The 14th imec Handai International Symposium was held at Lecture Hall on November 12, 2025. The annual Symposia are held alternately in Belgium and in Japan after we entered into Collaborative Framework Agreement in November 2011.
imec and SANKEN have shared in the benefits of long and lively exchanges of graduate students and faculty, and collaborative research in a multitude of domains through JSPS Core to Core Program, Brain Circulation Program, JST COI Program, ASPIRE, Moonshot R&D Program. Furthermore, imec and SANKEN initiated the “second stage” of our strong collaborative partnership when Dr. Luc Van den hove, President and CEO of imec and professor Shojiro Nishio, then President of The University of Osaka held a top executive meeting in November 2023.
Ever since, we have expanded our collaboration from the departmental level, i.e., within SANKEN and the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, to the institutional level.
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This time, we welcomed eighty participants in total including twelve representatives from imec (eight of these are in person) and from faculty members of various departments and institutes in The University of Osaka: from the Graduate Schools of Medicine and Science, and the Joining and Welding Research Institute as well as the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research and SANKEN.
Presentations highlighted the latest research results and the feasible social application in a wide variety of cutting-edge research fields, ranging from life sciences, medicine, biotechnology, semiconductors, quantum- and nano- technology, artificial intelligence, informatics, human sciences, sensor technology, flexible and wearable devices, to implantable electronics. They were followed by dynamic discussions and active exchanges of expertise and ideas among participants.
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On the following day, we conducted two close and in-depth discussions on collaborative research themes, and guided tours of related laboratories and accommodation located in SANKEN, latter of which will be available to overseas students and researchers who will participate in our long-term cooperative research. We have received favorable feedback from imec delegates.
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imec and SANKEN will embark on yet-undiscovered areas of science and technology, and a new and wider horizon of cooperative research through productive discussion and active human exchanges by multifaceted approaches including our Symposia which will continue to benefit all the parties in the future to come.
Particularly, this Symposium featured a variety of eminent presentations regarding medicine-engineering emerging cooperative research as represented in life science, which attracted the attention of participating faculty across multiple institutes and departments.
We are confident that we will be able to obtain even greater groundbreaking research results through multidimensional approaches accelerated by constructive interdisciplinary collaboration.
Our stronger partnership with imec has fostered a collaborative environment in innovative research domains, to say nothing of deepening ongoing research activities.
Integrating our expertise and technological capabilities through even stronger partnership with imec, we are determined to drive remarkable innovation, yield significant impacts on both industrial and academic sectors, and address societal challenges to contribute to our future wellbeing.
(Mototsugu OGURA - Specially Appointed Professor, Strategy Office)