Won the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award and the JFE Steel Award at the 2023nd National College of Technology GIRLS SDGs×Technology Contest (National College of Technology GCONXNUMX)!

　On Sunday, January 21, 2023, at the XNUMXnd National College of Technology GIRLS SDGs x Technology Contest (GCONXNUMX) held at Nikkei Hall (Otemachi, Tokyo), Toba National College of Technology and Toyota National College of Technology The joint team won both the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award and the JFE Steel Award.
　Technical College GCON encourages teams of mainly female students to think about how their daily research and learning can contribute to various social issues from the perspective of the SDGs, thereby encouraging further growth as future researchers and engineers. The purpose is to This time, a joint team from Toba National College of Marine Science and Technology and Toyota National College of Technology (team name: Kakikko) made a presentation titled ``Unfired smart oyster shell tiles that absorb CO2.'' This initiative was carried out through industry-academia-region collaboration with the cooperation of Care Shell Co., Ltd. (Toba City) and Nakajima Ceramics Co., Ltd. (Tajimi City).
　The oyster shell tiles are intended to be used as interior wall material for saunas, which are loved by oyster girls, and will be connected to efforts to promote tourism in Toba City through sa activities.

[Award-winning works]
　Team name: Kakikko
　Title: Unfired smart oyster shell tiles that absorb CO2
(Overview)
　Toba City is one of Japan's leading oyster producing areas.
　On the other hand, Tajimi City is one of Japan's leading ceramic cities.
　Toba City is facing the problem of large amounts of oyster shells produced during the production process of oyster shell farming. Tajimi City is facing the issue of CO₂ emissions in the ceramics industry and a shortage of raw materials due to a decline in the number of clay mines. To solve these problems, we process discarded oyster shells into unfired tiles, turning them into a valuable resource. If it becomes widely used as a building material in society, it can be said to make a significant contribution to carbon neutrality. By forming a partnership between a fishing town and a ceramic town, they can both increase profits and achieve sustainable industrial development. We propose a new tile manufacturing process to turn oyster shells into a valuable resource.

[Technical college GCON official homepage]
https://gcon.kosen-k.go.jp/
[Care Shell Co., Ltd.]
https://careshell.com/
[Nakajima Ceramics Co., Ltd.]
https://www.e-naka.net/