Hiroshi Komiyama

Hiroshi KOMIYAMA

Advocate and Senior Advisor to Future Design Center
Chairman Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc.
Former President, The University of Tokyo. 

1972 obtained a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Tokyo. After working as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of California, Davis, and as Professor in the Engineering Faculty and Vice-President at the University of Tokyo became the 28th President of the University of Tokyo from 2005 to 2009.

 

Message from Host

“This award for promoting Asian entrepreneurs must steadily continue into the future to help build a magnificent twenty-first century.” This is the conviction I gained as I witnessed the audience of enthusiastic entrepreneurs representing various countries on the final day of the inaugural Asian Entrepreneurship Award conference held in May 2012. That event was a gathering of promising young entrepreneurs from Asia who were determined to take on the challenge of changing society without any fear of taking risks. Whether they won an award or not, they expressed their strong aspirations and a sense of fulfillment.
While Japan has taken place in the Asian economy for the past 50 years, it now faces mounting issues in our present era. Precisely for that reason, we must give recognition to entrepreneurs who are striving to find solutions to such issues—beyond national borders—and actively promote the growth of new industries.
Future Design Center was established in July 2009 for the purpose of bringing together the most advanced knowledge and technological expertise from Japan and around the world to propose advanced models for solving serious problems. This comes from our understanding that the various problems we are confronting in Japan, such as environmental degradation, lack of resources, food dependency, health problems and educational issues, are all common problems that must be dealt with in every part of the world.

In fields related to the mission of Future Design Center, including the environment and resources, food, agriculture, medicine and education, entrepreneurs have the foresight to identify the latest emerging needs, and the ambition and skill to act on them. Their innovations can be vital for breaking through social stagnation and overcoming crises.
Future Design Center is based at Kashiwanoha Campus area in Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture. By utilizing the numerous universities and incubation facilities located in Kashiwanoha Campus area, the public, private, and academic sectors are working closely together to make it a highly advanced urban area, creating an environment conducive for promoting new models that go beyond conventional frameworks and facilitating innovation.
Kashiwanoha Campus serves as the stage for the Asian Entrepreneurship Award. I sincerely hope that this award help young entrepreneurs gain the courage and self-confidence they need to take on leading roles in the Asian economy going forward.