In the 2012 academic year, the results of our continued efforts so far to obtain external funding can be seen, and both the number of externally-funded research cases and the amount of funding increased. Joint research cases increased from 64 (19,794,000 yen) in the previous year to 73 (16,128,000 yen) in 2012, and funded research, etc., went from 26 cases (86,885,000 yen) to 37 cases (113,946,000 yen).

　We have also been promoting the Wakate Younger Researchers Step-up Research Fund, established in 2011, while working to streamline selections. In the 2012 academic year, 19 people were selected for grants. Various efforts to contribute to the vitality of the region are being promoted such as the training of engineers and joint research by industry and academia using the MEXT selected “Center for the Development of Next Generation Mobility Technology that is Friendly to the Environment and the Local Community” program (with grants of about 50 million yen approved for the period of 2012-2016).

　Furthermore, in the 2012 academic year we conducted 37 extension lectures at the Takizawa campus and the Aiina campus (located at the west entrance of Morioka Station), as well as in coastal regions such as Miyako and Kamaishi, in order to share research results with the citizens of Iwate. A total of 2,469 people attended the lectures.

　The Iwate Monozukuri and Software Integration Technology Center (i-MOS) was established on April 1, 2011 with the aim of integrating the manufacturing industries’ base of software and hardware technology. Besides the 33 cases of joint research carried out so far with businesses using university research funding, there has also been research utilizing external funding such as A-STEP and the use of facilities and equipment for independent product development by companies.

　 The following 9 cases were selected as research topics of the Iwate Monozukuri and Software Integration Technology Center (i-MOS) for the 2013 academic year.

　In collaboration with Iwate’s industry, academia, government and financial institutions, Iwate Prefectural University has started taking steps, through the Regional Innovation Strategy Program adopted in 2012 (MEXT project), aimed at the development of region where the automotive manufacturing industry has an eye to the future and will achieve sustainable innovation.

　 At Iwate Prefectural University, we are making efforts to maximize our potential such as inviting researchers from other regions and carrying out research and development on next-generation mobility. We are also working on the development of technologies with the cooperative efforts of our teaching staff.

　 Moreover, with the placement of coordinators, we are maintaining a system that supports and accelerates the new technological developments of next-generation mobility, and advancing the deployment of our research and development results in local businesses.

　 Furthermore, in order to systematically train engineers with knowledge of both manufacturing and software, we are implementing an advanced engineering training program for engineers and students and initiating human resources development.

　 Through this and other programs at Iwate Prefectural University, we are actively supporting reconstruction by promoting industry.

　At Iwate Prefectural University, where one of our fundamental aims is “practical science and practice-oriented education and research”, we have set up the Regional Policy Research Center in order to further reinforce think-tank functionality for citizens. Confronting the needs and challenges of the people of Iwate from a regional point of view, researchers from a variety of disciplines have been conducting research to resolve local issues in collaboration with local governments as well as NPOs and businesses.

● Local Community Proposition Type (First Term)

　Iwate Prefectural University, having researchers in a variety of disciplines, receives proposals on the challenges facing local groups (public bodies such as prefectural and municipal governments, community organizations, NPOs, businesses and so on) regarding regional issues in the prefecture, and then carries out joint research through matching with our researchers. Leveraging the results obtained through this research, proposers can expect programs (investigations and research) that are more directly connected to the local area by linking activities and efforts that are aimed at solving specific problems. In the first term of the 2013 academic year, 13 cases were selected.

●Faculty Proposition Type (First Term)

　Targeting joint research carried out with local organizations, (public bodies such as prefectural and municipal governments, community organizations, NPOs, businesses and so on), our faculty members (researchers) carry out research they propose themselves in response to local needs. Having integrated “earthquake disaster reconstruction research” into “regional cooperative research (Faculty Proposition Type)” in the 2011 and 2012 academic years, from the 2013 academic year we will focus on recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

　 In the first term of the 2013 academic year, we selected eight research issues in earthquake disaster recovery and seven general issues.

　In response to the extensive damage caused by the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami and the environmental changes that accompanied it, the faculty and students of Iwate Prefectural University continue to support disaster recovery and reconstruction efforts.

　 Iwate Prefectural University has opened two support offices as bases for carrying out activities in support of reconstruction in the coastal regions: the Iwate Prefectural University Taro Reconstruction Support Office at the Taro General Office in Miyako in December 2012 and the Iwate Prefectural University Kamaishi Reconstruction Support Office at the Kamaishi-Ofunato Industrial Training Center in Hirata, Kamaishi in May 2013. These experimental base stations, whose information and telecommunications infrastructure stays connected even during a large-scale disaster, not only secure satellite information transmission links, but also serve as bases for faculty members’ research activities and support of reconstruction efforts in the field, students volunteer activities, and so on.

　 Since the 2011 establishment of the Disaster Reconstruction Support Center, a reconstruction support institution of Iwate Prefectural University, we continue provide many kinds of support, such as obtaining volunteer insurance, assistance with expenses, loans of necessary goods, etc., for the voluntary reconstruction support activities of our faculty and students. We operated a volunteer bus eight times in 2012, and carried out reconstruction support activities in cooperation with Ohio University.

　 With Iwate Prefectural University taking the lead, the Iwate Higher Education Consortium, a collaboration between five universities in the prefecture offering joint classes on the study of “Iwate”, implemented a program with the theme “Considering the reconstruction of Iwate: Getting to know Iwate in Sanriku and Hiraizumi” in the 2012 academic year. Through classes held 15 times each in the first and second terms, we deepened students’ learning about the prefecture’s reconstruction and its attractions.

　 While collaborating with local regions on activities to support areas affected by the disaster, we are also focusing on reconstruction education, and will continue to offer support that leads to a better future.