SAKURA SCIENCE University Program
Kyoto University; Katsura Campus Mini Lecture and Laboratory Visit
On Tuesday, September 10, 55 university students selected from India's top universities* visited Kyoto University, Katsura Campus. After a welcome greeting from TACHIKAWA Yasuto, Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering, the students were treated to a mini-lecture. Initially, INAMASU Hiroyuki, Junior Associate Professor (Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering) explained development and research of new structural members and joints designed to improve seismic and vibration damping performance in steel structure frameworks in a lecture entitled "How can we enhance steel structure's seismic resilience?" Next, TANAKA Takayuki, Associate Professor (Department of Molecular Engineering) introduced a method for chemical synthesis of nanocarbon material structures at the molecular level under the theme of "Bottom-up chemical synthesis of molecular nanocarbon."
In the Q&A session that followed the lecture, Prof. INAMASU asked questions like "How long will it take in terms of cost?" "What is the depth of the underground foundation?" and "What kind of materials are acceptable with earthquake-resistant structures in Japan?" In addition, Prof. TANAKA asked, "Even if you create a new structure, isn't it a long way until it will have practical application?" and "How do we maintain the stability of molecules?" and many other interesting questions. They were lively lectures despite being only 25 minutes each.
During the visit to the laboratory, the students were divided into groups based on their specialization and they were allowed to visit six laboratories in the Graduate School of Engineering (Department of Urban Management, Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Science, Department of Micro Engineering, Department of Energy and Hydrocarbon Chemistry, and Department of Molecular Engineering). The students' eagerness to learn seemed to be further spurred on by seeing the research site first-hand. They asked one question one after another.
Lunch was a social event with students studying on the same campus. Various topics such as research themes and campus life opened to a lot of conversations. It was a fulfilling campus visit although it was only for half a day.
* IIT Bombay, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, University of Anna, Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Delhi
