Faster and More Cost-effective Way to Success in MEMS R&D by Open Collaboration in Tohoku University

In this paper, "Open Collaboration" is defined as research and development (R&D) in a value/supply chain composed of different organizations including companies, universities and research institutes. If Open Collaboration is defined like this, it is not new, but it was not working well in Japanese universities. This paper first explains the scheme of Open Collaboration of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) in Tohoku University. Then, the project of integrated tactile sensors is described as a successful example of Open Collaboration. The purpose of this paper is to promote Open Collaboration in the field of MEMS by introducing our practices.