Mitsui Chemicals Opens Digital Science Lab.™ to Step up DX in R&D

2022.11.15

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo: 4183; President & CEO: HASHIMOTO Osamu) today announced plans to open the Digital Science Lab.™ to further accelerate the digital transformation (DX) of its R&D through digital science, a realm that blends computational science with data science and high-performance computing. The new research building will be located at Mitsui Chemicals’ Sodegaura Center, which is one of Japan’s largest R&D hubs belonging to a chemical company and brings together the combined knowledge of more than 1,000 researchers at a single site.

Mitsui Chemicals launched the VISION 2030 Long-Term Business Plan this past April, and is guided by the Mitsui Chemicals Group’s corporate mission to “contribute broadly to society by providing high-quality products and services to customers through innovation and the creation of materials, while keeping in harmony with the global environment.” Going forward, Mitsui Chemicals will use these as a basis as it looks to resolve social issues via its business activities.

Overview of Digital Science Lab.™

Name Digital Science Lab.™
Location Mitsui Chemicals Sodegaura Center, Sodegaura City, Chiba
Purpose
  • To speed up DX in R&D by generating synergies from the interaction of the company’s researchers, which will itself be achieved by bringing together digital science professionals and expert personnel from the company’s R&D divisions and production/technology divisions.
  • To encourage open innovation by establishing a facility equipped with a project room that can also be visited by personnel from outside the company, as well as with cutting-edge digital communication tools that will facilitate seamless co-creation with personnel in remote locations.
Facility features
  • To provide the infrastructure required for digital science, the facility will be equipped with a high-performance multi-architecture computing environment with an overall performance (theoretical peak double precision performance) in the petaFLOPS class.
  • The environmentally friendly features of this sustainable next-generation research facility will include solar power equipment, low-emissivity multi-layered glass, high-efficiency air conditioning and a building and energy management system.
  • The new facility will have a logo to represent its identity (trademark registration pending).
Investment Approx. 4 billion yen　
Schedule Construction starts June 2023. Completion is expected in October 2024, with use of the facility to begin the same month.
三井化学、研究開発DXを加速する「デジタルサイエンスラボ」を開設
三井化学、研究開発DXを加速する「デジタルサイエンスラボ」を開設
Illustration of facility exterior
三井化学、研究開発DXを加速する「デジタルサイエンスラボ」を開設
Aerial view of the Sodegaura Center

Mitsui Chemicals Opens Digital Science Lab.™ to Step up DX in R&D(PDF : 362.8KB)