The Second Tokyo Tech-MIT Symposium on Innovative Nuclear Energy Systems was held in both Kamakura and Tokyo on July 23-25, 2007, with 13 guests from MIT. The first symposium had been held in November 2005 at the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The co-sponsors for the Second Symposium were COE-INES, CRINES, and CANES of MIT. The sessions on July 23-24 were technical presentations and were held at the Kamakura Wakamiya Hotel in the city of Kamakura. Attendance was approximately 70, with a total of 26 presentations. On July 25, there was a tour of Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors at Tokyo Tech for the guests from MIT. There was also a poster presentation by doctoral students and a special educational session. MIT-CANES Director Prof. Mujid S. Kazimi also paid a formal visit to Tokyo Tech President Prof. Masuo Aizawa.

One of the focal points of this second symposium was the education of doctoral students, as well as the presentation of research results. Just before the symposium proper, there was a workshop on July 19-20, sponsored by the doctoral students of both institutions, entitled “Developing a Game for Ordinary Citizens to Educate Them on Nuclear Power”. The workshop was led by Prof. Miyako Takagi (Nippon University), Mr. Masayuki Yamato (TEPCO) and Mr. Takanobu Kimura (F9, a game software producer), and the process of creating the game was later described on TEPCO’s website. Each of the students had already created a game or a game concept, explained their creation in a seminar with a faculty advisor, and then revised it. The students continued to discuss their game concepts and announced their conclusions at the special educational session on July 25. Over 130 people attended this session. President Aizawa opened the session and then representative doctoral students from each of the universities gave a lecture to explain their designs. There were 7 presentations, of which 2 were joint Tokyo Tech- MIT productions, describing games. The presenters were quite enthusiastic about their topics. Students of the two universities had many opportunities to get to know each other through the workshops and the accommodations they shared in Kamakura. The exchange between the universities ended successfully with a lecture by CRINES Professor Akio Minato at the closing banquet on July 25.

We look forward to further development and growth of COE-INES and CRINES activities so that these exchanges can be continued and expanded.

Kamakura session

Participants from MIT

Visit of Prof. Kazimi (MIT) to Tokyo Tech President Aizawa
(from left: Director Sekimoto, Prof. Kazimi, President Aizawa)