Shokumon Award 2013 was awarded to two laureates

Date of activity: October 8, 2013

Shokumon Award Ceremony 2013 was held at Ito International Research Center from 5:30pm to 7:00pm on October 8. The Shokumon Award recognizes and thanks individuals, corporations, and organizations that have made a major contribution to the growth of the University, either through private donations, volunteer work and support, or the establishment of endowed chairs and research centers.

This year’s laureates are Dr. Thomas Beck, Director of the Nestlé Research Center and Yoshiyuki Shinbori, President & CEO of the VeriServe Corporation. Dr. Fabrizio Arigoni, Head of Nestlé Research Center, Tokyo & Beijing, attended the ceremony on behalf of Director Beck.

The Nestlé Research Center established the Corporate Sponsored Research Program "Food for Life" in the Graduate school of Agricultural and Life Sciences in June 2009 and has promoted research on health promotion through foods, as well as human resource development in this area. The Program collaborates across many disciplines including the Graduate schools of Engineering, Medicine, Pharmaceutical Science, Science, and Frontier Sciences.

The VeriServe Corporation established the Corporate Sponsored Research Program “Healthcare Social System Engineering” in Graduate School of Engineering in July 2007. The Program has developed a system for the realization of medical quality, safety warranty, medical quality management , and sustainable growth of organization applying human factor engineering, system engineering, and social engineering approach for safety, peace of mind, and quality warranty. 4 hospitals are using their system.

The Shokumon Award was instituted in 2002. Recipients are chosen by an internal committee that has carefully reviewed the significance of the contributions, with current faculty members and students not eligible for the award. “Shokumon” is the name of the castle gate in the capital of the ancient Chinese state Qi during the civil war era (403-221 B.C.). Under King Wei and King Xuan, the state treated academics very well, which brought the best minds to the capital of Qi and lead to a flourishing of academic activities.