Fireworks display at the closing Irago Conference Banquet
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2012
2012 Irago post-conference press release
Organised by the Electronics-Inspired Interdisciplinary Research Institute (EIIRIS) at Toyohashi University of Technology, The Irago Conference held last week (15 -16 November) in Aichi, Japan aimed to enhance mutual understanding between scientists, engineers and policy makers. Over 180 participants tackled topics ranging from energy and natural resources to public health and disaster prevention.
The 360-degree outlook of the conference impressed speakers and guests. “This conference has been extremely informative,” noted Robert Gellar from the University of Tokyo. “A unique conference with experts from a wide range of backgrounds,” agreed Uracha Ruktanonchai from the National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC) in Thailand.
Similarly, G.P. Li, Professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California Irvine commented that he had been “Able to think the unthinkable” as a broad range of topics came together. The conference was streamed live on Ustream to ensure researchers from across the world could benefit from thought provoking presentations examining global issues such as energy, disaster mitigation, and nanotechnology.
“This was wonderful,” said Oussama Khatib from Stanford University, “A good recipe of speakers from such a wide range of backgrounds.” 43 papers resulting from the conference have been submitted to the Journal of Physics Conference Series, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal.
In addition to the formal speaker program, graduate students session provided a platform for graduate students to describe their latest findings as oral presentations. A series of excursions to relevant locations, such as local of the Tahara megasolar region under construction and a local car manufacturing factory gave participants the opportunity to further consider practical applications of their research in industry.
The Irago Conference will be held again next year as researchers continue to develop solutions to the ever increasing environmental, social and technological challenges faced by people in the 21st Century.
For more information
E-mail: secretariat[at]apirc.jp
Telephone: 81-(0)-532-81-5133
Website: http://www.apirc.jp
Conference participants visiting Cape Irago. Researchers from India, Phillippines, Thailand, United Kingdom, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, United States and Sri Lanka attended the Irago conference
Among the 180 participants was Daniel E. Morse University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, who gave an invited talk on "Biologically inspired, nano-structured materials for energy and photonics".
