We carried out R&D in order to dramatically facilitate cell culture for clinical use, the difficulty of which had been a major hurdle in adapting basic research to clinical applications of cell therapy and regenerative medicine. The world’s first robotized cell culture system (MDX) was developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., and the systems were installed in Shinshu University and AIST. Based on the technologies of the MDX system, we developed a novel cell culture system R-CPX (Robotized-Cell Processing eXpert system) which can produce high quality medical cell products. This system does not need to be placed in a CPC (cell processing center), which is expensive to construct and difficult to manage. We aimed to realize rapid progress of various cell therapies and production of medical cell products of global standard quality.

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Because the refrigerants currently used in air-conditioners have high global-warming-potentials (GWP), substances with lower GWPs, such as R-1234yf, are considered to be candidates for next-generation refrigerants. However, low-GWP substances often have comparatively high chemical reactivity and may carry increased risks of combustibility, toxicity, generation of degraded products, and increased CO₂ emission caused by poor energy-saving performance. Therefore, a possible risk trade-off exists between currently used refrigerants and those with low-GWPs. In this research, I proposed a framework for evaluating this trade-off in the following five categories: (1) environmental characteristics; (2) combustion characteristics; (3) toxicity; (4) volume of greenhouse gas emissions; and (5) applicability to air-conditioning equipment. I then selected substances well suited as next-generation refrigerants in accordance with a specific screening process. I showed the importance of clearly specifying the combination of a number of end points and assessment criteria in the process of decision-making based on risk trade-off. This method yielded a rapid understanding of the necessary data, as well as flexible decision-making that is relevant to social conditions.

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The Relational Information System for Chemical Accidents Database (RISCAD) was developed and operates using data collected from the aftermath of fire, explosion, and leakage accidents related to chemical substances, chemical processes, high-pressure gas, and explosives. In RISCAD, some of the accident data are linked to the “Accident Progress FlowChart” (APFC), which shows the timeline and the cause analysis of each accident. In order to create these APFCs, an accident analysis called “Progress Flow Analysis” (PFA) is conducted. This analysis method is also useful for increasing company safety awareness. In this paper, the outline and development process of RISCAD are introduced, and the procedures and application related to PFA industrial safety are reported.

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Energy storage devices now require rapid charge/discharge performance, not only high storage capacity for convenient and energy efficient devices. Research and development of rapid charge/discharge storage devices are carried out in an interdisciplinary field of nanotechnology and device manufacturing, where the scope of research is very different in size and scale. This R&D is an interesting subject from the viewpoint of synthesiology, because the keys to device manufacturing are selection and combination of element technologies. In this paper, approaches and methods employed in the R&D of high performance capacitors are introduced from the discovery of innovative materials to device manufacturing, by citing examples carried out in research projects under industry-academia-government collaboration.

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Most of the natural metal resources supporting manufacturing in Japan are imported from foreign countries. In recent years, the need for a stable supply has become a serious ongoing concern in the face of sudden price increases and unfavorable export regulations. Urban mining offers a promising means of utilizing domestic resources in order to minimize this risk. However, because the degree of integration of metals, including rare metals, in manufactured products is not necessarily high, the use of physical separation technology which can concentrate such metals and minimize costs is indispensable. Especially given the lack of experience in recovering certain types of rare metal elements from waste products, innovative separation technologies are needed. In this report, I introduce techniques for achieving rare metal recycling through innovations in physical separation, and present a plan for 'strategic urban mining,' based on physical separation technology and aimed at domestic circulation of metal resources.

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The Graduate School of System Design and Management, Keio University was established in 2008. This school aims to create a comprehensive and integrated discipline that offers creative solutions to various issues in our society. Since their way of thinking is instructive for Synthesiology, a journal that seeks synthetic methodology for disseminating the research results into society, we discussed some common interests and ways of collaboration in the future.

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