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Dr. Shinji Murai
Principle Fellow, Center for Research and
Development Strategy Director, Innovation Plaza Osaka Japan Science and Technology Agency
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"I am truly honored to have been appointed to the position of Chairman recently, and to be here with you today. I am determined to work closely with all of you to live up to your expectations and carry out our goals, and to ensure that our organization continues to be a dynamic one."
"The progress of chemical science and chemical technology is poised to reach an epoch-making turning point over the next few years."
"In the next two or three years, the population of Japan will reach its peak, from which point it will begin to decline. World oil production will also soon be peaking, and there is the possibility that it will drop for the first time in history. Similarly, supply of the world's elemental resources is set to peak and decline. The price of platinum, for instance, has already doubled since 1990.
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If as many fuel cells are used in various kinds of fuel cell-powered vehicles as projections indicate, there will be a shortage of the required platinum catalyst material."
"On the other hand, the technological aspect of chemistry has begun to expand at an unprecedented rate, and we will see the results of a vast array of new scientific developments with a time lag of several years. In fields closely related to chemistry such as physics and biology, various phenomena have now been explained in great detail due to the progression of chemistry over the past few years. Where IT and biotechnology are expounded in accurate detail, people start to use the language of chemistry, and this is the background to dramatic developments in measurement and analysis techniques. We are now able to explain things on the atomic level that we had never even seen before. Of course, chemistry itself is also reaching new levels, as seen in the shift from the abstract using formula, to illustrations, etc. Due to commonalities at the atomic level, the boundaries between chemistry and other disciplines has begun to fade. Chemistry, together with conventional physics and biology, is now progressing at an accelerated rate, and in this framework a number of revolutionary technologies, poised to bring ground-breaking innovation into the lives of people everywhere, are about to be developed."
"We are now coming upon a momentous turning point where we are witnessing both social change and scientific development the likes of which we have never seen before. There has been no precedent where both contraction and development occurred simultaneously, but this is what is happening at this moment. I believe this is a wonderful opportunity to take creativity in chemistry and chemical technology to new heights. We cannot be content to stay where we are in the comfortable position and community that we have enjoyed until now. Instead, I would like to see our members bravely search out new directions and move forward toward new challenges. Together with all of you, I want to create an array of systems where all members can proceed effectively and dynamically."
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