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Technological and Social Harmony in Yokohama: The 2025 IEEE NSS MIC RTSD Conference
Conference General Chair Hiroyuki Takahashi, a professor at the University of Tokyo
The 2025 IEEE NSS MIC RTSD Conference was held at PACIFICO Yokohama North from November 1 to 8, combining the Nuclear Science Symposium (NSS), the Medical Imaging Conference (MIC), and the Room Temperature Semiconductor Detectors (RTSD) Symposium under the umbrella of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The conference, known as the world's largest international conference on radiation measurement, brought together a global community of scientists, engineers, consultants, operators, physicians, service-crew members, and innovators in Yokohama, a multicultural city with a long history of international exchange.
PACIFICO Yokohama North: “The Best Fit”
Dr. Taiga Yamaya, MIC Program Co-Chair, was delighted that the conference was held in his hometown of Yokohama with PACIFICO Yokohama North as the chosen venue. “PACIFICO Yokohama North is the best fit for our conference, because we require a lot of space with access to separate rooms, where we can hold several concurrent sessions with people moving easily from room to room.”
Right: MIC Program Co-Chair Dr. Taiga Yamaya, of the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology
The state-of-the-art PACIFICO Yokohama North made it the perfect fit for the conference.
PACIFICO Yokohama North opened in April 2020 and is one of the largest event and conference complexes in Japan, with a multi-purpose hall of approximately 6,300 square meters and featuring 42 meeting rooms of varying sizes.
Bringing Science and Community Together
To be successful, a multidiscipline conference needs to facilitate the exchange of ideas by enabling participants to attend a varied program and to meet participants from different backgrounds. Professor Jae Sung Lee of Seoul National University, the MIC Program Co-Chair, elaborated on this point: “The most important aspects of the conference are the science and the friendship. We are excited to learn of new scientific results from other groups and also to meet people and form new friendships by attending the social events.”
MIC Program Co-Chair Jae Sung Lee, a professor at Seoul National University
The historic temple of Sojiji was the venue for a series of cultural experiences.
Yokohama Offers an Authentic Encounter with Zen
A key factor in the success of the conference was the support of the Yokohama City Visitors Bureau (YCVB), which helped to arrange a special dinner and series of cultural experiences for some participants at Sojiji Temple. Sojiji Temple is an active monastery of the Soto school of Zen Buddhism, and participants were able to experience ceremonial incense burning, and a guided seated Zen meditation experience in the same spaces as practicing monks. As General Chair of the conference, Professor Takahashi expressed his deep gratitude for YCVB’s assistance in arranging this special event.
Takahashi explained that Japanese conferences tend to be more formal than those in the United States—where the IEEE NSS MIC RTSD Conference originated—and YCVB went out of its way to help the organizers in this regard. “It makes things much easier if local groups can assist with facility arrangements. This was one benefit of YCVB’s support,” he said. “Another important contribution was the creation of networking opportunities, which is essential for such a conference. A lot of people from across the world came together to meet and speak with others in similar fields, and we needed a special occasion for that.” Since Sojiji Temple does not have its own catering service, Yokohama’s support was crucial in staging this very special dinner. “YCVB’s contribution was very, very important,” Takahashi said, “and because of that, we were able to have a memorable dinner. I truly appreciate this support.”
Professor Takahashi, General Chair of the conference, welcomes visitors from all over the world to the special dinner at Sojiji Temple.
Holding the conference in Asia created new synergy between East and Western participants and exhibitors.
New Audiences in Asia
Professor Lee also expressed his appreciation of the PACIFICO Yokohama venue and the host city of Yokohama. “I have to say that having a conference in an Asian country provides Western participants with a very unique experience, including exposure to the local culture and food—and, additionally for us, Japan’s great hospitality. I'm very happy that I could enjoy the conference in this beautiful place within my wonderful community.”
Professor Lee pointed out another important benefit: “I would like to emphasize that by holding this conference in an Asian country, we were able to attract more participants from across the region. This year, the number of attendees from China, Japan, and Korea was huge.”
The booth sponsored by the Yokohama City Visitors Bureau (YCVB) assisted delegates and helped them connect with local industry.
Left to right: Professors Lee and Takahashi talk together about a vision of the future inspired by the conference.
A Vision for Future Generations
Professor Lee spoke of the importance of education and young people’s participation in the conference. “We have emphasized education in this conference,” he said, “and by offering numerous short courses covering a variety of topics, we have been able to include more young people. I believe, as a result, they have contributed more actively to the conference as a whole.”
Yokohama had planned to host the conference in 2021, but because of the pandemic, the conference could be held only online. Professor Takahashi says that this year’s conference was, therefore, all the more special, because meeting face-to-face with fellow scientists is essential when discussing new topics and breakthroughs, such as artificial intelligence—one of the key topics at this year’s conference. “Generative AI has been very successful,” Professor Takahashi said. “It’s revolutionizing all fields. We need to talk with others about our trajectory and how we integrate AI technology into our research. So, we need personal communication.”
Bringing Academia and Industry Together
Dr. Yamaya agreed and added, “The other thing evident at this conference was the close connection between academia and industry. For example, developing new medical equipment is of great importance, and it’s mostly carried out by companies in the medical industry.” But he also said that those companies are usually reticent to publish the results of their research. “So, at this conference, we have shared the results of our state-of-the-art research, and I am so excited that both academia and industry could be included in that endeavor.” Creating this kind of environment for exchange, both on and off the conference program, is one thing that makes Yokohama different.
Dr. Yamaya, MIC Program Co-Chair and a native of Yokohama, emphasizes the importance of strengthening collaboration between academia and industry.