The Fifth Day: Aussie Embassy and return to Expo

Today we had a much better starting time of 8.20 am. First we visited the Australian Embassy, where gaining entrance was much like going through customs at the airport. We had to present our passports and go through a metal detector. Once we got in, we were given a presentation outlining the importance of Japan to the Australian economy, particularly in the field of education. I was surprised to learn that education was Victoria’s fourth largest export in terms of the revenue it brings to the state. We then had a photo opportunity in the back garden of the embassy before we left.

After our visit to the embassy was over, we made our way to the Tokyo Big Sight once again to attend the Nanotechnology 2014 Exhibition.

Initially, everyone split up to explore the venue by themselves. Daniel and I went to get lunch, and then went to the Oxfords Instruments booth to interview a representative for the Hysitron company. This company manufactures and operates nanomechanical test instruments, which I though was pretty interesting.

We met up with Richard after that, and then found a large company to have an interview with. We ended up talking to some representatives from Bruker, who explained to us their most popular product in Japan, the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). They also explained their most recent development, an AFM with Raman analysis capabilities, which was the highlight of the day.

After that, we attended some seminars by German companies and institutes, which included topics such as organic compound purification, metal nano-inks, and organic electronics. Some of these presentations were particularly interesting, though I enjoyed the nano-ink talk the most.

The exhibition finished at 5, and we were then treated to a networking dinner. This was a nice, relaxing way to end the day, where we got to talk to people from many different countries and witness a traditional ceremony of breaking barrels of sake.

It was a very productive day, getting some company interviews and other tasks completed. Looking forward to having a more relaxed day at the exhibition tomorrow to really take in the surroundings.