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Curriculum Vitae

  1. Personal information
  2. Educational background
  3. Research and/or professional experience
  4. Awards
  5. List of publications

April, 2023

Personal information:

Name: Toru H. Okabe
Sex: Male
Nationality: Japanese
Date of Birth: 4 December 1965 (57 years old) 
Current position: Director General and Professor
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
Project Professor (additional post)
Endowed Research Unit for Non-ferrous Metal Resource Recovery Engineering, Engineering Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
Professor (additional post)
Graduate School of Arts and Science, GPES (Organization for Environmental Sciences (Undergraduate and Graduate Programs)), The University of Tokyo
Professor (additional post)
Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Materials Engineering, The University of Tokyo
Professor (additional post)
Research Center for Sustainable Material Energy Integration, The University of Tokyo
Address: 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505
The University of Tokyo
Institute of Industrial Science, Room Fw301
Tel +81-3-5452-6312 (office, direct), +81-3-5452-6314 (Okabe Lab)
Fax +81-3-5452-6313
E-mail okabe@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Website http://www.okabe.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/english/index_e.html

Education:

Mar 1981 The Japanese School in London
Mar 1984 Senior High School at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba
Mar 1988 Bachelor of Engineering, Metallurgy, Kyoto University
Mar 1990 Master of Engineering, Metallurgy, Kyoto University
Mar 1993 Doctor of Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials Science, Kyoto University

Research/professional experience:

May 1993 - May 1995 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, Prof. Sadoway's Lab), Postdoctoral Fellow, Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
May 1995 - Sep 1995 Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T, Prof. Sadoway's Lab)
Sep 1995 - Dec 2000 Research Associate, Institute of Advanced Materials Processing (Currently, Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials (IMRAM)), Tohoku University (Prof. Waseda Lab, and Prof. Umetsu Lab)
Dec 2000 - Dec 2008 Associate Professor, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Associate Professor (additional post), Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Materials Engineering, The University of Tokyo
Jan 2009 - Present Professor, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Professor (additional post), Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Materials Engineering, The University of Tokyo
Jan 2012 - Present Project Professor (additional post), Endowed Research Unit for Non-ferrous Metal Resource Recovery Engineering, The University of Tokyo
April 2012 - March 2013 Department Head, Department of Materials and Environmental Science (4th Dept.), Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
May 2012 - Present Professor (additional post), Graduate School of Arts and Science, GPES (Organization for Environmental Sciences (Undergraduate and Graduate Programs)), The University of Tokyo
Jan 2013 - March 2016 Director, International Research Center for Sustainable Materials, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
April 2014 - March 2015 Presidential Assistant, The University of Tokyo
April 2014 - March 2015 Standing Committee Member of Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
April 2014 - March 2019 Dupty Director, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
April 2016 - March 2021 Director, Integrated Research Center for Sustainable Energy and Materials, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
April 2019 - March 2021 Vice President, The University of Tokyo
April 2021 - Present  Director General, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

Awards:

