During his brief but hectic visit to Pittsburgh, Mayor Seki threw out the first pitch at the Thursday afternoon Pittsburgh Pirates versus Houston Astros baseball game. The Japanese are serious baseball fans. During his recent visit to Osaka, ETC Executive Producer, Don Marinelli, attending Opening Day of the Japanese baseball season as a guest of the Mayor, [Sadly, the Hiroshima Carp defeated the Hanshin Tigers; Hanshin is an Osaka-based team.]

While in Pittsburgh, Mayor Seki and his entourage visited the Carnegie Science Center where they toured the U.S.S. Requin submarine and interacted with the living history self-guided tour created by ETC students. They also experienced the interactive gaming device built by new ETC spin-off, Electric Owl Studios, in the waiting area of Children's Hospital's Emergency Room.

The highlight of his visit though was undoubtedly his tour of the newly renovated ETC facility where various ETC Project Groups made presentations of their work specifically to Mayor Seki and his group. Among these presentations were the Immunology Project, Northrop-Grumman, Electric Owl Studios, and the Location-Based Entertainment group project.

Mayor Seki and his entourage stayed at the famous Duquesne Club in Downtown Pittsburgh as a guest of Carnegie Mellon Board of Trustee, Lucian Caste, where a dinner was held in his honor on Thursday evening. At the dinner, Mayor Seki, Carnegie Mellon University Provost Mark Kamlet, and ETC Executive Producer Don Marinelli signed a Memorandum of Understanding underscoring the ETC's interest in establishing a branch in Osaka, Japan.