Swiss-Japan Research Collaboration for New Innovation in Medical Engineering workshop held

Tokyo Tech, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), and École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) held a joint workshop at TMDU on April 19, 2016 to discuss opportunities for collaboration and promote innovation in the medical engineering field. Approximately 70 people from industry and academia were in attendance.

The first Tokyo Tech-EPFL joint workshop was held in Switzerland in June 2015. With the inclusion of TMDU in this latest workshop, researchers from the three universities gave presentations on the latest medical engineering research and practical application of their findings. Talks covered a wide range of state-of-the-art technologies and applications including wearable devices, biosensors, and surgical assist robots. A member of Riverfield Inc., a developer of such robots using research from both Tokyo Tech and TMDU, also gave a presentation on university collaboration with startups. Q&A sessions and active discussions accompanied each presentation. In the networking reception that followed, presenters, attending researchers, and industry members exchanged opinions and discussed future plans.

New innovations are expected to arise from the combination of the respective strengths of leading science, engineering, and medical universities in Japan and Europe. Tokyo Tech is confident that this workshop will lead to further collaborations between universities and industries in both regions.

• Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU)
• École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)