The WPI Program participated in Annual Meeting of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS 2014) on Feb 13-17 in Chicago, USA.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the biggest international non-profit organization for the advancement of science in the world. In addition to organizing membership and activities, AAAS publishes the journal Science, as well as many other scientific books and reports. The main theme for AAAS 2014 was "Meeting Global Challenges: Discovery and Innovation".

In the exhibition as part of the Japan pavilion at AAAS 2014 (booth 703) on Feb. 14-16, the PIOs (Press Information Officers) from all the WPI institutes introduced the collaborative researches bridging various research fields in an internationally opened environment of each institute. We were very pleased with the result that the Japan pavilion received the greatest number of guests among all the booths.

The WPI and RIKEN co-organize the exhibitor workshop "Build a Career in Japan!" on Feb. 14. In the workshop, we provided an opportunity for discussing about Japan's science policy and career path for overseas researchers, and had young participants who are thinking their science career in Japan.

Among the many events and exhibitions, one of the most interesting one was "AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards 2013". The categories for the award are not only articles on major newspapers, but also local newspaper articles, TV programs, radio programs, online articles, VIDEO for kids and so on. The award recipients were chosen from news writers and program creators all over the world. The award venue was The Field Museum in Chicago, which displays the fossil of the biggest T-rex "SUE", and impacted the mood of the ceremony.

The next annual meeting of AAAS (AAAS 2015) will be scheduled on February 12-16, 2015 in San Jose, CA, USA.

(Photos & Report: Jun SAKANOUE)