I²CNER held the first Satellite Symposium March 6th through the 7th at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus.  The events were hosted at a central location on the Illinois Campus, the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, one of the newest and most prestigious buildings in the entire university.  The aim of these events was to celebrate the establishment of the Illinois Satellite Institute, and to formally kick-off the collaborative research projects between I²CNER’s Kyushu University and Satellite PIs.

On March 6th, the day officially began with opening remarks from Setsuo Arikawa, President of Kyushu University, Toshio Kuroki, Program Director from the World Premier International Research Center Initiative, Richard Wheeler, the Provost of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ilesanmi Adesida, the Dean of the Illinois College of Engineering, and Petros Sofronis, the Director of I²CNER.  They recounted the extensive effort that went into forging this collaboration between Kyushu University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and outlined the organizing principles and research mission of the Institute.  Toshio Kuroki PD expounded on a global perspective of I²CNER by explaining the mission of WPI and its plans for the program’s support and growth.   Around 100 people, including international researchers, participated in the symposium.  William Dick, the Executive Director of I²CNER, served as the master of ceremonies.

The symposium was divided into two days with a total of twenty-nine speakers. The first day, March 6, entitled “Powering the Future,” offered attendees an overview of the most current energy breakthroughs, as well as the serious barriers to a carbon-neutral energy future from the perspective of representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy, National Laboratories, and Toyota Motor Corporation.  March 7 was broken into four sessions, and featured speakers from the Institute, who explained their current research projects and suggested future research directions.

On March 8th, PIs from both Kyushu University and the University of Illinois gathered on campus for interdisciplinary (research fusion) faculty meetings.  After a session in the morning that featured keynote talks by Professor Ken Sakai and Professor Hidehisa Hagiwara breakout sessions were hosted which included PIs from different divisions. Concurrent with the collaborative sessions, Robert Finley and Sallie Greenberg of the Illinois State Geological Survey led a tour of the Arthur Daniels Midland CCS Site in Decatur, Illinois.