Report: Over 160 participants attend the Irago Conference 2015 at Cape Irago, Aichi Prefecture
November 17, 2015
Organized jointly by the Electronics-Inspired Interdisciplinary Research Institute (EIIRIS), Toyohashi University of Technology and the University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, the Irago Conference 2015 was held 22-23 October 2015 at Irago Aichi.
The goal of the Irago Conference (Interdisciplinary Research And Global Outlook) is to enhance mutual understanding between scientists, engineers and policy makers. Now in its fifth year, the conference attracted 160 participants (of whom approximately half were graduate students) who shared their research findings in areas ranging from earthquake prediction and generation ultrashort laser pulses, to monitoring public health and the prevention of contagious diseases in mega-cities.
The 360-degree outlook of the conference impressed invited speakers and guests. “This conference has been extremely informative for both veterans and grad students,” noted Makoto Ishida from Toyohashi Tech. “A unique conference with experts from a wide range of backgrounds,” noted Justin Llandro from the University of Cambridge.
- Graduate students discussing their research at the poster session.
- Oral presentation session.
In addition to the invited speakers and poster sessions, the special lunch session provided a platform for graduate students to describe their latest findings as short five minute oral presentations to all the participants at the conference. The members of the audience were asked to vote for the most impressive student speaker who received the ‘Best Presentation Award’. This year’s recipient was a graduate student from UEC.
The highlight of the conference banquet was the ‘Tezutsu Hanabi’ (hand-held fireworks) display held on the beach of the conference hotel.
In order to share and disseminate the information from the wide ranging presentations, refereed paper from the conference are published as the Irago Conference proceedings in the AIP Conference Series.Make a note, Irago Conference 2016 will be held at UEC Tokyo in October/November 2016.
- Group photograph of the participants at Irago Conference 2015.
- Irago fireworks: ‘Tezutsu hanabi’ (hand held firework) held during the banquet.
About the Irago Conference series
The Irago Conference was launched in 2011 and is a unique conference combining thought provoking insights into global issues including disaster mitigation, neuroscience, public health monitoring, and nanotechnology by internationally renowned invited speakers with selected talks, posters, and demonstrations from academics, industrialists, and think tanks. The conference is truly a ‘360 degree outlook on critical scientific and technological challenges’ facing mankind.
Recent changes in global economics and industrial priorities, environmental and energy policies, food production and population movements have produced formidable challenges that must be addressed for sustaining life on earth.
The Irago Conference highlights the major issues by bringing together experts from across the world who will give their views on key areas such as energy and natural resources, medicine and public health, disaster prevention and management, as well as other advances in science, technology and life sciences.