On March 24 and 25, 2025, the final presentations and award ceremony for the “Town & Gown Innovation Challenge” were held at the Large Conference Room on the first floor of Hiroshima University’s IDEC Building.

This program is part of the “ Multicultural Campus Project Toward Social Impact” (2), implemented under the Town & Gown Initiative (1), a collaboration between Hiroshima University and Higashihiroshima City. It utilizes a problem-based experiential learning approach co-developed by Hiroshima University and Arizona State University, aiming to tackle real-world local issues.

In this year’s Innovation Challenge, three organizations participated as challenge providers: O.A. Proto Co., Ltd., Farm Nishitaguchi Agricultural Cooperative, and Satake Corporation. A total of 28 students, including international and graduate students, formed 8 teams and proposed diverse and creative solutions to the assigned challenges.

For the challenge presented by O.A. Proto Co., Ltd.—“Creating New Avenues for Engagement with Society as a B2B Company”—Team 2’s proposal, “Design Challenge & Workshop to Cultivate the Next Generation of Metalworking Talent,” won the Grand Prize, and the following four students were recognized:

Adam Jehan (Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation)

Hanifah Alfa Cahyani (Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Smart Society Program)

Haniyah Salma Iswandi (Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life)

Marsha Nabilah Wibowo (Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Smart Society Program)

Chairman Mr. Otsubo of O.A. Proto Co., Ltd. commented, “I was deeply impressed by the fresh perspectives and highly feasible ideas that we ourselves hadn’t considered, developed in such a short time.”

For the challenge posed by Farm Nishitaguchi Agricultural Cooperative—“Reimagining the Value of Asparagus Stalk Ends Currently Discarded”—Team 1’s proposal, “ASPAFeed: Domestic Pet Food Made from Discarded Asparagus,” received the Grand Prize, and the following three students were awarded:

Maya Iwanaga (School of Integrated Arts and Sciences)

SAR SOPHEA (Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences)

TSHERING PEM (Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences)

Executive Director Mr. Kashio of Farm Nishitaguchi stated, “We were deeply moved by the innovative ideas that went beyond conventional thinking to address a challenge we’ve long struggled with. We sincerely thank the students for their passionate efforts.”

For the challenge from Satake Corporation—“Enhancing Workforce Diversity and Increasing Interest from Students’ Families”—Team 3’s proposal, “Accelerating International Expansion and Innovation through the Recruitment of Regional Researchers,” was selected for the Grand Prize, with the following three students receiving recognition:

Shouko Ono (Faculty of Economics)

Kanna Hirayama (Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences)

Takuma Hattori (Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences)

Mr. Takimoto, Manager of Human Resource Development at Satake Corporation, commented, “Each team delivered excellent proposals, but the winning team stood out for its unique perspective. Learning about the field of ‘regional studies’ was eye-opening, and we believe such localized expertise will be a powerful asset in our future global initiatives.”

At the award ceremony, Hiroshima University’s Deputy Executive Director for International Exchange, Prof. Shunsaku Komatsuzaki, gave remarks, stating,
“While we have collaborated with local companies and organizations under the Town & Gown Initiative, practical multi-disciplinary cooperation including students is still developing. Now that we’ve been selected for the Social Impact Project, we aim to expand these efforts and build a sustainable framework for regional contribution. As a university, we also recognize the growing importance of supporting students in developing highly original ideas that go beyond what companies might imagine.”

Hiroshima University remains committed to cultivating human resources capable of addressing local challenges through similar initiatives.

*(1) About the Town & Gown Initiative
This initiative seeks to promote regional revitalization by fusing the administrative resources of Higashihiroshima City (“Town”) and the educational and research assets of Hiroshima University (“Gown”) to address local challenges. The goal is to implement scientific and technological innovation in society and foster talent through community co-creation, leading to sustainable regional development and university evolution.

*(2) About the Multicultural Campus Project Toward Social Impact
This MEXT initiative supports multicultural collaborative learning between Japanese and international students. Through such interaction, the program aims to foster education and research activities that contribute to proposing and implementing solutions for domestic and global issues, ultimately creating broad “social impact.” Hiroshima University was selected for this project in November 2024.