The National Institute of Maritime, Port, and Aviation Technology (MPAT) was established on April 1, 2016, by merging the National Maritime Research Institute (NMRI), the Port and Airport Research Institute (PARI), and the Electronic Navigation Research Institute (ENRI) to implement creative research and development for strengthening the international competitiveness of transportation industry, enhancing the use of oceans, and preserving the coastal and marine environment.

Since the foundation, by enhancing collaboration among the three foundational institutes, we have been doing multi-disciplinary research studies on development of next-generation technologies for ocean resources exploration, utilization of drone technology in coastal and ocean areas, and functional enhancement of metropolitan airports. Also, as a multi-disciplinary activity, we have started developing a simulator for transportation of rescue and relief activities in a large-scale disaster, a part of which is conducted under the support of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as the project of "Bottleneck analysis related to marine and air transportation under the large-scale disaster." Areas of collaboration have been expanding to the utilization of AI technology and ocean wind power generation technology.

In addition to the collaborative research activities, the MPAT also promotes vigorous research in respective expertise fields of the three institutes, which retain their names. The main research themes are securing safety in marine transportation, preserving the marine environment, ocean development, and development of basic technologies supporting marine transportation for the NMRI; coastal disaster mitigation and restoration, formation of infrastructure for vigorous economy and society, preservation of marine interests and utilization of oceans, and creation and utilization of coastal environment for the PARI; and enhancement of air traffic management by trajectory based operations, enhancement of airport operation, optimization of air traffic using on-board information, and enhancement of information sharing and communication systems for the ENRI.

The MPAT has the following goals:
(1) To be one of the world’s leading institutes with integration of a wide variety of people and information;
(2) To lead the academic fields and drive innovation;
(3) To keep enhancing individual capabilities of our members; and
(4) To continue to improve management.

We believe that the mission of the MPAT as a National Research and Development Agency is not only to fulfill our administrative goals, but also, as stated in the Fifth Science and Technology Basic Plan by the government of Japan, to contribute to industry by driving innovation. To achieve the mission, we facilitate the exchange of ideas and information with industry as well as universities and other research institutes including those outside Japan. The MPAT will promote the creation of a bright future through the development of advanced maritime, port, and aviation technologies.

KURIYAMA Yoshiaki
President, National Institute of Maritime, Port and Aviation Technology