand, Souiki-kai is still a relatively young and growing alumni association within the University of Tokyo which has a much longer history. Until now, Souiki-kai has been operating within the university, centered on graduates and professors belonging to the graduate school. We have taken the first step to transforming ourselves into an organization that connects the school to outside businesses through close communication among our members.

This graduate school has the aim to encourage interaction and cooperation amongst diverse members from various academic fields. We hope that graduates and current students would continue to interact with each other and create an open-minded and diverse alumni community. Thank you and I look forward to contributing to Souiki-kai as the new president.

November 2022
Yamamoto Hironori

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<Notice of Career Path Seminar>

We will hold a career path seminar for international students who are considering employment in Japan.
Of course, non-international students are also welcome.
No reservation required. We are looking forward to your participation.

<The 14th Career Path Seminar hosted by Souiki-kai >
Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2022, 17:00-19:00
Format: Online
https://u-tokyo-ac-jp.zoom.us/j/85071336845?pwd=b0tWM3dNcVhmRjdLa1hDZzVFaFBZdz09

Part 1 17:00- My Navi Job Hunting in Japan

Part 2: 17:30-Experiences of international student alumni
17:30 Mr. Yao Yin (2021 Completed Master’s Program in Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences) Amazon Japan
17:50 Ms. Doan Ngoc Le Hai (2017 Master’s Program in Department of International Studies) Tokyu
18:10　Ms. Qi Fang (2017 Master’s Program in Department of Human and Engineered Environmental Studies) Daikin Industries

Part 3: 18:30-Panel discussion

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<Announcement of the 1st Egg Drop Contest Sponsored by Souiki-kai Student Department>

Hello everyone, this is the Student Dept. of Souiki-kai. Thank you for your participation in the last event, we were happy to have a lot of excitement.
This time, we would like to give you the latest information about the Egg Drop Contest that will be held this month, so please join us! !

[rule]
The Egg Drop Contest is a contest in which each team creates a protector that can safely drop raw eggs from a high place and competes by dropping them. A protector is made from  specified materials, and scores are given based on whether it was dropped without breaking and how close it was dropped to a specified target.

[event date and place]
From 13:00 on November 28th! ! The location is the emergency stairs on the east side of the Transdisciplinary Sciences building!
This plan is to drop an egg from the height of the second floor.

[way to participate]
Participation fee is free. Reservation only. You can’t join in the mid-way.

Using paper materials prepared by the Souiki-kai Student Dept. (detailed materials will be informed by email around 11/18),
➀ Make a protector on the day and drop an egg
➁ Make it by the date of the event and drop the egg on the day
There are two ways to participate.
Each team has two chances to drop an egg, and you can fix it on the spot!

We would like to know the number of people and scale in advance and prepare luxurious prizes and participation prizes related to eggs! Any thoughtful ideas are welcome.
We look forward to your dynamic ideas from various fields for protecting eggs.

[How to apply]
From the form (URL will be provided 1 week before the event)
Inquiries about the event: Souiki-kai-gakuseibu@edu.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp

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1. News from the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences

(a)Dean’s Address at the 2022 Autumn Semester Matriculation Ceremony
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/about/president/b_message2022_11.html

(b)Science Council of Japan Symposium “Development of DT Qualification Process for Novel Medical Technologies”
https://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/information/category/event/9826.html

(c)NTT and the University of Tokyo Produce the World’s First Communication Signal Generated from an Environmentally Friendly Circuit and Battery
https://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/information/category/press/9781.html

(d)Reconstructing diets of hunted sika deer from Torihama Shell Midden site (ca. 6,000 years ago) by dental microwear texture analysis
https://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/information/category/press/9805.html

(e)Atmospheric muography for imaging and monitoring tropic cyclones
https://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/information/category/headline/9796.html

(f)Energy-selective confinement of fusion-born alpha particles during internal relaxations in a tokamak plasma
https://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/information/category/science/9823.html

(g)Professor MATSUNAGA Sachihiro in the Department of Integrated Biosciences Won the Japanese Society of Plant Morphology Award 2022
https://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/information/category/award/9815.html

(h)Ms. Rena Inamasu Won the Excellent Poster Award at the 71st Symposium on Macromolecules
https://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/information/category/award/9814.html

(i)PR Magazines “SOSEI” Vol. 40 released
https://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/gsfs/sosei/

2. Related URL

(a) The University of Tokyo Kashiwa Campus
http://www.kashiwa.u-tokyo.ac.jp/index.html

(b) GSFS HP
http://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

(c) The University of Tokyo Kashiwa Library
http://www.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp/kashiwa/

(d) Kashiwa Campus – TX Kashiwanoha Campus Station
Suttle Bus operation time schedule 2017/04/01～2022/03/31
https://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/gsfs/shuttle-bus/2019shuttlebus_20191129_j.pdf

◆Souiki-kai HP
http://Souiki-kai.net

◆UTokyo Alumni
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/alumni/tft/index.html

【From Souiki-kai Secretariat】
(a) If you are an alumni who wants to broadcast the news in this news magazine, please contact the secretariat for details. In that case, please sending emails from the address registered in the Souiki-kai mailing list for verification of your identity.
(b) Those who wish to join the Souiki-kai (who were enrolled in GSFS but had not yet joined) should send an email with their name, year of graduation, major, and address to the secretariat for application.