Japan has largely pulled out of the significant economic stagnation of the last decade. Its economy is the second-largest in the world, with strong ties with the United States and Asian countries. This year, the Japan Panel discusses opportunities and challenges lying in the economy of Japan and the activities of Japanese companies from macro and micro viewpoints.

What is the trend of the economy and the relationship with other countries? How Japanese companies are doing business to sustain their advantages? The Japan Panel features four distinguished professionals who have in-depth knowledge and years of experiences in Japanese economy and companies.

Prof. Kazuhiro Saito

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Michigan

Kazuhiro Saitou received the PhD degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, in 1996. From 1997 to 2003, he was an Assistant Professor with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he is currently an Associate Professor. His research interests include optimal product design for manufacture, assembly, environment, and supply chains, and product and supply chain co-design. He teaches classes on product design and manufacturing, design for manufacturability, design optimization, global product development, and assembly modeling for design and manufacturing. He currently serves as an associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering and an editorial board member of the International Journal of CAD/CAM and of the Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines, and the secretary of the ASME Design for Manufacturing Technical Committee. He was the recipient of the 1999 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, and the Best Paper Award at the 5th International Symposium on Tools and Methods of Competitive Engineering in 2004, and Outstanding Achievement Award from Department of Mechancial Engineering in 2007. He is a founding member and CEO of Comnext, Inc (http://www.comnext.co.jp/).

Takashi “Taka” Tsuchiya

Chief Executive Director, JETRO Chicago

Topic: "Japanese Economy in Economic Integration of East Asia"

Taka Tsuchiya was appointed Chief Executive Director of JETRO Chicago in March 2005. As Chief Executive Director, he oversees the Chicago office in its activities designed to facilitate business development between Japan and companies in the 12-state Midwest region.  He has served as Director of the Public Affairs Department at JETRO New York from 1985-1989, and was Vice President of JETRO Bangkok from 1997-2000. Immediately prior to his current post, Mr. Tsuchiya was Director of the Research Planning Division, Overseas Research Department, at JETRO headquarters in Tokyo, a position he assumed in 2003.  Mr. Tsuchiya joined JETRO in 1975, after earning his Bachelor’s Degree in American Studies from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He also holds a Master’s Degree in American Studies from the University of Hawaii.

E. Charles (Chuck) Gulash

Vice President – Research & Materials Engineering, Toyota Technical Center, Toyota Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA)

Topic: " The Toyota Way Globalization & Sustainability"

E. Charles (Chuck) Gulash is Vice President of Toyota Technical Center (TTC) the North American R&D division of Toyota Motor Corporation.  He is responsible for materials development and leads North American advanced research activities at TTC’s laboratories in Ann Arbor MI, Cambridge MA, Berkeley CA and Aikin SC.

Chuck joined TTC in 1996 as General Manager of Vehicle Evaluation at the Arizona Proving Ground and has held a series of leadership roles in vehicle evaluation and performance development.  He became Vice President of Vehicle Evaluation in 1999, Vice President of Vehicle Evaluation & Engineering in 2002 and Vice President of Research & Materials Engineering in 2006.

Prior to joining TTC, Chuck held various engineering and management positions during more than 20 years with General Motors Corporation, where he was involved with vehicle safety, design engineering and total vehicle development. 

Chuck earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan.  He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and is a recipient of the SAE Arch T. Colwell Merit Award.  He serves on the External Advisory Boards of the University of Michigan Mechanical Engineering Department and Transportation Research Institute as well as the Visiting Committee at the College of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan – Dearborn.

Chuck resides in Ann Arbor.  His children, Joe and Liz, have graduated from the University of Arizona and work in southern California.  Chuck’s hobbies include cars, biking, hiking, yoga and digital things. 

Mr. Tomiji Sugimoto

Vice President, Honda R & D Americas, Inc.

Topic: Innovative Approach Through Safety For Everyone

Mr. Tomiji Sugimoto serves as a vice president with Honda R&D Americas, Inc. based in Southfield, Michigan, with responsibility for the Automobile Technology Research Division. Prior to joining HRA, Mr. Sugimoto was a Senior Chief Engineer with Honda R&D Co., Ltd., in charge of safety technology for Honda since 2001.  In that role, he also had oversight of Honda’s state-of-the-art Omnidirectional Crash Test Safety Facility in Tochigi, Japan.

Mr. Sugimoto’s research earned the Award for Safety Engineering Excellence from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) at the Amsterdam ESV Conference in 2001.  He also has won the Japan Society of Automotive Engineers (JSAE) Award. 
He has played a major role in industry efforts to establish the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Pedestrian Dummy Standard.

His published articles with the JSAE include "Research of occupant injuries in frontal collisions between passenger cars"; "Innovative Body Structure for the Self Protection of a Small Car in a Frontal Vehicle-to-Vehicle Collision";  "Study of the test procedure for offset crash"; and "A Trend of SRS Air Bag System”.

He also served in a number of important industry organizations, including as chairman of the Traffic Accidents Analysis Experts Group of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA). 

Mr. Sugimoto graduated in 1977 from Aoyama Gakukin University with a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering.