On Friday, June 13th, the judging session for the Monozukuri Grand Prix was held at our university's Open Innovation Center (OIC).
The Grand Prix's catchphrase is "It's no fun to do something that already exists. Let the professionals try their best.", and it involves using professional skills to bring never-before-seen, innovative ideas to life. This time, nine manufacturing companies in the prefecture that do not own their own products presented their product development ideas, and the judges evaluated their innovativeness.
The head of the judges was Mr. Tsutomu Nozaki, CEO of Smiles Co., Ltd., the founder of soup specialty store "Soup Stock Tokyo." Professor Minoru Shimizuof the Department of Department of Living Environment Design Faculty of Art and Design, joined the judges from our university and judged the entries from the perspectives of product design and communication design.
Each participating company presented an idea that they had spent about a year and a half refining, condensing it into a 3-minute presentation. They transformed their free-thinking ideas into exciting forms, and seriously promoted their practicality and social relevance. In between each company's presentation, there were moments when the participating company representatives actively exchanged opinions with each other, and we could see the birth of ideas that could lead to innovation.
In addition to the participating companies and judges, the venue was packed with students from our university who were interested in manufacturing and business plans, and it was a valuable opportunity to be inspired directly by professionals.
This event was held on a trial basis as the "0th" event. From next year, Chikuho Bank and our university will join in as co-hosts, aiming to hold an event on a larger scale.
In the future, the Shimizu Minoru Laboratory will continue to promote activities related to manufacturing for companies and students.
[Faculty of Art and Design / Industry-Academia Co-innovation and Research Promotion Headquarters /OIC]
