2019 Masao Horiba Awards now accepting Applications

|   Press Release

The 2019 Masao Horiba Awards have started to accept applications on February 18th. Now in its 16th iteration, HORIBA, Ltd. started this annual research promotion award in 2003. This year’s theme is “Advanced analytical and measurement technologies for efficient control system to maximize the performance of electric power and batteries usage".

Under a changing theme every year, the awards entice large numbers of researchers to submit applications, from which 3 will be eventually selected as winners. Through this award, we hope to support future leaders conducting innovative and unique research, and to further advance the development of analytical and measurement technology. We hope that this year’s applicants will be proactive researchers and engineers who pursue their work while following our company motto of “Joy and Fun”.

<This Year’s Application Target>

"Advanced analytical and measurement technologies for efficient control system to maximize the performance of electric power and batteries usage", which will contribute to energy management in the coming decades.

Technology field 1: New measurement technologies that will attain the unified control over the mechanical, electrical, and chemical sections of the energy supply system, which will contribute to the effective and robust controls of electric vehicles and grid power supply. The proposed method is expected to include the following technological aspects: 

-New measurement methods to visualize an internal state of a battery as it is being used.
-New monitoring technologies for an entire electric power system from a bird’s eye view to enable predicting power demand.
-New statistical methods to identify appropriate monitoring points within the energy network that represent the behavior of the whole system.

Technology field 2: New analytical methods utilizing data science that will contribute to a range of energy management applications in future, such as effective and robust controls of a grid power supply including electric vehicles. The proposed method is expected to include the following technological aspects: 

-New approach of simulation modeling that does not employ only deductive, physical models, but also inductive, data driven models using statistical techniques.
-New technologies for precise estimation of the internal state and dynamics of a battery beyond impedance method.
-New modeling technologies for electrochemical reactions during battery charge/discharge process that can be integrated into mechanical, system level control.
-New inductive verification methods for identifying “interference faults” of a complex system such as automobile powertrain control system that conventionally employs “IF-THEN” control.
-Control technologies that will contribute to more stable and resilient grid energy supply network that could be far more distributed than it is today.

These above two fields need to be used for industrial applications, and contribute to the reduction of time-to-market and energy efficiency.

<Guidelines>
[Eligible Applicants]

Those belonging to domestic or overseas universities or public research institutions 
[Eligible Research]
Advanced analytical and measurement technologies for efficient control system to maximize the performance of electric power and batteries usage
[Application Period]
February 18 to May 10, 2019
[Review Method]
The review committee makes a determination based on actual results and future prospects regarding submitted documents.
[Results Announcement]
The end of July (tent.)
[Award]
Winners are awarded a certificate and prize money. A single winner receives 2 million yen (1 million yen/year for 2 years).
(Conditions of eligibility must be met continuously)
[Award Ceremony and Commemorative Seminar]
To be held on October 17 (Thu.), 2019 at Shirankaikan , Kyoto University (Winners to conduct discussions and visual presentations that appeal to the general public)
[Application Method]
For documents to submit and other application details: www.mh-award.org/en/
[Applications/Inquiries]
Masao Horiba Awards Office at HORIBA, Ltd., 2, Miyanohigashi, Kisshoin, Minami-ku, Kyoto, 601-8510
Tel: +81-75-325-5110 / E-mail: info@mh-award.org

<Advanced analytical and measurement technologies for efficient control system to maximize the performance of electric power and batteries usage>
In recent years, the development of electric vehicles, which dramatically furthered energy efficiency, has accelerated again, along with the electricity generation from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. Today’s automobiles are equipped with both motors and batteries, which increases the importance of optimization of control systems by combining a wide range of design variables such as battery charge-discharge cycle, driving force linked with accelerators, environmental temperature, etc. The utilization of renewable energy is also entering a new phase. To supply stable electric power, predicting the ever-changing power demand due to weather and people's activities, complex and large-scale system control is essential.

Based on this background, this year’s Masao Horiba Awards will focus on the idea of new control frameworks, including utilization management with data science and the cutting-edge measurement technologies that achieve those frameworks. We hope this will maximize the use of next-generation energies―electric power and batteries.

[Further Information]
<Award History>

Our company’s history begins with our trail-blazing founder, Masao Horiba, whose initial venture was the first domestic development of the glass electrode pH meter when he was still a university student. We have since expanded our business globally to become a manufacturer of a comprehensive line of analytical instruments while also expanding analysis into liquid, gasses and solids. Collaboration with universities and research institutions has been one of the ways we have supported this development since our company’s founding, and the steady efforts of the researchers and engineers who work on our fundamental research have continued to be a driving force in our growth. Entering into the 21st century, we founded the Masao Horiba Awards in 2003, using the name of our founder to support the academic research and development which will be the source of new enterprises and commercial endeavors in the fields of analytic and measurement instrument technology, whose social significance only continues to grow.

<Award Purpose>
This award supports researchers and engineers, both domestic and overseas, engaged in research and development expected to create the innovative analytical and measurement technologies that will further enhance these technologies’ scientific value. Choosing a different field each year allows us to focus on research and development with results and future development potential of a global scale. We are seeking proactive participants who understand the “Joy and Fun” of research and development in the target area, from fundamental to applied, and who will be key players in the future development of analytical and measurement technology.

<Our Late Founder, Masao Horiba>
Masao Horiba pioneered his own venture, Horiba Radio Laboratory, in October of 1945 while still a student at the Faculty of Science in Kyoto Imperial University (now Kyoto University). He majored in nuclear physics, and just like, Shinkichi Horiba, his professor father, he had intended to remain at the university and become a researcher after graduation. At this time, however, the end of WW2 saw the US military destroying cyclotrons and taking other steps to prevent and prohibit nuclear research and experiments, so Horiba was unable to continue his university research. This led to the decision to establish a private laboratory where one might conduct experiments and research freely, which is how our company came to be founded.

In January of 1953, the company was reorganized as a share-issuing company and Horiba assumed the role of president. As Horiba Radio Laboratory, the plan had been to develop and commercialize electrolytic capacitors, but this plan was aborted due to inflation caused by the Korean War. Instead, the pH meter developed for capacitor production was sold as a product and the HORIBA, Ltd. known today was established. The company then continued to develop new pH meters one after another utilizing cooperation with universities. In 1978, at the age of 53, Horiba assumed the role of company chairmen, and our current philosophy of “Joy and Fun” was established as the company motto. After taking office as chairman, Horiba also worked to support domestic small-to-medium business and start-up reforms, was active in Kyoto revitalization efforts and also worked towards the fundamental education reforms needed to usher in future generations of trailblazers. In recognition of his contributions to developments in the field of analytical science as an entrepreneur who launched a global measuring instrument business with products that support research and breakthrough globally, Horiba was the first non-American to be awarded with the Pittcon Heritage Award in March of 2006 and was entered into the USA’s Pittcon Hall of Fame (for Analytical Chemistry). At 90 years old, Horiba passed away in July of 2015.