SFC Open Research Forum and Homecoming Day held at Roppongi Hills

The Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) has held the Open Research Forum (ORF) annually since 1996 in order to introduce research activities to the public and to further develop ties between industry, government and academia. The event, currently in its 10th year, was held on Tuesday, November 22 and Wednesday, November 23 at Roppongi Academy Hills 40 (40th floor, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower) in central Tokyo. As with previous years, the ORF was a resounding success and a large number of visitors attended the event.

This year's ORF featured sessions chaired by guests and teaching staff, from Keio and other institutions, as well as demonstrations and exhibitions from each research project to introduce the cutting-edge research being carried out at SFC. This year, the Graduate School of Health Management, newly established in April this year, joined the three undergraduate faculties (Policy Management, Environmental Information, Nursing and Medical Care) and the Graduate School of Media and Governance in showcasing ideas, systems, tools and designs from a wide range of fields including bioinformatics, ubiquitous computing, imaging, architecture, area studies, globalism, governance, medicine and sport. In addition to this, a session entitled "SFC for High School Students" was held to introduce SFC to both current high school students and prospective SFC students. Younger members of SFC's faculty answered questions such as "What kind of place is SFC?", "What can I study there?" and "What is life like on campus?". A frank discussion was also held to show participants the advantages of SFC not included in the prospectus.

Homecoming Day (HCD) 2005 was also held on the second day of the ORF (November 23) at Roppongi Academy Hills 40. A large number of Keio alumni attended the event, filling the venue to capacity. Former students had the opportunity to reunite with their former professors and old friends and everyone, including current students, actively participated in the many lively conversations held on the day.

A diverse range of people from high school students and prospective students to current SFC students, alumni, academic and administrative staff and even researchers and members of the public came together at these events to share their knowledge.