Kazuaki Sawada
Professor, Department of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology

D. in 1991 from Toyohashi University of Technology, Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Systems and Information Engineering.
After working as a research assistant at the Institute of Electronic Engineering, Shizuoka University, an assistant professor at Toyohashi University of Technology, and a visiting professor at the Technical University of Munich, he has been a professor at Toyohashi University of Technology since 2007.
Director of the Venture Business Laboratory and Incubation Facility at Toyohashi University of Technology in 2008, Assistant to the President of Toyohashi University of Technology in 2014, Director of the Office of Technical College Collaboration at Toyohashi University of Technology, and Director of the Institute for Advanced Integration of Electronics at Toyohashi University of Technology since 2016.
He specializes in semiconductor materials, devices, sensors, and integrated circuits, and is engaged in research on integrated biosensors that integrate LSI and sensor technologies.
April 2013 The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Prize for Science and Technology (Research Category)
May 2020-Present Head of Division E, IEEJ

Yutaka Nishijima
Nishijima Corporation / Nishijima Medical Corporation / President and Representative Director, TannePartner Co.

Born in Karlsruhe, former West Germany, he joined Nishijima Corporation in 2005. After serving as Director and General Manager of the Reform Promotion Division, he was appointed Representative Director of Nishijima Co. Since its establishment in 1924, Nishijima has been committed to "human resource development" as a manufacturing company where all employees, including veterans, young workers, women, and people with disabilities, can play an active role, based on the management philosophy of "first-class products start from first-class personalities: lifelong vitality, lifelong active service. Nishijima Corporation has been working on "human resource development" thoroughly as a manufacturing company where all people can play an active role. Nishijima won the Jury's Special Award at the 11th "Nihon no ichiban ichiban ichiban desiderai kaisha" grand prix.

Toshiyuki Shibahara
Representative Director, Shibahara Kogyo Co.

Born in 1975. Born in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. After graduating from university, he joined a major cabinet maker, where he was engaged in shop floor improvement in the IE team. He then worked in the production innovation project secretariat of a major factory. 1992 joined Shibahara Kogyo Corporation, where he implemented on-site improvement through IE and IT by building a core system, and experienced production control and management planning, becoming familiar with factory operations. 2017 entered the Graduate University for the Creation of New Optical Industries, where he began research on laser welding and small and medium-sized enterprise management. In 2019, he became the third president of the company, and is working to make the most of his expertise to become a DX for sheet metal processing manufacturers.

Yoshihiro Doba
Representative Director, Sankei Engineering Co.

After retiring from a major manufacturer, he started a venture company with "heating technology" at its core. Backed by the power of a small factory in Ota-ku, Tokyo, the company performs a full range of services, from atari-testing for universities and major companies, to prototyping of equipment and manufacturing of industrial manufacturing equipment. The company has a wide range of customers in the food, automobile, medical, and semiconductor industries. The company aims to become a "prototype laboratory" for its customers, functioning as a place for experimentation, measurement, and prototype assembly, while leaving the manufacture of parts to nearby factories with optimal equipment and technology.

Moderator.
Kazuhiro Hasegawa
Executive Officer and CMO, Liverness, Inc.

He holds a Master's degree in Engineering from Tokyo Metropolitan University. Joined RIVERNESS from the first year of his master's degree, then became the first new employee of RIVERNESS, and was appointed as Executive Officer in 2012. He is also responsible for launching Techplanter, an incubation business in the manufacturing field, managing Garage Sumida in collaboration with Hamano Seisakusho, and promoting the Super Factory Group. He also established Japan's largest incubation facility for manufacturing start-ups, "Center of Garage," and is responsible for the revitalization of manufacturing companies from a wide range of perspectives.

Kohei Atsuji
Euglena Co.
R&D Company R&D Planning Office, Senior Manager

He joined Euglena Co. in 2016. Since then, he has been engaged in research on the utilization of algal biomass (raw materials for resins, fertilizers, and animal feed), with the main research theme of searching for novel and useful species and strains of the microalgae Euglena. In 2020, he will launch the "Pararesin Japan Consortium," a joint research entity for the social implementation of polysaccharide-based high-performance bioplastics. He is also the representative director of the consortium.

Kenji Umemura
inotio holdings inc.
General Manager, Research Institute, Central Agricultural Research Laboratory (and General Manager, Research and Development Division)

In 1989, he graduated from Nagoya University with a Master's degree in Chemistry and Chemical Control. In his current position from 2021, he is working on the development of environmentally friendly agricultural materials and related technologies under the vision of the INOCHIO Group as a "comprehensive agricultural support company". He specializes in the analysis of disease resistance mechanisms in plants. He has served as a councilor of a project of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and as a councilor and editorial board member of the Pesticide Science Society of Japan. D. (Agronomy).

Yuu Hirose
Associate Professor, Department of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology

D. in Biological Sciences from the Graduate School of Science at the University of Tokyo in 2011. He has worked on a wide range of research topics including structural analysis of photoreceptor proteins, genome analysis of cyanobacteria, analysis of the bacterial flora of Antarctic algal mats, and analysis of oil-synthesizing haptophytes. He is accustomed to the warm and sunny climate of the Higashimikawa region throughout the year. In recent years, he has been engaged in applied research, such as the search for algae with novel traits and their mass cultivation.

Moderator.
Hiroyuki Takahashi
Executive Officer, LIVERNESS Co.

D. from Yokohama City University in 2009. D. in Science, focusing on creating new research projects between industry and young researchers, including the launch of the "Liberace Research Fund" for young researchers under the age of 40. He has been leading the "Association of Hyperdifferent Fields" for many years since its inception, and has also been involved in the creation of places to generate research, such as the establishment of life science laboratories.

Taku Ishikawa
Saara Corporation
emCAMPUS Management Office, Innovation Promotion Department, Corporate Strategy Division

Graduated from the Graduate School of Education and Developmental Sciences, Nagoya University. He was involved in the operation of emCAMPUS STUDIO, a start-up support facility that opened in front of Toyohashi Station in 2021, from the pre-opening planning stage. emCAMPUS STUDIO is engaged in efforts to create value co-creation between universities, start-ups, ventures and local companies. He continues to take on the challenge of creating new value for people's lives and homes at the Saara Group.

Kohei Ito
Representative Director, BIOTA Corporation

Representative Director of BIOTA Co. He has been studying the microbiome (a collection of microorganisms) since his high school days, and engaged in research using bioinformatics (information life science) for urban and built environments at the Institute for Advanced Biosciences at Keio University. After graduation, he established BIOTA Inc. and has been engaged in the business of "urban design to enhance microbial diversity.

Taeko Kasuya
General Manager, New Business Division, Planet Inc.

Joined Planet Group in 2000, and has been in charge of many clients by proposing green services such as web production and CAD production, etc. He is also involved in the management of a green business association. As of 2022, he is in charge of Planet's new business. Currently, he is in charge of Pla-Net's new business, and is engaged in educational activities focusing on business support and new business development for newcomers to green business.

Moderator.
Toshihiro Ishizawa
General Manager, Strategic Development Division, Riverness, Inc.

D. (Life Sciences) from the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo. After an internship period of about 3 years while studying for his doctorate, he joined LIVERNESS Corporation in 2008. After serving as the Director of the Osaka Office and the General Manager of the Strategic Development Division, he became the General Manager of the Regional Development Division in 2017. He is building a regional ecosystem to create R&D-oriented ventures that will spread their wings to the world from research institutes in various regions by introducing the concept of "Tech Planter".