Admission
Access
Campus Map
Brochure
Contact
For Current Students
Employment
Japanese

Corporate Collaboration

Led by the Center for Collaborative Research and Outreach: CCRO, AIU is strengthening partnerships with businesses, organizations, and the community to enhance education, research, and community contributions.

AIU Design Lab

AIU Design Lab is an industry-academia collaborative program in which students and companies work together to solve various issues faced by universities and companies in Akita Prefecture. In the basic workshop, students learn design thinking as an effective method for problem solving, and then apply the ideas they gain in the basic workshop to actual activities in the applied section on design thinking practice. The goal of the program is to design a better Akita by solving local issues.

Initiatives up until now

  • What is the DX strategy of a long-established company looking at tourism in the post-coronavirus era?
  • What is the role of future service stations in the era of mobility as a service (MaaS)?
  • Dive into and experience the manufacturing sites in Akita, and promote their attractions!
  • Contribute to the growth of client companies through the power of design. Design new ways to sell products and services for the coming era!

Akita Living Lab

We have entered into a partnership agreement aimed at forming the Akita Living Lab with Akita Northern Happinets Co., Ltd. and Sundred Co., Ltd. The Living Lab is to be a collaborative space where diverse talents gather beyond organizational and affiliation boundaries, with the goal of creating a better society and fostering new industries. We hope that the fostering of new industries in the region will be revitalized with the participation of AIU’s researchers and students.

Overseas Promotion Project of Akita Prefecture Products

This is a project aiming to expand the export of products produced in Akita Prefecture. In AY2022, we conducted marketing research in Paris to explore how Akita’s Iburigakko and Inaniwa Udon would be accepted in France.

Joint Demonstration Research of Toyota Car-sharing System

We have deployed three vehicles equipped with Toyota Motor Corporation’s car-sharing system Toyota Share in AIU’s parking lot and are conducting joint demonstration research based on the usage statistics of students and faculty.

Industry-Academia Collaborative Funded Course

In collaboration with Mitsubishi Corporation Offshore Wind Ltd., Venti Japan Inc., and the Hokuto Bank, Ltd., based on our partnership agreement, we are offering a funded course titled Global Energy Status: Opportunities and Challenges focusing on electricity and energy in general.

JR-East Funded Course

We are conducting research and educational activities on sustainable community-building in a shrinking society. Students are discussing how they can proactively engage with the community through fieldwork.