Ontario Tech University Hosts Seventh Annual Chemistry Symposium With Kyutech

Ontario Tech University hosted the seventh annual Kyutech-Ontario Tech Symposium in Chemistry at the Faculty of Science in late September, according to the university. Faculty and students from Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) in Japan, Ontario Tech, Khon Kaen University in Thailand, and the University of Tokyo participated over two days. Ontario Tech reports that five professors from Japan presented at the event, with keynote lectures from Professor Hiroyuki Isobe of the University of Tokyo and Professor Teruhisa Ohno of Kyutech.

The symposium is part of an ongoing partnership between Ontario Tech and Kyutech that began in 2016, according to the university. Ontario Tech describes the event as an opportunity for discussions and planning of international research collaborations between faculty and students.

Ontario Tech reports that seven members of its community traveled to Japan in fall 2023 for the previous symposium held at Kyutech. This past summer, Ashley Gedge, a Master of Science graduate student in Applied Bioscience, spent ten weeks in Japan for research in laboratories led by Professor Masaaki Kitajima at the University of Tokyo and Professor Toshinari Maeda at Kyutech. Ontario Tech states that Gedge’s exchange was funded by the MITACS-Japan Society for the Promotion of Science summer program.

Dr. Jean-Paul Desaulniers, Professor in the Faculty of Science and leader of the exchange program, said that maintaining the annual symposium is important for ongoing research collaboration with Kyutech. Gedge stated that during her MITACS-JSPS exchange, she collaborated with researchers in Japan and shared research findings at the symposium. Dr. Les Jacobs, Vice-President of Research and Innovation at Ontario Tech, said the partnership is creating opportunities for students and faculty, according to the university.