The Opening Ceremony for a NIMS Overseas Operation Office was held at UW Tower adjacent to the Main Campus of UW. A group of 8 persons headed by Vice President Tetsuji Noda attended from NIMS, while 36 persons, including Prof. O’Donnel, Dean of the College of Engineering, participated from the University of Washington side.

The ceremony began with an opening greeting by Prof. Fumio Ouchi, UW Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, then Vice President Tetsuji Noda expressed the high expectations placed on the new UW office. After an introduction of NIMS including the ICYS-MANA and IMAT, Prof. Ouchi explained the long cooperative relationship between NIMS and UW up to the present in the background of the opening of the new office. Other speakers included Mr. Mitsunori Namba, Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle, who also described the expectations on the NIMS Overseas Operation Office in Seattle, and Dr. George Scholes of the FEI Company, who closed the ceremony with remarks on the importance of cooperation.

This office will be a base of NIM PR activities in the US, human resource and graduate student exchange, and enhancement of linkage and promotion with US companies.

Dr. Kenji Kitamura, NIMS Fellow, MANA Principal Investigator and Dr. Ouchi manage the office as Research Directors. At present, the NIMS Overseas Operation Office is temporarily located on the first floor of a 4-story building facing Roosevelt Blvd. near the University. In the future, the Office will be moved to the 4th floor of the same building.