Message from the President November.2016

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2016 was awarded to Mr. Yoshinori Ohsumi, Honorary professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, for discoveries that he made in a mechanism known as autophagy, in which cells dissolve unnecessary proteins, among other cell components. As a fellow Japanese person, I am really proud of Mr. Ohsumi and respect him as the fourth Japanese person to receive the award.

Mr. Ohsumi says that he has conducted research on autophagy, or the catabolic cellular process, consistently since he began working on the subject in 1988. Touching on the basic source of his determination, he comments that it is more fun to do what others are not doing. For 28 years he has continued to work on what nobody does or knows with an unwavering spirit of inquiry, repeatedly asking, “Why?” I think such efforts have led to the award.

I believe that the way Mr. Ohsumi conducts research and views things certainly applies to Meitec engineers in some ways as they engage in assignments in the areas of design and development for manufacturers. Engineers also help to achieve a richer society by sparing no efforts to create new products and services for society and by seeking to offer new added value in a committed manner.

When Mr. Hisashi Taniguchi, CEO of ZMP Inc., gave a keynote speech as a guest speaker at our company’s entrance ceremony, he emphasized that the important skills that engineers should develop are observational skills, sensibility skills, and technical skills. To rephrase it, engineers should observe a variety of things from broader perspectives and with a sense of curiosity. Engineers should immerse themselves and understand what stimulates their curiosity, from a range of viewpoints based on their own improved sensibilities. And they should adapt the results to concrete actions, drawing on their cultivated technical capabilities.

What facilitates this process, however, is a sense of curiosity. It is difficult to remain interested, become involved and pursue things without a sense of curiosity. Maintaining a sense of curiosity and sense of resolve are significant factors that help engineers take on new challenges and grow.

It really is amazing to consistently continue research with an unwavering sense of curiosity and a spirit of inquiry for nearly 30 years. Once again, I applaud a person like Mr. Ohsumi, a recipient of the Novel Prize.

Meitec held a ceremony on October 1 for prospective new graduate employees in 2017, welcoming 326 new colleagues - 312 for engineering roles and 14 for sales positions. I strongly believe that each of them will play a leading role in Meitec, going forward, by maintaining a sense of curiosity.