Shimadzu Europa Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Shimadzu celebrated the 50th anniversary of Shimadzu Europa on 11 September 2018. Over 300 guests from all over Europe attended the event in the fully booked Mercator Hall in Duisburg, Germany where the 'Magic Moments Night' took place, an event featuring music, show acts, dinner, speeches, greeting notes and a 'Walk of History'. The Supervisory Board and Executive Board came from Japan to party together with the European Shimadzu family, management of the Shimadzu subsidiaries and distributors from all over Europe. The program was hosted by Asli Sevindim, a TV journalist born in Duisburg, the hometown of the Shimadzu Europa headquarters.

The musical part of the evening was covered by some members of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The show act performed by ‘Physikanten & Co’ combined entertainment and science. Using physical phenomena, the group made the 300 guests laugh, smile and wonder. Giant vortex rings flew 20-30 m, and showed in a rapid sequence of experiments the fascinating aspects of carbon dioxide, other than its threat of being a greenhouse gas.

Scientific edutainment ideally combines the worlds of physics and chemistry, both a part of Shimadzu’s technological homebase. The company is one of the world leaders in analytical instrumentation and medical technology. The analysers are used in almost all manufacturing industries, in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, in the food industry and in the healthcare sector. They serve consumer, patient and environmental protection as well as product safety. Medical technology includes diagnostic imaging, i.e. X-ray and fluoroscopy systems. Shimadzu has over 120 years of tradition in this segment.

For the 'Walk of History', Shimadzu collected historic advertisements, brochures, and photographs from exhibitions covering 50 years of corporate history in Europe. These items bridged the gap between then and now. A corporate chronicle of 100 pages put the development of Shimadzu Europa in the context of technological, economic, political and social change in Europe.

Akiro Nakamoto, Chairman of the Board of Shimadzu Corporation, emphasised in his welcoming speech the importance of the European market where Shimadzu is represented in all countries and employs about 750 people. The President and CEO of Shimadzu Corporation, Teruhisa Ueda, sent his best wishes to the workforce and described Shimadzu Europa as a strong and creative voice in the global organisation, employing over 11,000 people worldwide. Jürgen Kwass, MD of Shimadzu Europa, mentioned that an anniversary is a time to party, as well as an opportunity to review and recap what has been accomplished in the past, in order to draw the right conclusions for future goals and developments. He stated, Shimadzu has the best skilled people, innovative products, and an excellent distribution network supporting the future plan to soon offer 1,000 jobs in Europe.