On June 12, 2026, Kyutech received Third Prize in Category 4 (Open Technology Division) at the first competition of the NEDO Challenge for Blue Economy, earning a prize of ¥1,000,000.
Climate change caused by global warming is having serious impacts around the world. The oceans absorb approximately one-quarter of the CO₂ emitted by human activities, and in particular, coastal marine ecosystems store significant amounts of carbon known as Blue Carbon, which has a high carbon sequestration capacity.
The NEDO Challenge for Blue Economy is a prize-based competition aimed at creating innovative technologies that contribute to the development of blue carbon industries, as well as technologies for the detection and cleaning of marine biofouling on ship hulls. In the first competition, five categories were organized under two themes: “Monitoring and Measurement of Large Seaweed Growth” and “Detection of Ship Hull Biofouling.
Kyutech participated in Categories 2, 4, and 5, and won Third Prize in Category 4 (Open Technology Division).
Kyutech has been conducting collaborative research with Panasonic Corporation on underwater radio-frequency (RF) communication technologies. Since electromagnetic waves experience significant attenuation underwater, conventional positioning systems such as GPS and wireless communication technologies such as Wi-Fi cannot be used effectively. Consequently, underwater RF communication has received limited research attention in the past.
Through extensive research and development, the team successfully achieved underwater wireless communication at a data rate of 1 Mbps over a distance of 4 meters. This technology was subsequently integrated into an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), enabling the real-time transmission of seabed images and positional information.
The novelty and practical potential of this technology were highly evaluated, resulting in the team receiving Third Prize, accompanied by a ¥1,000,000 award.
| Awardee Representative | Kazuhiro Eguchi (Specially Appointed Professor, Kyushu Institute of Technology) |
| Presentation Title | Monitoring the Growth Status of Large Seaweeds through Real-Time Transmission of UUV-Captured Video and Position Information Using Underwater Radio-Frequency Communication |
◇NEDO Challenge for Blue Economy, click here.
Award Ceremony
Award Acceptance Speech