  1. Student Poster Prize from the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS, USA) at the 7th World Conference on Titanium, San Diego, 28 June-2 July 1992
  2. 15th Technological Development Prize (Gijutsu-kaihatsu-shou) from the Japan Institute of Metals at the 111th Fall meeting, Toyama, 6-8 October 1992
  3. 14th Honda Memorial Silver Prize (Honda-kinen-shourei-shou) from the Honda Memorial Foundation in Tokyo, 19 May 1993
  4. 11th Inoue Research Prize (Inoue-kenkyu-shourei-shou) from the Inoue Foundation for Science at Tokyo, 6 February 1995
  5. 47th Best Paper Awards (Kinzoku Gakkai Ronbun-shou) from the Japan Institute of Metals at the 125th Fall meeting, Kanazawa, 21-22 November 1999
  6. 25th Best Paper Awards (Shigen-Sozaigakkai Ronbun-shou) from the Mining and Materials Institute of Japan at the 123rd Spring meeting, Tokyo, 30 March 2000
  7. 26th Best Paper Awards (Shigen-Sozaigakkai Ronbun-shou) from the Mining and Materials Institute of Japan at the 124th Spring meeting, Tokyo, 30 March 2001
  8. 23rd Murakami Prize (Murakami-Shourei-shou) from the Murakami Memorial Foundation in Sendai, 15 May 2003
  9. 8th Honda Prize of Technological Development of Recycling from the Clean Japan Center in Tokyo, January 2004
  10. 30th Encouraging Prize (Shigen-Sozaigakkai Shourei-shou) from the Mining and Materials Institute of Japan, 28 March 2005
  11. The 38th Ichimura Prize in Technology - Meritorious Achievement Prize from The New Technology Development Foundation, 28 April 2006
  12. 65th JIM Meritorious Award from the Japan Institute of Metals at the 140th Spring meeting, Chiba, 27 March 2007
  13. 32nd Best Paper Awards (Shigen-Sozaigakkai Ronbun-shou) from the Mining and Materials Institute of Japan at the 130th Spring meeting, Tokyo, 30 March 2007
  14. 26th Technology Award (Gijutsu-shou) from The Japan Titanium Society, 9 November 2009
  15. 2012 Nikkei Global Environmental Technology Awards to the establishments of innovative approaches to the global environment, Nikkei Inc., 7 November 2012
  16. The 12th Green and Sustainable Chemistry Award (GSC Award), The Minister of the Environment Award, (The Japan Association for Chemical Innovation (JACI), Green and Sustainable Chemistry Network (GSCN)), 'Development of Green Recycling Technology for Rare Earth Metals', 6th June, 2013.
  17. 36th Technological Development Prize (Gijutsu-kaihatsu-shou) from the Japan Institute of Metals at the 153th Fall meeting, Toyama, 7 September 2013
  18. The ASM Henry Marion Howe Medal for 2013 for the paper entitled, “Effective Dissolution of Platinum by Using Chloride Salts In Recovery Process”, ASM International (The Materials Information Society), 29 October, 2013, Montreal, Canada
  19. 62nd Best Paper Awards (Kinzoku Gakkai Ronbun-shou) from the Japan Institute of Metals at the 155th Fall meeting, Nagoya, 24-26 September 2014. “Removal of Iron from Titanium Ore through Selective Chlorination Using Magnesium Chloride”, J. Kang and T. H. Okabe, (24 September 2014)
  20. 40th Best Paper Awards (Shigen-Sozaigakkai Ronbun-shou) from the Mining and Materials Institute of Japan at the H27 fiscal year Spring meeting, Chiba, 28 March 2015
  21. Technology Development Award (Fujimori Award), The Rare Earth Society of Japan, H27 Annual Meeting of The Rare Earth Society of Japan at Kagoshima, (21 May 2015)
  22. 13th Honda Frontier Prize (Honda-Frontier -shou) from the Honda Memorial Foundation, 27 May 2016
  23. 86th Hoko Prize (Hattori-Hoko-Shou) from the Hattori Hokokai Fundation, 7th October 2016
  24. 2016 Molten Salt Award from Molten Salt Comittee, The Electrochemical Society of Japan, 27th January 2017
  25. 44th Best Paper Awards (Shigen-Sozaigakkai Ronbun-shou) from the Mining and Materials Institute of Japan, Tokyo, 38 March 2019
  26. H31 The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)), Prizes for Science and Technology, Public Understanding Promotion Category, 17 April 2019
  27. TMS Extraction & Processing Division Pyrometallurgy Best Paper Award, 26 February 2020
  28. The Degree of Doctor Honoris Causa at NTNU, Honorary Doctor of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 26 March 2021
  29. R3 The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)), Prizes for Science and Technology, Research Category, 14 April 2021
  30. 69th Best Paper Awards (Kinzoku Gakkai Ronbun-shou) from the Japan Institute of Metals, 14 September 2021
  31. 26th Honda Prize of Technological Development of Recycling from Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry, 15 October 2021
  32. 62nd Toray Science and Technology Prize from Toray Science Foundation, 31 March 2022


Profile
　　　　　　 I was born in Kyoto in 1965, and after graduating from The Japanese School in London, and Senior High School at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba, I received a Bachelor of Engineering degree, in metallurgy, from Kyoto University in 1988. I began my doctoral course in the same graduate school to research the processing of reactive metals, such as titanium and niobium, and completed the course in 1993. After earning the doctoral degree, I worked for 3 years as a postdoctoral researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States, supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS, Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad). Then, I worked as a research associate at the Institute of Advanced Materials Processing (Currently, Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials (IMRAM)), Tohoku University for five years. In 2001, I became an associate professor at the Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo. After my associate professorship at the same institute, I was appointed as a professor in 2009. From 2019 to 2021, I was appointed as the Vice President of the University of Tokyo. Since 2021, I have been the Director General of the Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo.
　　　　　　Currently, I specialise in materials science, environmental science, resource circulation engineering and rare metal process engineering. For more than 35 years, I have consistently pursued research on refining/recycling “rare metals” or “specialty metals” or “less-common metals”. I have also been developing a new processing technology for future-materials, such as titanium, with the ultimate goal of realising processing technology that changes rare metal to common metals. Recently, in addition to the research on the innovative production technology, I have been working on new recycling and environmental technology of rare metals, such as niobium, tantalum, scandium, tungsten, and precious metals.


List of Publications


(2023.6.12 updated)