 |
Nikon
Instruments Inc., which markets microscopes and measuring
instruments in the Americas, recently announced the winners
in its 2002 Small World contest. The company, based in Melville,
New York, has sponsored the contest annually for 28 years
to promote and recognize creativity and excellence in the
field of photomicrography.
|
|
 |
|
The first-prize winner in the 2002 Small World contest
was Dr. Thomas J. Deerinck, of the National Center
for Microscopy & Imaging Research at the University
of California, San Diego. His winning photograph
is a 40x view of a section of rat cerebellum. |
A
panel of five judges from universities and a science magazine
chose 20 winners. Winning entries earn prizes and appear
in a travelling exhibition and also in a calendar distributed
by Nikon Instruments. Learn more about the Small World contest
and see winning entries from previous years on the World
Wide Web at www.microscopyu.com
|
 |
Mitsubishi
Gas Chemical, a leading manufacturer of specialty chemicals,
will begin producing Nylon-MXD6 in the United States in
spring 2004. The company is building a plant in Richmond,
Virginia, that will have an initial production capacity
of 10,000 tons a year.
Demand for Nylon-MXD6 is growing in the food
packaging sector on account of the material's superior gas
barrier characteristics. In simpler terms, Nylon-MXD6 performs
better than rival materials in making food packaging more
air-tight. It is especially useful in maintaining the freshness
of food products in highly humid environments. Manufacturers
use the material in bottles of polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) and in the increasingly popular standing-pouch packaging.
Nylon-MXD6 also is useful in automotive components
and in other applications. Mitsubishi Gas Chemical has emphasized
food packaging, however, in announcing its new plant. The
company already has a Nylon-MXD6 plant in Niigata, Japan,
which can produce 14,500 tons a year. The U.S. investment
is a move to secure cost-competitive local production capacity
in the world's biggest market for Nylon-MXD6.
 |
|
Work continues afloat as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
crafts a luxury cruise ship that will impress with
opulence, as well as size. |
|
The expanding
presence by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical in Nylon-MXD6 (see article
above) includes a promising alliance with a U.S. venture
business. Joining hands with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical is
Arlington Heights, Illinois-based Nanocor Inc. The U.S.
partner has developed technology for dispersing ultrasmall
particles of clay in various materials. Nanocor's technology
is applicable to Nylon-MXD6, which would further improve
the already-impressive gas barrier characteristics of that
material.
A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. Nanocor's
clay particles are just a few nanometers in diameter; thus,
the company name. Improving the performance of materials
with nano-sized particles is an example of the possibilities
emerging in nanotechnology.
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and Nanocor have been
working together for more than a year in evaluating the
physical properties of nanocomposite Nylon-MXD6 and in studying
cost-competitive production technology for the material.
Managements at the two companies like what they have found
and have decided to go ahead with production and joint marketing.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Photo courtesy
of NASDA |
The
H-IIA rocket, for which Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a
system integrator and supplies the liquid-fuel engines and
other crucial parts and systems, is showing commercial viability.
Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) launched
an H-IIA successfully for the third time in row on September
10. It placed in orbit on schedule a Data Relay Test Satellite
(DRTS) and an Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery System
(USERS) spacecraft.
For customers who want to put communications
satellites and other payloads into orbit, reliability is
a decisive criterion in choosing launch vehicles. Three
successful launches have moved the H-IIA a first step toward
establishing commercial credentials. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
continues working to position the rocket as a strong competitor
in the global market for launch services. |
 |
Mitsubishi
Corporation is teaming with Nippon Steel and Toyota to build
and market steel houses in China. The threesome has entered
a joint venture in Beijing with a Chinese manufacturer of
building materials to conduct the business.
China is moving to build 10 million homes a
year nationwide under a five-year housing plan that runs
to 2005. Brick construction has been a staple of Chinese
residential construction, but a government ban spurred by
environmental concerns is eliminating that option. Bricks
entail smoky refractories and the diversion of farmland
to clay pits. Wood construction on a massive scale would
be devastating, of course, for China's remaining forests.
Steel houses, increasingly popular in Japan, the United
States and other nations, are emerging as the most environmentally
feasible means of meeting Chinese demand.
Mitsubishi Corporation and its Japanese partners
hold a 25% stake in the new company, called BNBM (Beijing
New Building Materials) Home Co., Ltd. They plan for the
venture to build 1,500 homes in its first year and to be
putting up 10,000 annually in five years. |
 |
In
another recent move, Mitsubishi Corporation has established
a $150 million corporate buyout fund in New York. The fund,
Red Diamond Capital, will participate in management buyouts
of medium-sized U.S. and Canadian companies in the manufacturing,
distribution and service sectors.
