The unveiling ceremony for Hirano Institute for Materials Innovation, the first Chinese Institute named after a Japanese scholar, took place on June 13, with the attendance of SJTU President Zhang Jie, Special Advisor to the President Prof. Shin-ichi Hirano, and Mr. and Mrs. Toyoda Shoichiro. President Zhang Jie said that Prof. Shin-ichi Hirano, an old friend of SJTU and special advisor to the president, had helped Nagoya University become one of the Top 100 universities in the world, and hoped he can assist SJTU the same way.

The Advisory Professorship Awarding Ceremony for Toyoda Shoichiro was held during the unveiling ceremony. He delivered an address on “Toyota and China: To Further Improve the Sino-Japanese Friendly Relationship” later, presided by SJTU Vice President Zhang Wenjun.

On behalf of the Hirano Institute, Prof. Shin-ichi Hirano signed cooperation agreements with Toyota Industries Corporation and Shoei Industries Corporation respectively.

Prof. Shin-ichi Hirano is a famous higher education manager and an expert in chemical materials and ceramic materials. He has delivered many lectures to SJTUers on education management, innovative research, and advanced composite material, etc, since he became SJTU Zhiyuan visiting professor and special advisor to the president in May, 2009. He proposed the SJTU Hirano Institute for Materials Innovation and saw to its establishment with the purposes of better integrating available resources, building platforms for interdisciplinary innovation, accumulating advantages, strengthening cooperation with big corporations at home and abroad, and promoting the application of fundamental research.

President Zhang Jie confirmed in his speech that the SJTU Hirano Institute for Materials Innovation was proposed and established by Prof. Shin-ichi Hirano, who is SJTU Zhiyuan visiting professor, honorary doctor, president of Japan’s National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation, and former president of NagoyaUniversity. With the help of SJTU and the society, the institute has been running and several cooperation agreements have been signed with Shoei Industries Corporation and Toyota Industries Corporation in the research field of nanoscale luminescent materials, energy transformation, and new material storage. The institute is blessed with Prof. Shin-ichi Hirano who has charisma and great influence in the world, and therefore is expected to be a first-class innovation base with world influence.

Toyoda Shoichiro wrote an inscription for SJTU — “Research and create” after his address.