[Award] First-year student from the School of Arts wins both the Excellence Award and the Council Award at the 6th Medical Creation Idea Contest!

On Wednesday, October 29, 2025, the "Big Palette Fukushima" was held in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture.6th Medical Creation Idea ContestIn the final judging of the Fukushima Medical Device Development Support Center, Mio Senoue, a first-year student in the School of Art and Design at the University of Tsukuba, achieved the remarkable feat of winning both the Excellence Award and the Special Award (Council Award) for her work titled "Bottleisure."

This contest invites product ideas from high school, university, and graduate students across the country on the theme of medicine and health, and this year received 230 entries (Theme A: 105 / Theme B: 125).
Despite being in his first year at university, Segami was highly praised among a large number of upperclassmen, including graduate students and medical students. The judges highly praised his approach to health support that is closely tied to everyday life, as well as the creative ideas that can only be found in design.

• Organized by: Fukushima Medical Device Development Support Center
• Date: Wednesday, October 2025, 10
• Venue: Big Palette Fukushima (Medical Creation Fukushima 2025)
• Theme A: Supporting your own health and that of those close to you! Product ideas for living a healthier everyday life
• Theme B: I want to help people in need! Product ideas that support the lives of people in need

• Yuto [1st year student, Graduate School of Emergent Science, Kagawa University] (Theme B)
  Title: "melomo" - a wearable electric artificial larynx that can be operated with finger gestures

• Mio Segami (1st year, School of Art and Design, University of Tsukuba) (Theme A)
  Title: “Bottleisure”
• Peace Corazon [4th year medical student, Ehime University School of Medicine] (Theme B)
  Title: "A handkerchief that saves a life"

• Mio Segami (1st year, School of Art and Design, University of Tsukuba) (Theme A)
  Title: “Bottleisure”

• Yuki Ito (5th year, Faculty of Medicine, Yokohama City University) (Theme A)
  Title: "AED Cardboard Simulator"
• Non [Techno Academy Koriyama, Department of Precision Mechanical Engineering, 2nd year] (Theme A)
  Title: "Memory"
• My Endoscope [2nd year student, Department of Electrical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo] (Theme B)
  Title: "Portable endoscopy training with AI instructor and gamification functions"

Mr. Segami's work was featured in the "Basic Design Seminar 1" and was highly praised for identifying medical and health issues from everyday life and attempting to solve them through the power of design, under the guidance of Associate Professor Toshiro Uchiyama. The fact that the students were able to take part in a nationwide contest less than six months after enrolling at university and achieve success on the same stage as graduate students and medical students is symbolic of the educational achievements of the School of Art and Design.

Also, last year, under the guidance of Associate Professor Uchiyama,First-year student of the Graduate School of Design (Mr. Inagaki) wins both the Excellence Award and the Council AwardMr. Segami's award this time is a great achievement that continues that trend.

The College of Art and Design at the University of Tsukuba places emphasis on design education that connects with society through the integration of intellect and sensibility, and fosters the ability of each student to create new value from familiar everyday life and issues. This award is a prime example of the results of this educational policy.