Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus held the SFC Expo over two days from Saturday, November 22 to Sunday, November 23.
The Expo combines various campus gatherings including the Open Research Forum (ORF), SFC's largest research presentation event, to showcase the best of our community's academic and research capabilities. This year's was held on a larger scale than in previous years. Marking its third edition, the event featured a special collaboration with the Fujisawa City government as well as special programs on space, robotics, and food to form connections with the local community and society at large.
Faculty, staff members, students, and others from the SFC community welcomed more than 4,300 attendees throughout the two days, including prospective students, researchers, industry experts, and Fujisawa citizens. The event proved to be a valuable opportunity for attendees to experience SFC's cutting-edge academic research against the backdrop of the beautiful autumn scenery.
Below is a sampling of the programming offered through the event.
The Fujisawa City collaboration featured a panel with the city's mayor and current SFC students on the theme, "Fujisawa City through the Eyes of University Students," as well as an exhibition on city planning, highlighting community-university partnership.
In the space program, astronaut Soichi Noguchi participated in the "Moon to Mars" roundtable, drawing a large audience. During the Expo, SFC Media Center showcased a rare spacesuit replica, a meteorite from Mars, and a pressurized rover. Many visitors stopped by to take commemorative photos with the exhibits.
In the robotics program, panelists discussed pathways for creating "co-development" robotsーrobots that work alongside humans to mutually develop the cognitive and physical abilitiesーwhile linking the discussion to robot demonstrations at a separate venue on campus.
In addition, for the first time this year, a total of 15 food trucks were set up over the two days, and many attendees enjoyed the variety of lunch and snack options. In line with this new addition, a special roundtable, "How Food Links Us: The Local Farm-to-Campus Connection in Shonan Fujisawa" was held, featuring participants involved with local food trucks and regional producers.
Attendees were fascinated by the ORF, where the SFC's undergraduate and graduate students presented their most recent research findings. The ORF boasted a wide range of projects representing SFC's diverse and interwoven research, including 50 exhibits and 15 sessions.
The "Open Campus" portion of the event included information sessions on SFC's graduate and undergraduate programs as well as campus tours so that prospective students could appreciate SFC's offerings.
In addition to the events covered here, there were a variety of other programs that added to the festive air throughout the Expo. Thanks to everyone who joined us during these two days.
Released by: Office of General Affairs at Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC)
Photographers: Takeshi Kishi and others