Fujitsu Co-Creation Research Laboratory at the University of Toronto

The Fujitsu Co-Creation Research Laboratory at the University of Toronto is the new research center of Fujitsu Laboratories which was established in partnership with the University of Toronto. At this research hub, we will advance the research and development of innovative computing technologies, focusing on Digital Annealer, and accelerate the practical use of technologies that can solve intractable social problems at high speed.
This page introduces the activities of the Fujitsu Co-Creation Research Laboratory at the University of Toronto.

2018

• March 14, 2018
  Fujitsu Co-Creation Research Laboratory at the University of Toronto is open in Toronto as our new research center for promoting social implementation of Digital Annealer

On March 14, Fujitsu Laboratories held the opening ceremony of Fujitsu Co-Creation Research Laboratory at the University of Toronto, which will be our new research hub in Toronto. This laboratory will be located in a new building of the University of Toronto, Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Besides, we have signed research partnership agreements with the following four professors at the University of Toronto, Alberto Leon-Garcia (Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering: ECE), Shahrokh Valaee (ECE), Taufik Valiante (Department of Surgery, ECE) and Yuri Lawryshyn (Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry). Through collaborative research in this center, Fujitsu Laboratories and the University of Toronto will actively promote social implementation of Digital Annealer in the fields of intelligent transportation systems, networks, healthcare, finance, etc.

The opening ceremony of this new research center was held with the attendance of President Tatsuya Tanaka and Nobuhiko Sasaki, Senior Managing Executive Officer/CSO, of Fujitsu Limited, Shigeru Sasaki, CEO of Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd., and President Meric Gertler, Vivek Goel, Vice President, Research and Innovation and Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering Dean Cristina Amon, of the University of Toronto. We exchanged our views about future collaboration, held a Sake Barrel opening ceremony (Kagami-biraki) and took a tour of the new office.

New laboratory in Toronto

Barrel opening at the laboratory opening ceremony

Fujitsu Limited’s President Mr. Tanaka expressed his view as follows: “Collaboration between the University of Toronto, the world’s top-ranked research institution, and the Fujitsu Group will bring a further great leap in technological development and will be a driving force for generating innovations. I hope this partnership will lead to the solution of challenges that were intractable in the past, and contribute to the development in various fields such as healthcare, finance, traffic and transportation.”

The Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering Dean Amon of the University of Toronto then delivered the following speech: “University of Toronto Engineering faculty and students collaborate across disciplines to create innovative technologies. Forward-thinking industry partners like Fujitsu recognize that our leading research is addressing and anticipating global challenges. The Fujitsu Co-Creation Research Laboratory will further enable our dynamic and productive partnership.”

President Tanaka’s speech

Executive meeting

Digital Annealer is a computing technology that is based on the digital circuit architecture inspired by quantum phenomena and can solve combinatorial optimization problems at high speed. We call this technology “Quantum-inspired computing.” This time, through four research partnership agreements, we will accelerate the application of Digital Annealer to various real-world issues for their solution. In order to explore new application fields, we also held a seminar to introduce our initiatives in research and development on Digital Annealer at the innovation hub MaRS Discovery District (*1), which is the largest in North America, under the theme “Computing Revolution in the Artificial Intelligence Era” on March 13. We will constantly hold this kind of seminars or gatherings to actively promote the formation of ecosystem.

*1: Established in Toronto, in 2000