Photocathode Electron Soul -- a research team led by Designated Lecturer Tomohiro Nishitani (Nagoya University Synchrotron Radiation Research Center) -- was selected to receive the first prize of the NEDO Technology Commercialization Program on February 20, 2015. The team's other members are Assistant Professor Takamasa Suzuki (Intellectual Property & Technology Transfer Group of the Academic Research & Industrial-Academia-Government Collaboration, Nagoya University) and Designated Professor Ikuo Okada (Nagoya University Synchrotron Radiation Research Center).
The NEDO's program aims to help university-oriented entrepreneur candidates in Japan start their own businesses. Under the program, venture capitalists or entrepreneurs specializing in relevant fields serve as a mentor to provide basic training, as well as advice and assistance, to young researchers aiming to commercialize technologies obtained through their own studies as a product or service. Researchers make a pitch (short presentation) about their own ideas, and after the finalists' presentations, outstanding research projects are selected.
The Photocathode Electron Soul team has been selected from among 69 entries to receive First Prize for the project, the "Development of innovative electron beam source for industrial uses." This project aims to innovate electron beam appliances by providing a semiconductor photocathode electron beam source, which has a much higher performance than existing electron source technologies.
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