Our IT department had a visitor from Japan last week. Dr Farhad Mehdipour invited Dr Ari Aharari to visit OPAIC and explore opportunities for collaboration.

Dr Aharari is an Associate Professor at Sojo University in Kumamoto, Japan, and a founder of Fusion Technologies, which is a company providing Internet of Things solutions.

He met with our IT and Employability teams this month. He gave a presentation about his research projects at Sojo university and the services his company offers. He also talked about the possibility of initiating joint research.

Farhad says the group also discussed the Sakura Exchange Programme, which is funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency. The initiative allows a group of students and academic staff to visit a host university in Japan for a week and participate in various activities including a project, cultural exchange, and site visit.

As a result of Dr Aharari's visit we have started a collaboration, says Farhad.

“We plan to co-author two research papers and we’ve initiated an application for the Sakura Exchange Programme. Dr Aharari has agreed to support our Smart Aotearoa Awards through Fusion Technology this year.”

Dr Aharari also met with OPAIC’s leadership team and discussed the opportunities over lunch.