United Nations Academic Impact 2022 Activity Report

The GIGAKU SDG Network has been certified, upon application by NUT (Coordinating institution), as the UNITWIN Network for Engineering Education towards Sustainable Pathways. This network is composed of nine institutions in six countries, along with observer corporations, which have endorsed the principles of contributing to the SDGs and cultivating practical engineers; it promotes the development of engineering education and of research and technology fostering innovation contributing to society.

Mount Kenya University (Kenya) hosted its 2nd International Conference on Peace, Security, and Social Enterprise. This conference sought to bring together stakeholders in government and private sector with the aim of creating focus on best paradigms needed to entrench peace, security, socio-economic and political development. Dr. KATSUMI Mami UEA attended as a presenter, explaining NUT’s international industry-academia collaboration from the perspective of an SDG9 hub university, with engineering, safety, and sustainable development as keywords.

At the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Annual Meeting, UNAI SDGs hub universities were invited as panelists for a parallel session on “Advancing the SDGs Through Higher Education: The Case of the UN Academic Impact (UNAI)” included NUT (UNAI SDG9 hub) and De Montfort University (UNAI SDG16 hub) as well as UNAI member school University of California, Davis. In addition to an introduction of the unique NUT education and research activities based around SDG9, such as initiatives toward infrastructure building using resilient technology and our unique practical education, the presentation discussed our contribution to goals beyond SDG9 such as solving the water problem in developing countries.

For five days starting from September 12, the JSTS 2022 (Japan Seminar on Technology for Sustainability 2022) was held by the National Institute of Technology (KOSEN), a member of the GIGAKU SDG Network, along with NUT and Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT), on the topicof “the realization of a super-smart society and clean energy that leads to social happiness.” NUT faculty took part as lecturers, while NUT students served as facilitators.

Adult foreign students in the SDG Professional Course which constitutes NUT UNESCO Chair Program “GIGAKU SDG Institute,” received scholarships funded by donations (roughly 7.3 million JPY per year) to the Resona Bank Group’s private placement bonds. These scholarships make significant contributions to the expansion of opportunities for students from developing countries to receive advanced practical engineering education and SDGs education.

In agreement with the ideals of the UN International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD2022), which kicked off on June 30, NUT was registered as a supporter. As an IYBSSD supporter, NUT makes its campus and beyond aware, through holding events and providing information focused on the connection between the basic sciences and sustainable development, of “the high value for humankind of basic sciences” and the fact that “enhanced global awareness of, and increased education in, the basic sciences is vital to attain sustainable development and to improve the quality of life for people all over the world.”

In order to plan and carry out PR activities and events promoting the SDGs, NUT has a student organization composed of student SDGs promoters. In July, a diverse group of 26 students (13 foreign students and 13 Japanese students, with ages ranging from undergraduates to adult students) were assigned to be Term 3 student SDGs promoters. On April 18, the promoters held a workshop focusing on SDG12. They have also fostered a promising environment for SDGs promotion in the region through exhibiting SDGs booths at events on August 7 and October 30, planned by Mitsuke City and Nagaoka City respectively, holding a workshop at a broadcaster’s event on October 2, and so on.

On February 21, lectures on the SDGs were held jointly with the National Institute of Technology, Nagaoka College, covering topics such as what the SDGs are and what is needed to realize them in simple terms for citizens and corporations. There were over 120 participants. The main focus was on the “sustainable circulating society; in addition to the lecture by a guest speaker, a panel discussion including NUT faculty was held, addressing the status quo of the sustainable circulating society in Nagaoka City, its issues, and how to realize this society.

With corporate and NPO collaboration, the NUT Office for SDGs Promotion launched the “Iron Rebirth/Study Project” in order to create widespread awareness of the recycling of iron, a material that most are familiar with. The project began with a tour of a plant involved in iron recycling on April 10.

On July 30 and 31, a booth was exhibited at the SaDoGashima Science Project 2022, which is intended to encourage the children of Sado Island to learn about science. Through an experiment on submerged and restored breakers, the booth enabled visitors to understand more about knowledge and action related to the SDGs, flooding, and electricity.

Through regular appearances on a radio program from Niigata’s leading broadcasting station, the content presented in the “Column on Fostering with the SDGs” was introduced: the four columns presented included “Let’s eliminate those prejudices, fixed ideas, and biases,” “Changing the world through backcasting,” “Responsibilities— production, consumption, yours,” and “English: a tool for contributing to the SDGs.” Listeners raising children were provided with topics based on the SDGs as their children’s future, as well as lifestyle hints.

This project was adopted as “The Biocommunity Centre: A NIIGATA Circular Bioeconomy Initiative.” In order to resolve regional issues such as falling rice prices, the increasing age of farmers, and their lack of successors, we discussed a “what we want to be in ten years” with stakeholders including farmers, rice-processed food manufacturers, and others. After repeated discussions, we shared a vision of creating an environment where farmers can continue to grow rice stably, producing high-value-added products using the produced rice, and completely recycling the resources generated in the process. Based on this vision, we will promote research and development to continue to protect the “rice paddies” that are the treasures of the region, with an awareness of the connection between the entire region and the “rice paddies”.

Printing of sensors and devices is now a hot topic as a simple production method with low environmental load. Our research group is working on the fabrication of 3D metal microstructures using femtosecond laser reduction. This technology uses metal complexes and metal oxide nanoparticles as raw material ink, irradiating femtosecond laser pulses in the atmosphere to precipitate precipitate and sinter the metal. Therefore, unlike the multi-step semiconductor process combining lithography and vacuum deposition, metal patterns can be directly written in vacuum-free environments. The application of this process to various materials is expected to realize maskless production of devices in the shapes desired. (Lead researcher: Associate Professor MIZOSHIRI Mizue)

The purpose of this study is to propose guidelines to conduct strategical explorations in design space.

Based on the simulation of human–artifact interaction processes through the MHP/RT cognitive architecture, the guidelines are grouped into three levels: goal, mode, and process levels. Moreover, hints are provided for applying the proposed guidelines to narrow down the design space.

The state-of-the art cognitive architecture, Model Human Processor with Realtime Constraints (MHP/RT), developed by Kitajima and Toyota, defines these processes as autonomous systems and proposes a resonance mechanism between the PCM and memory processes. (Lead researcher: Specially Appointed Professor KITAJIMA Muneo)