Special Feature【Dreams】
Attracting People to the World of Chemistry to Link the Potential of Chemistry to the Next Generation
Chemistry can change molecular compositions to create completely new substances of benefit to society. The ability to transform one substance into another has long fascinated people, and it still does. Today, however, both children and society in general are losing interest in chemistry, in part due to reductions in the amount of time dedicated to science education. Mitsui Chemicals employees are independently operating projects to invite people into the world of chemistry, in order to show people how interesting and fun chemistry is, as well as to blaze a path to the future for leading-edge catalysis technologies.
Adventure Class in Wonder-Chemistry Lets Children Experience the Wonders of Chemistry First Hand
Mixing laundry starch with borax creates squishy slime .mixing two different things together creates another completely different thing. This is what is fun and interesting about chemistry. Mitsui Chemicals is continually expanding its programs aimed at showing how interesting chemistry is. One of these programs is our Adventure Class in Wonder-Chemistry for elementary and junior high-school students. We created our CSR Division in 2005, at the same time this program was announced. Since 2006, employee volunteers at all 9 of our operating sites have answered our call, and become active in this program.
Some examples of activities we conduct are laboratory classes at local elementary schools and municipal buildings, tours of our research centers, and hands-on chemistry classes, such as enabling people to perform real-live “ Foamy Urethane Experiments.” We held 10 such activities in 2006, increasing them to 18 times in 2007. In 2008, we expanded the program to the operating sites of our affiliates, and over 2,000 children participated.
All the employees serving as instructors are volunteers.
“ At my workplace we work in shifts. Our members somehow find the time to prepare the laboratory classes,” says Hisashi Chiba, leader at the Ichihara Works. “ We always try hard to make the class fun for children, such as figuring out ways to make the material easy to understand. But we also have fun ourselves,” he continues.
We also hold laboratory classes linked to events at the location of our head office in Shiodome City Center, in Tokyo. Yukiko Musashi of the Mitsui Chemicals Agro Safety & Environment Quality Assurance Division volunteered to serve on the event steering committee, and participated in the laboratory class with her 4th and 6th-grade children.
“ Showing advanced chemistry technologies in an easy-to-understand way gets children interested in science.
It also excites me to be able to demonstrate experiments using advanced technology from children’s perspective,” she says.
Adventure Class in Wonder-Chemistry helps me in my work
When my son entered elementary school and became old enough to participate in the Adventure Class in Wonder-Chemistry, I volunteered for the steering committee because I thought I could take advantage of my perspective as a mother. This program has been great for me.
Working with children energizes me, and I've made more friends at work. My nephew wants to become a chemist, and he gets excited watching fantastic chemical reactions. My son also loves experiments now. This has been a good opportunity for him to learn about his mother’s job.
Basic Chemicals Business Sector
Business Planning Development& License Div.
Engineering & License Group
Masumi Sata
Organizing International Symposiums to Highlight the Importance of Catalysis Science
Mitsui Chemicals strives to “ contribute broadly to society by providing high-quality products and services to customers through innovations and the creation of materials and products, while keeping in harmony with the global environment.” We also believe that catalysis science is the key to achieving “ Dream-Inspiring Innovation.” With the aim of furthering the development of catalysis science, Mitsui Chemicals has been organizing the “ Mitsui Chemicals International Symposium on Catalysis Science (MICS)” every other year since 2003. World famous scientists, including Nobel Prize Laureates, have been invited to deliver lectures at all the symposiums.
“ The Fourth Mitsui Chemicals International Symposium on Catalysis Science (MICS 2009)” was held in March 2009 with the theme, “ Catalysis Science and Its Contribution to Future Human Development,” and was met with great acclaim.
Mitsui Chemicals’goal for the symposium is to serve as a forum for an extensive as well as intensive interchange of opinions among researchers worldwide thus breaking formal boundaries that exist between nations, organizations and specialized fields. Admission to the symposium was free, and free shuttle buses were provided between Tokyo Station and the venue in Kisarazu City, Chiba Prefecture.
About 1,600 people from Japan and overseas attended MICS 2009. At each symposium, a large number of young people attended. In particular, more than 300 students attended MICS 2009, including junior and senior high-school students.
It is Mitsui Chemicals’ hope that the symposiums will act as an international forum of debate where young scientists of the future can listen and learn as well as discuss their ideas with Nobel Laureates. To this end, we invited high-school students who were candidates for the International Chemistry Olympiad, as well as university students from Singapore, with whom we have strong relations in joint research and other projects. Between completely different thing. This is what is fun and interesting about chemistry. Mitsui Chemicals is continually expanding its programs aimed at showing how interesting chemistry is.
One of these programs is our Adventure Class in Wonder-Chemistry for elementary and junior high-school students. We created our CSR Division in 2005, at the same time this program was announced. Since 2006, employee volunteers at all 9 of our operating sites have answered our call, and become active in this program.
Some examples of activities we conduct are laboratory classes at local elementary schools and municipal buildings, tours of our research centers, and hands-on chemistry classes, such as enabling people to perform real-live “ Foamy Urethane Experiments.
” We held 10 such activities in 2006, increasing them to 18 times in 2007. In 2008, we expanded the program to the operating sites of our affiliates, and over 2,000 children participated.
All the employees serving as instructors are volunteers.
“ At my workplace we work in shifts. Our members somehow find the time to prepare the laboratory classes,” says Hisashi Chiba, leader at the Ichihara Works.
“ We always try hard to make the class fun for children, such as figuring out ways to make the material easy to understand. But we also have fun ourselves,” he continues.
We also hold laboratory classes linked to events at the location of our head office in Shiodome City Center, in Tokyo. Yukiko Musashi of the Mitsui Chemicals Agro Safety & Environment Quality Assurance Division volunteered to serve on the event steering committee, and participated in the laboratory class with her 4th and 6th-grade children.
“ Showing advanced chemistry technologies in an easy-to-understand way gets children interested in science. It also excites me to be able to demonstrate experiments using advanced technology from children’s perspective,” she says.
lectures, students were able to get autographs from leading scientists from around the world.
Mizuki Mayuzumi from the CSR & Corporate Communications Division assisted the first-time International Chemistry Olympiad candidates at MICS 2009.
“ The candidates get to shake hands with a Nobel Prize Laureate,” says Mayuzumi. “ I thought that this was a fantastic opportunity, just knowing how excited this will make them,” she says.
The symposium is run almost entirely by the employees themselves.
“ We begin preparing for the symposium about a year before the event,” says Yumi Misono, senior researcher in the Research Center, Planning & Coordination Division and a member of the symposium steering committee.
“ The many in-depth discussions we have over the program and other matters are a wonderful learning opportunity for me. As a Mitsui Chemicals employee, I am extremely proud that we not only have presentations by some of the world’s leading scientists, but also that we have a large number of attendees,” she says.
Mitsui Chemicals’ Dream for chemistry is to bring the wonder of chemistry to everyone, from children to leading scientists.
MICS made me decide to study chemistry
Listening to the lecture by Professor Noyori at the first MICS in 2003 showed me the front lines of chemistry, and made me decide to study chemistry myself. I am confident that Mitsui Chemicals will continue to provide opportunities not only for further development of world-leading science and technology, but for inspiring young people to direct their energy toward chemistry and science as well.
Nagoya University
Graduate School of Science,
Department of Chemistry,
Hironori Hara
