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Program Outline

天野 浩

天野 浩

Welcome to the DII Collaborative Graduate Program for Accelerating Innovation in Future Electronics. I am Professor Amano, the Program Coordinator.

Let me explain how this program was developed. When I gave a presentation in Silicon Valley in December 2017, explaining that the process from inventing blue LEDs to achieving innovation required 30 years, a prominent investor said, “Investors cannot wait as long as 30 years. 10 years is the limit.” His comment led me to think that if at that time when I was a student, I had had around me not only researchers, but also someone with excellent manufacturing technique and another with a flair for business, and had set up a business together, I may have been able to reduce the time required for that process to 10 years. This is how I came to consider launching this program.

I then visited many companies and engaged in one series of discussions after another regarding the ideal method of developing human resources at universities, and the sort of personnel companies need. I finally came to the conclusion that accumulating experiences while at a university would be most effective. While in the past many students started working after completing their master’s program, two years is indeed not sufficient to gain experience in development and practical application, in addition to research. Almost all the staff I met in charge of the companies I visited expressed keen interest in hiring graduates from doctoral programs who have a wealth of experience in carrying out R&D and commercializing inventions together with companies while in graduate school. Recognizing a need to fill a gap in students’ experience in starting up a business, we developed a program designed to produce Deployers, Innovators and Investigators, with the participation of entrepreneurial support companies.

There have been some programs that allow manufacturing companies to be involved in graduate education, as represented by Program X at Stanford University. However, ours is probably the world’s first program that forms a trinity including entrepreneurship. Furthermore, its aim is not merely to offer education but rather to provide a venue for students as leaders of the next generation to immediately implement the results of cutting-edge research in society in a bid to resolve various global issues. With mentors available to support Deployers, Innovators, and Investigators respectively in taking on challenges, we are confident that this is the best ever environment for actually experiencing research, development and practical application.

We hope that the DII Collaborative Graduate Program, the first program of its kind in the world, will help you carve out your own future and take on the challenges of contributing to the wider world.