News
2023/12/14
The 4th Academic Entrepreneurs' Cafe - Overcoming Hard Things - was held!
On Wednesday, December 13, 2023, the 4th Academic Entrepreneurs’ Cafe – Overcoming Hard Things – was held at the CIC (Campus Innovation Center) of Tokyo Tech’s Tamachi Campus.
Students and researchers from GTIE participating universities, GTIE partner institutions, and other supporters gathered at the venue for a lively Q&A session.
The Academic Entrepreneurs’ Café was launched as a series of events to provide an opportunity to casually interact with researchers and their supporters who are challenging start-ups to implement their research results in society.
This fourth event, titled “Overcoming Hard Things,” welcomed two guests who have made their careers as entrepreneurs and researchers.
The first guest was Professor Noritaka Miki, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University.
Based on micro/nano engineering, Dr. Miki has been engaged in applied research in medicine and ICT, and is actively working on social implementation of research results, such as founding LTaste Inc. in May 2017, which realizes a new type of salt reduction.
He has particular experience in facing the difficulties of research themes in the life science field and the aspect of connecting needs to business.
The second speaker is Mr. Yoon Woo-geun Yun, currently Corporate VP (Managing Director), Samsung Electronics Co.
Mr. Yun is the world’s leading expert on robotic arms and was a senior researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), where he founded Life Robotics, Inc.
He was involved in the sale of the company to Fanuc and the management of several startups, and is currently engaged in robot development as a managing director at Samsung Electronics.
They talked about the difficulties of creating businesses in the Deep Tech field, the learning that comes after such difficulties, and the formation of an ecosystem that supports researchers who challenge new entrepreneurial ventures by increasing the number of entrepreneurial researchers with such experience. The meeting was filled with messages that are very important for all players in the ecosystem.
The second half of the meeting was not conducted in the usual panel discussion format, but focused on dialogue with the audience. The participants from different perspectives, including researchers, students, VCs, and practitioners conducting entrepreneurship education, responded to questions with passionate words from the two panelists, and a discussion that got to the heart of the matter unfolded.
A video of the talk session will be available online at a later date. If you were unfortunately unable to attend this year’s event and would like to listen to the talk in detail again, please watch the video!
Finally, we would like to thank everyone involved in GTIE and the speakers for their efforts in organizing the event, the researchers who provided valuable input in the planning stages, and everyone who helped make this event possible.
*For more information on the event, click here.
[Date ]December 13th (Wednesday), 15:00-17:00 (doors open at 14:45)
[Venue ] International Conference Room, 1F, Tamachi Campus, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2 minutes walk from Tamachi Station
[Target ] Medical professionals, students, young researchers, teachers, and other professionals who are interested in researchers challenging startups.
[ Guest ]
Mr. Yoon Woo-geun Yun
Corporate VP (Managing Director), Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd.
Robotics researcher, entrepreneur, investor.
Born in Hyogo, Japan. D. in Engineering from Tohoku University.
Engaged in robotics research for about 25 years, focusing on manipulation technology.
After working as an assistant at Tohoku University and a senior researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), founded Life Robotics, an AIST-launched venture in 2007, selling the elbow-less collaborative robot CORO since 2016.
Fanuc acquired the company in 2018 and made it a wholly owned subsidiary.
Returned to AIST when his term as CEO & CTO expired.
At AIST, he also serves as a board member of Mercurial R4D and a part-time lecturer at Tokyo University of Science, among many other positions.
In 2021, he moved to Samsung Electronics in Korea and became Managing Director (Corporate VP).
In the DX division Global Technology Research, he is mainly engaged in the development of robots for production plants.
Noritaka Miki
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University
D. in Mechanical and Information Engineering from the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo in 2001. D. in Mechanical and Information Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 2001.
After working as a post-doctoral researcher and research engineer in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he has been a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University since 2017.
Based on micro/nano engineering, he is carrying out research on applications in medicine and ICT.
Founded LTaste Inc. in May 2017, which realizes a new type of salt reduction, and was the 1st winning team of the Health Medical Venture Award hosted by Keio University in 2016.
Special Prize in the 2020 Next Generation Leader Business Plan Contest for the Artificial Kidney Development Project.
He is also a representative of the Keio Program of GTIE and organizes the Keio Entrepreneurship Salon, and is making efforts in entrepreneurship education and internationalization as the chairman of the International Exchange Committee of Keio University’s Faculty of Science and Technology.
*Moderator Nao Hosokawa
D., Specially Appointed Associate Professor, Innovation Design Organization, Tokyo Institute of Technology
[Agenda ]
Part 1: Talks and Panel Discussion by Guests 15:00-16:30
Part 2: Opinion exchange with the audience 16:30-17:00
(For reference)
Digest video of the 1st Academic Entrepreneurs’ Cafe Event Report
Digest video of the 2nd Academic Entrepreneurs’ Cafe Event Report
Digest Video of the 3rd Academic Entrepreneurs’ Cafe Event Report