Corporate buyout funds provide equity capital
to acquire companies in partnership with the companies'
managements. They typically accompany their equity investments
with debt funding to finance the acquisitions. Whereas venture
capitalists ordinarily invest in startup companies, buyout
funds invest primarily in established businesses that have
profitable track records. Those companies present minimal
risk in regard to technological and product development.
The buyout funds aim to earn a return on their investments
by increasing the sales and profits of the acquired businesses
and selling their ownership stakes in the future at higher
valuations.
Heading Red Diamond is Bret Russell, a former
managing director of Saratoga Partners, a New York-based
corporate buyout fund. "I'm excited at the prospect
of bringing together a powerful combination of capital,
independence and access to the global resources of Mitsubishi
Corporation," said Russell. "These advantages
should make Red Diamond uniquely attractive to North American
middle market businesses that are looking for a financial
partner." |
|
 |
Mitsubishi
Plastics has teamed with Ricoh to create a new generation
of IC cards. The partners have developed the world's first
PET-film equipped with a black-luminous rewritable display
function.
The rewritable display surface on noncontact
IC cards typically consists of PET film. Ordinary PET film,
however, does not allow for embossing. So manufacturers
have been unable to apply a rewritable surface across the
entire faces of IC cards that require embossing. That includes
credit cards, which need their raised letters and numbers
for conventional reader devices. In addition, applying rewritable
film to just a portion of a card entails a complex--and
therefore expensive--manufacturing processes.
A material called PET-G from Mitsubishi Plastics
offers all the traditional advantages of PET film and also
accommodates embossing. Leuco dye from Ricoh provides excellent
readability on the rewritable display surface. |
|
|
 |
Four
calves under the care of Kirin Brewery are producing human
polyclonal antibodies for use in medical research. Kirin
developed the bovines in cooperation with Connecticut-based
Hematech LLC. The U.S. scientific journal Nature Biotechnology
has reported their achievement on its Web site.
Kirin researchers used original technology
to introduce genetic material from human antibodies into
bovine cells and then used technology from Hematech to nurture
the cells into four newborn calves. Some mother cows helped
out by furnishing a suitable environment for the cells while
they grew.
The researchers have confirmed that the calves'
blood serum contains human antibody proteins. Kirin and
Hematech now are working to produce cows commercially that
will provide reliable supplies of human antibodies for medical
research and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The creation of the remarkable cows follows
Kirin's success in creating the Transchromo Mouse. That
little creature also produces human antibodies. And Kirin
is using the Transchromo Mouse in promising joint research
with the New Jersey-based company, Medarex, Inc. But cows
produce even more antibodies: They're bigger. |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Mitsubishi Corporation chairman Minoru Makihara
and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn at the inaugural meeting
|
Minoru
Makihara, chairman of Mitsubishi Corporation, is spearheading
an initiative for promoting foreign direct investment in
Japan. Japan was a huge foreign investor in the late 1980s,
and it received little inward investment. Now, Japanese
are counting on investment from abroad to help revive their
economy, which has been moribund for more than a decade.
Makihara chairs a forum of 12 leaders from
Japanese industry, academia and local government. Among
the 12 are Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn and Morgan Stanley Japan
president Thierry Porte, along with the Japanese CEOs of
Toshiba, ORIX and IBM Japan.
The members held their inaugural meeting in
September to identify policy priorities and gathered again
in November to focus on those issues. They will meet in
December to finalize a proposal to submit to the Japanese
government. This blue-ribbon panel has aroused high expectations
in Japan, and its proposals promise to stir debate. |
|
|
 |
 |
| Mitsubishi
Auto Credit-Lease has begun supplementing its portfolio
of financing services with risk-management support. The
company, a leading provider of vehicle financing for individuals
and corporations in Japan, launched its new risk-management
service in October. |
 |
| IT
Frontier, a Mitsubishi company that specializes in information
technology, is teaming with Mitsubishi Electric to provide
information storage services. They kicked off their new
venture in July, when they began providing service to Mitsubishi
Corporation, the parent company of IT Frontier. A spokeswoman
for Mitsubishi Corporation reports that the company stands
to reduce its information storage costs 20% by outsourcing
the work. IT Frontier owns and manages the data center.
Mitsubishi Electric Information Systems furnishes technical
support. |
 |
| Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries has received an order from the Swedish
electric utility Ringhals AB for two replacement reactor
vessel closure heads for nuclear reactors. It supplied a
replacement reactor vessel closure head for another Ringhals
reactor in 1996, and it will deliver the two heads under
the new order in 2004 and 2005. |
 |
| Mitsubishi
Research Institute continues to fuel the debate on important
policy issues. It recently sponsored a large international
symposium in Japan to explore ways of raising efficiency
and reliability in energy grids through distributed sourcing.
|
|
|
|
Nikon
sponsors contest to promote creativity in photomicrography
