UA, TDK Expand Research Agreement to Support Graduate Students

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.  — Two University of Alabama graduate students will receive annual financial support from the expansion of a research agreement between UA and the Japanese electronics company TDK Corp.

“The new program, called the TDK Scholar program, is part of an expanded research agreement recently signed in Tokyo,” said Dr. Carl A. Pinkert, UA vice president for research and economic development.

TDK committed $50,000 annually to the program in support of two students. The scholarship support is potentially renewable for up to three years. Pinkert and Dr. Dai Matsuoka, general manager of TDK’s Technical Headquarters, signed the agreement.

The students will participate in a joint research effort between the two organizations, which first began in 2010 and was expanded in 2015. Under this ongoing agreement, researchers from TDK and UA’s Center for Materials for Information Technology, or MINT, are attempting to address challenges associated with magnetic materials science and engineering for the growing electric-energy movement and also the miniaturization of electronic components.

“The research agreement is called the MINT-TDK Collaborative Project,” said Dr. Takao Suzuki, director of UA’s MINT Center and project lead. “It builds on our existing collaboration.”

UA’s MINT Center conducts fundamental studies on materials for data storage, energy storage, sensors and other applications of new materials and technologies. The MINT Center has more than 40 faculty from seven departments at The University of Alabama. MINT is active in research and education through global professional partnerships, including industries, national laboratories and universities around the world.

TDK Corp. is a leading electronics company based in Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1935 to commercialize ferrite, a key material in electronic and magnetic products. TDK’s portfolio includes electronic components, modules and systems marketed under the product brands TDK and EPCOS, power supplies, magnetic application products as well as energy devices, flash memory application devices, and others.

TDK focuses on demanding markets in the areas of information and communication technology and consumer, automotive and industrial electronics. The company has a network of design and manufacturing locations and sales offices in Asia, Europe and in North and South America. In fiscal 2015, TDK posted total sales of $9.0 billion in U.S. dollars and employed about 88,000 people worldwide.