NOVEMBER 1--Omron Corporation has announced the establishment of a new R&D company, Omron Institute of Sensing & Control Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (ORS), located in Shanghai Zizhu Science-based Technology Park, Shanghai, China. Staff at ORS will be engaged primarily in R&D into the latest sensing and control technologies. In particular, they will focus on R&D into facial-recognition technology and vision sensing technologies that can identify the shape and condition of various objects.

The establishment of this new company represents an investment of US$9.7 million including real estate, construction of the building, and infrastructure. Initially, approximately 100 researchers will be assigned to conduct research around 30 themes. There are plans to double both the number of researchers and research themes by the end of FY2007.

Comprised primarily of local researchers and engineers, the institute will facilitate rapid response to local needs and develop new technologies that benefit the entire Omron group. Every year more than a hundred thousand Chinese students return home from US, European, and Japanese educational institutions where they have studied cutting-edge technologies. Adjacent to Shanghai Jiaotong University and having excellent research and educational facilities, Shanghai Zizhu Science-based Technology Park is located in an area that is especially attractive for these highly skilled returning graduate students and researchers.

"ORS aims to capitalize on the advantages of its location and offer a space for collaborative innovation, where university professors, graduate students, researchers and other promising individuals can come together and interact with Omron researchers. In this way, we aim to strengthen our advanced sensing and control competencies even further and develop new technological breakthroughs," said board chairman Koichi Imanaka.