“Advanced Body Mechanics” [Nov. 6, 2021]
-DATE- Saturday, November 6, 2021, 10:00am – 2:30pm (EDT)
-VENUE- Virtual (Zoom meeting)
The 6th Japan-US Science Forum in Boston was held online on Saturday, November 6, 2021. This forum was inaugurated in 2016, aiming to create an interdisciplinary meeting opportunity that stimulates collaborations between researchers to solve worldwide problems.
This year, about 100 participants gathered online from Boston, other areas of the US, and also from Japan who were mainly from universities and research institutions.
Following the opening remarks by Dr. Kohji HIRATA (Director of JSPS Washington Office), Mr. Setsuo OHMORI, Consul General of Japan in Boston, Dr. Takeya ADACHI, President of UJA, and Dr. Mark C. ELLIOTT, Vice Provost of Harvard University gave congratulatory remarks.
Kohji Hirata
(Director, JSPS Washington Office) | 
Setsuo Ohmori
(Consul General of Japan in Boston) |
Takeya Adachi
(President, UJA) | 
Mark C. Elliott
(Vice Provost, Harvard University) |
In the lecture session with the topic of “Advanced Body Mechanics”, Professor Yasuo KUNIYOSHI, The University of Tokyo, WPI- IRCN offered a presentation from Japan titled “Behavior and Cognition Emerge and Develop from Embodiment.”
The next lecture titled “Supernumerary Robotic Limbs and Their Impact upon the Human“ was made by Professor Haruhiko Harry ASADA, MIT from Boston.
In the discussion which followed, Professor Takao K. HENSCH, Harvard University, WPI-IRCN acted as moderator. The cutting-edge topics of “Advanced Body Mechanics” were discussed. They also enjoyed live questions posted by virtual participants via the “Slido” system after the discussions.
 | < Lecture 1 > Yasuo Kuniyoshi Professor, The University of Tokyo, WPI-IRCN “Behavior and Cognition Emerge and Develop from Embodiment” |
 | < Lecture 2> Haruhiko Harry Asada Ford Professor of Engineering, MIT “Supernumerary Robotic Limbs and Their Impact upon the Human“ |
 | Moderator: Takao K. Hensch Professor, Harvard University, WPI-IRCN |
Then, the 24 researchers of all disciplines explained their research with a slide each, within three minutes to a general audience. The reviewers judged the presentations as a contest, bestowing special awards upon three of the presenters. The selection criteria were 1. Scientific impact, 2. Accessibility to all audiences, and 3. Well-designed slides.
- Dr. Taku KAMBAYASHI, University of Pennsylvania for the presentation titled, “Losing body fat by throwing lipids out on the skin”
- Dr. Christopher Yee WONG, University of Sherbrooke/ Concordia University for the presentation titled, “Towards safe and intuitive physical human-robot interaction: Using touch and gaze to determine intention during manipulation”
- Dr. Tomoko BELL, Water and Environmental Research Institute, University of Guam for the presentation titled, “Possible effects of cosmic rays on COVID-19: link among Sun, Earth, virus mutation and spread”
In the last session, the participants were divided into groups using the breakout room system in Zoom and had a 15-minute session thrice. They introduced each other and had conversations freely.
This forum was organized by JSPS Washington Office, Consulate-General of Japan in Boston, and UJA, supported by Conte Center at Harvard, WPI-IRCN, WPI, US, and Canada JSPS Alumni Association, and sponsored by Amnet, Fujifilm, Terra Foods, and Safusake.
