overview

Daikin Industries, Ltd. and the University of Tokyo established the Daikin-UTokyo Lab. having concluded a university-corporate relations agreement to promote comprehensive joint research and human resource exchanges between the two organizations, as well as collaboration with UTokyo-related startups, based on the deep empathy between the leaders of the two organizations.

In order to achieve the 17 SDGs adopted by the United Nations, UTokyo is trying to realize its Future Society Initiative (FSI), which aims at creating an inclusive society in which everyone can play an active role. To this end, UTokyo is leading global efforts to solve problems by integrating knowledge within the university, deepening collaboration with people inside and outside the university, and implementing the developed technologies into society. In this process, the university has sought for a partner that could cooperate toward global deployment, featuring “air” that is closely linked to the global issues of “the environment”, “energy” and “healthy living.”

In the meantime, Daikin Industries, as a global air-conditioning manufacturer, has developed new technologies, services, and solutions for the future of the air-conditioning business, accelerated the establishment of new business models, and advocated open innovations, by actively promoting industry-academia collaboration.

This agreement is valid for ten years from December 2018, with the planned investment of approx. ten billion yen.

In this agreement, the University of Tokyo has academic faculty members with outstanding knowledge and technology, as well as researchers and students who have entrepreneurial spirit, and a group of related startup companies. Daikin Industries has a global air-conditioning business and the research and development team that supports it, as well as resources including technologies and know-how. With these respective strengths, the two organizations will create innovations featuring the “value creation of air”.

The DAIKIN-UTokyo Lab. implements three collaborative programs: ‘Future Vision Initiative’, ‘Future Technology Initiative’, and ‘Incorporation of New Value into Society through Collaboration with Startups’.
At the same time, the DAIKIN-UTokyo Lab. goes beyond conventional industry-academia collaboration by formulating various human resource systems, thereby establishing an environment in which human resources from both organizations can freely exchange and stimulate each other, soliciting new knowledge, technologies, and businesses.