Compulsory elective courses/Intensive Course
“Case Study (Project Based Learning on the Technological Innovation and the Social Solutions) ” (5140741)

[Course Overview] In this course, students from multidisciplinary backgrounds collaboratively develop innovative, tech-driven solutions to complex societal problems. The course provides opportunities for students to interact with expert clients who present them with a problem or challenge that needs to be addressed and to practice working effectively in a multidisciplinary team. Students are asked to make hard choices to produce a thoughtful solution, which requires careful problem identification and the assessment of alternative options.

Classroom：Online

Guest Lecturers (Expert Clients):

Kenji Shibuya, MD, DrPH
Research Director, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research

Dr. Kenji Shibuya is currently Research Director, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, Managing Director, Soma COVID Vaccination Medical Center in Soma City, Fukushima, and Venture Partner of Eight Roads Ventures Japan. He was previously Professor and Director of the University Institute for Population Health at King’s College London. Before joining Kings, he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Health at the University of Tokyo. His expertise ranges across important topics in global and population health including health metrics and evaluation; global burden of disease; health system performance; product and system innovations; public-private partnerships; and R&D strategies. Dr. Shibuya has been an advisor to both central and local governments, and most recently he was Special Advisor to the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a pandemic vaccine fund, investing in COVID-19 vaccines. He spearheaded the future strategic directions of the Japanese global health policy agenda at the Hokkaido Toyako G8 Summit in 2008 on health system strengthening and Ise-Shima G7 Summit in 2016 on global health security. He obtained his MD at the University of Tokyo and earned a doctorate of public health in international health economics at Harvard University.

KE Seetha Ram

Joined Asian Development Bank Institute as a senior consulting specialist for capacity building and training projects in June 2017.
He is concurrently visiting professor at the Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo, Japan, and special advisor to East Japan Railways Company (JR East) for India High Speed Rail. Between 2013-2017, Seetha acted as the focal point for ADB-wide knowledge management, working to spur innovative solutions to the varied development challenges in Asia. From 2008 and 2012, Seetha was on secondment to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, as ADB visiting professor and founding director of the Institute of Water Policy and NUS-Global Asia Institute. Prior to joining ADB he worked as an expert in Japan on project finding, formulation, management, and technology transfer in about 30 official development assistance projects funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation in more than 10 Asian and African countries. Seetha has published numerous books, contributed to edited volumes, and refereed papers on water-related issues, including sanitation, water management, and climate change.

Robin Lewis

Robin is an award-winning social entrepreneur and educator based in Japan. He is the Co-founder of mymizu, a global platform to reduce plastic waste through the power of technology and community. He is also the Representative Director of Social Innovation Japan, a platform for social good focusing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), named by Nikkei as one of the ‘100 companies building the future of Japan’ and a two-time winner of Japan’s ‘Minister of Environment Prize’. For 10+ years, Robin has worked with social enterprises, NGOs and inter-governmental organisations, including the World Bank and UNDP, and has managed sustainable development projects around the world, including in Japan, Haiti, Vanuatu and Mozambique. In 2022, he took on a sponsored expedition to walk 1,000+kms along Japan’s coastline to document the changing landscapes since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis and promote tourism to the disaster-affected area. In 2020, he was recognised by M.I.T. Technology Review’s ‘Innovators Under-35’ Awards and in 2022, won Business Insider Japan’s ‘Beyond Millennials’ Award. He holds Board Member positions at Shibuya QWS and Youth4Nature, and graduated with an M.A. in International Business from the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Shinichi TAKATA
Advisor to the Director/J-SPARC Producer
Business Development and Industrial Relations Department
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Shinichi Takata was engaged in rocket engine development and system integration of the H-IIA launch vehicle (2001-2005), development and operation of the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) (2005-2014), and international coordination of the International Space Station (ISS) program in Houston (2014-2017).
After returning to Japan, he launched the J-SPARC (JAXA Space Innovation through Partnership and Co-creation) program and is promoting multiple value co-creation activities aimed at improving JAXA’s R&D capabilities and creating new private businesses.
Shinichi Takata is also a Co-Founder and Director of Space Port Japan Association.
He wrote a titled “Research of Turbo-fan/Ramjet Combined Cycled Engine” and has a Master’s Degree from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Tokyo. He also has a Bachelor from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Tokyo.