Top>English>Rare Metal Workshop

Industrial Collaboration

Rare Metal Workshop

For over 20 years now, Dr. Toru H. Okabe has been consistently pursuing research on refining/recycling of “rare metals,” variously called “specialty metals” or “less-common metals.” He has expended considerable effort in developing new and environment-friendly recycling technologies for precious metals and for rare metals such as niobium, tantalum, tungsten, and rare-earth metals. He has also been keen on developing new technologies for processing future (or advanced) materials such as titanium, with the ultimate goal of realizing a processing technology that will transform rare metals into commonly available metals.

In 2002, Dr. Okabe established the “Rare Metal Workshop” (or Workshop on Rare Metals) as a part of the Special Research Group organized by the Foundation for the Promotion of Industrial Science (F.P.I.S), with the objective of facilitating collaboration between industry, government, and academia. Since its establishment, more than 55 workshops have been organized and conducted at the Institute of Industrial Science. The number of participants in each of this workshop in the recent years has been about 100 to 180, and a cumulative total of over 5000 people have participated over the span of 11 years, with most of the participants coming from industrial sectors.

　　　　 The activities of the “Rare Metal Workshop” act as an effective bridge between the industry and academia working in the field of non-ferrous metal production, and they also facilitate networking with the government and media. In addition, the workshop acts as one of the central body of information on rare metals and a fruitful meeting ground for industrial collaboration.

Japanese page