[No. 95] Noriyoshi Kikuchi

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Atsushi Nakajima of the Department of Chemistry and all those involved for giving me the opportunity to write for this column.

I enrolled in Division III (at the time) of the Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University in April 1984. In our second year, we had to choose between the Department of Applied Chemistry and the Department of Chemistry. I was vaguely interested in the Department of Chemistry, which was still relatively new and had a small class size (40 students per year), making us the fourth graduating class. The deciding factor, however, was a lecture by Professor Koji Kaya (now Program Director of the Next-Generation Supercomputer R&D Program at RIKEN), who would later become my laboratory supervisor. I recall that his course, "Molecular Structure and Physical Properties," was held during the fourth period on Thursdays, a time when it was easy to feel sleepy. This was the only course that four of us from the shogi club took together, and it was fateful that our grades were perfectly split, with one person each receiving an A, B, C, and D. Needless to say, I don't need to mention what my grade was...

The Department of Chemistry offered special lectures by renowned professors, open to the entire faculty, mainly on Saturday afternoons. From my early years as an undergraduate, I often attended these lectures, though I usually slept in the back seats. However, a lecture by Professor Yuan Tseh Lee, who was invited from Taiwan by Professor Kaya, left a lasting impression on me. He was introduced as a future Nobel Prize candidate, and I was both surprised and deeply moved when he actually won the award shortly thereafter. Professor Lee's papers also served as direct reference material for my master's research in Professor Kaya's lab, and looking back, I realize I was tackling a very high-level challenge. There was also a special lecture by Professor Ryoji Noyori, who now works with Professor Kaya as the President of RIKEN, and he too later won the Nobel Prize. My connection to the Nobel Prize continued even after I started working. At the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), where I stayed on an introduction from Professor Kaya, there was great excitement over the news that an alumnus researcher had won the prize for his research on fullerenes, a carbon material.

Perhaps because of its small size, where classmates were always together for lectures and experiments, the Department of Chemistry had a very home-like atmosphere where almost everyone knew each other. I still have many photos from events like factory tours, thesis presentations, and graduation parties, and it seems we have frequent alumni gatherings. In my year, thanks to a well-organized secretary and staff who remained at the university, we were able to hold a 20th-anniversary reunion party a few years ago. In the Physical Chemistry Laboratory, a major highlight was the annual garden party held at Professor Kaya's second home in Tsujido on hot summer days. The barbecues, where alumni and their families all gathered, are fond memories, from the shopping trips to the final cleanup. Speaking of a home-like atmosphere, I also had the pleasure of visiting the home of the newly-married Professor Atsushi Nakajima (then an assistant) shortly after he joined the faculty. Thank you for the delicious beef stroganoff.

Seeing Professor Kaya working so hard to secure research funding in the lab made me want to get involved in research evaluation and funding allocation. So, from the end of my first year in the master's program, I set my sights on the National Civil Service Examination (Type I). My life consisted of working like a member of the Athletic Association during my lab experiment rotations, and recharging with mahjong, shogi, and computer games in between. While mental stamina was the area I was most confident in, I was fortunate enough to pass the exam with good results. I ended up joining the Japan Patent Office, which happened to be the first place I visited, and contrary to my expectations (?), I was assigned to examine patents for sewing machines, a field completely unrelated to my university major. About five years ago, I was put in charge of recruitment at the Patent Office, and just like my younger self, every candidate expressed a desire to "contribute to society by utilizing their academic expertise." If I were to offer a piece of advice, it would be to accept that even if you are assigned to a field different from what you hoped for, you will surely gain valuable experience in the long run. In my case, my assignment with sewing machines lasted only about a year. After many twists and turns, last year—more than 20 years after joining the office—I was finally involved in examining patents for equipment I was familiar with from my lab days, in the technical field of vapor deposition. However, I was transferred again after just nine months.

My university lab focused on basic research, and for a long time, I thought it had nothing to do with patents. When I was seconded to the Industrial Policy Bureau of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, I was involved in industry-academia collaboration and the establishment of university TLOs (Technology Licensing Organizations). I was able to contribute a little to the launch of the Keio University Intellectual Property Center at that time. It was around then that I heard Professor Atsushi Nakajima from my old lab had started filing for patents. During my secondment to the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation, I was involved in creating mechanisms to link patented technologies to business and benefit society, but I experienced the "shiwake" (government budget screening) process during the public interest corporation reform. Coincidentally, around the same time, Professor Kaya was also facing the shiwake process in his efforts to create a system for the practical application of supercomputers in society. It feels strange to have started with something as fundamental as Nobel Prize-level research and to now be involved in such practical matters. This fall, a celebration is being planned for Professor Kaya's 77th birthday, and I am very much looking forward to seeing him again.

Even after starting my career, I have had many opportunities to connect with the network of friends, seniors, and juniors from Keio University. When I joined the Japan Patent Office, a senior alumnus, patent attorney Hiroshi Tanaka, a graduate of the Department of Applied Chemistry, was running a group called the "Patent Mita-kai" for Keio alumni in the public and private patent sectors. A few years ago, my direct subordinate was a Keio junior, and two new recruits from Keio were perfect for the role of organizers. With women from the same floor at work also joining in, the Third Patent Examination Department, which handles chemistry and biotechnology, assembled a promising group of Keio University alumni. I am confident that this "JPO Third Department Mita-kai (?)" will surely grow into a network that connects to future generations of alumni.