The 5th anniversary issue commemorates ISAJ's decade of success with a comprehensive review of all 10 annual symposiums, presents breakthrough research on plasma-assisted graphene nanocomposite synthesis, and explores convergence opportunities between India's Start-Up India and Japan's Society 5.0 initiatives.
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Below you'll find condensed summaries from our newsletter articles. To explore complete research details, figures, and references, view the full newsletter.
Greetings and a warm welcome to the first issue of ISAJ Newsletter for 2020! We take this opportunity to wish you a healthy life and hope that you are taking all necessary precautions amid COVID-19 pandemic.
It is our pleasure to inform you that the ISAJ newsletter has marked its 5th anniversary this year. On behalf of ISAJ, we, the editorial team of the newsletter, would like to sincerely thank you all our readers for your support and cooperation, which has been instrumental in pursuing our goal to keep the ISAJ community informed of ISAJ activities and to offer substantial information on the achievements of its community members.
In this special issue, we present an activity report, “Journey So Far,” dealing with all ten annual symposia which ISAJ organized since its formation in 2009, to provide historical perspective. We also present our conversation with Dr. Alok Singh, Vice Chairman, ISAJ, to understand his perspective on the organization’s evolution and potential for future growth.
Formally inaugurated in 2009, ISAJ is now over ten years old and held its 10th annual symposium on science and technology last year. On reaching this milestone, it is time to look back on those ten years.
The annual symposium has been the most important annual event of ISAJ. Prominent professors and scientists from all disciplines of science and technology are invited to talk about the current state of knowledge, and young researchers present their recent work in oral as well as poster sessions. Participation is open to Indian and Japanese researchers, as well as of any other nationality working in Japan.
The poster session is the liveliest part of the symposium, showcasing the latest research by young researchers in Japan. There are awards for the best poster presentations. Abstracts of all presentations are published in an abstracts book distributed to all participants and made available for download from the ISAJ website.
1st Symposium (2010): “India-Japan Symposium on Emerging Technologies”
2nd Symposium (2011): “Global Challenges in Health and Environment”
3rd Symposium (2012): “Frontiers in Science & Technology”
4th-6th Symposiums (2013-2015): Evolution of themes from “Emerging Materials” to “Recent Advances in Science and Technology”
7th Symposium (2016): “Science and Technology for Sustainability”
8th Symposium (2017): “Bridging Nature and Technology”
9th Symposium (2018): First time in Tsukuba Science City
10th Symposium (2019): First time in Kansai region (Osaka)
Chief Researcher, NIMS, Tsukuba
“In 2008, the then S&T counselor Dr. Pankajakshan took the initiative to form this association and invited some of us living in and around Tokyo for brainstorming sessions at his home many times. In those sessions, ISAJ was conceived, structured, and formally inaugurated by Prof. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India on January 19, 2009.”
“All these years are a wonderful memory now. The various times and situations, various people we worked with while organizing the annual symposium. We have come a long way, learning, correcting our course, and changing with the situation. We made contact and were honored by many academics in Japan by their talks in the symposium.”
Financial Constraints: “We had conceived the association to be membership subscription-based. It did not work out that way. For the first several years, executive members contributed 50,000 Yen each by becoming life members, which made us survive during a critical period.”
Participation Constraints: “We realized that our community members could not participate just by their own motivation. They need permission from their supervisors. Therefore, we started approaching university professors and research institute researchers directly.”
“Our symposium is our biggest showcase, where our community comes together to show what research we are doing in Japan. We are all working in very diverse fields and with various educational backgrounds. That makes a significant impact on government agencies and educational communities.”
“Follow your passion and dreams and take life as it comes, because the new world offers many more opportunities for all kinds of talents. Immerse yourselves in the culture of Japan. Examine critically the work culture, the ethical values, the governance, place of religion in society, how to conduct ourselves during a disaster.”
By Dr. Ranjit R. Borude, Nagoya University
Tin oxide (SnO₂) nanoparticles (SNp) are widely used for gas sensing and as electrodes for lithium-ion batteries but have issues with high-temperature requirements and pulverization. The incorporation of graphene nanosheets (GNs) with SnO₂ overcomes these issues.
We developed a one-step synthesis process using in-liquid plasma method:
The developed synthesis route is facile and low-cost, offering significant advantages over traditional methods requiring low pressure and high temperature.
By Dr. Saichandrateja Radhapuram, KIOXIA Corporation
Society 5.0 is a human-centered society achieving both economic development and solution of social issues through highly integrated system of cyber space and physical space. Its elements include:
Negotiation Front: Indians need to be upfront about being global leader in providing software solutions, capitalizing on technical manpower availability - a solution for Japan’s aging population challenge.
Legal Front: Need for special policy on export control regulations understanding between India and Japan, similar to Bilateral Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme.
Technology Front Solutions:
“Indian Jugaad and Japan’s meticulously detail-oriented mindset would foster innovation which would address the issues of the world.”
The 10th annual ISAJ Symposium “Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Innovations for Sustainable Society” was held on December 9, 2019, at Osaka University Hall, commemorating ISAJ’s 10th Anniversary.
The COVID-19 pandemic has intervened in 2020, but it comes as an opportunity to organize this year’s symposium on the web, which will remove physical distances. ISAJ hopes to organize symposiums in both Kanto (Tokyo) and Kansai regions every year, with younger generation taking things to newer heights.
Access the full newsletter with detailed research, figures, and references.
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Newsletter Details
Volume 5, Issue 1
September 2020
Dr. Mahendra Kumar Pal
National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED)
Dr. Swapnil Ghodke
Nagoya University
Features research on aquatic bacterial disease prevention using affinity silk filters, IgM-specific antibodies in Medaka for vaccine development, and ISAJ 16th Symposium announcement
Features India-Japan STI Exchange Year, nonlinear optical phenomena in quantum materials, Inconel 718 fatigue modeling, and ISAJ Hokkaido Symposium 2024
Features discovery of SMS inhibitors for fatty liver disease, HAMR magnetic storage technology, and 15th ISAJ Annual Symposium report