Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing)Our lab members and those from Sendai Kosen (National Institute of Technology, Sendai College) had lunch together at Sapporo Beer Garden. The cherry blossoms were all gone, but with the freshness of the Kosen students, Genghis Khan (mutton barbecue) and a lot of beer, we recharged our batteries for the new academic year. First year master’s student, Nakajima-san is looking lively! (Top Left)
May
Futsal TournamentThe members of our lab competed in a futsal tournament held in Nagamachi. We fought hard with our ace Katabira at the center, but we ended up in 4th place out of 8 teams. Next time, hopefully Yoshida-kun, who couldn’t play this time due to a hip injury will be able to play, so let’s try our best and aim for 1st place!
Jun
Baseball TournamentWe gathered just enough people to compete in the baseball tournament. We were the first to score in the first inning, getting off to a good start, which shows the result of our practice at the batting center. But the other team came from behind in the last inning and we lost. They were a good team. We promised to redeem ourselves at the soccer tournament. Nakajima-san looks disappointed (Top Left).
Aug
High School Student Internship (Day 1)For three days (August 1-3), Sophomores from Mukaiyama High School in Sendai came to our lab for academic internship. In the morning they received a lecture from Prof. Narita, and afterwards went outside to collect spider silk from the back yard of the Education and Research Building of Material Science and Engineering. Spider silk may be stronger than that of steel or the fiber used for bullet proof vests, and when bundled together, it can’t easily be torn by hand.The students were fascinated by these characteristics. For lunch, we went to the cafeteria of the School of Engineering and got to know each other better. In the afternoon, we made specimens for fracture tests using the spider silk we collected in the morning.
High School Student Internship (Day 2)Day 2 started with the work of embedding magnetostrictive material into concrete. This experiment is the first step toward creating roads in the future with embedded magnetostrictive materials which produce electricity from vibrations of passing people and cars. The students were half in doubt as they did the work. Another experiment we performed is measuring the strain of the baseball bat and ball when they come into contact. After lunch, we actually went outside to do some batting to calculate the strain (made of iron and made of aluminum). The students couldn’t go to club activities during internship, so maybe it was a good exercise for them.
High School Student Internship (Day 3)We had a lot to do on the final day. First, we talked about whether the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk can be possible. And then we went on to talk about how tall towers pretty much all have the same shape (Eiffel Tower, Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo Tower). Students were asking, what is exponential function? It’s about empty weight and buckling (taught in Mechanics of Materials in college). In order to experience that, using blocks (specific gravity of 0.53, Young’s Modulus 8.6GPa), students were asked to stack them as tall as possible. Because the students had received a lecture from Prof. Narita that in order to stack blocks higher, the shape at the bottom is important, they were able to stack the blocks to an impressive height of 2m 15cm! After that, we did experiments to see if the concrete we made on Day 2 would actually generate electricity. The result was…Success! We saw the LED light up. The students were excited at the result so it was worth the effort (however, to put it to practical use, we have to develop new material so that it would light up with little force). Then, we performed fracture tests on materials with spider silk we made on Day 1. What were the differences between these and specimens without spider silk, and other specimens? We had the students discuss. And then, at the end of the day we had a little wrap up party. In order to verify why sausages always split lengthwise, we cooked some sausages (this is about combined stress such as cylindrical fuel tanks that appear in Mechanics of Materials). The skin of cheap sausages split right away, but expensive sausages didn’t split easily. This is a big discovery! What we found out later was that expensive sausages use sheep intestines, whereas cheap ones use artificial skin. That’s why expensive sausages are ductile (they stretch), and cheap sausages are brittle (hard to stretch). When they were about to leave, the students all looked sad (maybe they wanted to eat more?) which made us sad too. Come visit again! You can enter Tohoku University and join our lab!
Marina’s Goodbye PartyMarina, who came to our lab on JYPE program starting in April, completed her program so we held a goodbye party. For lunch we made pancakes together, and at the party we each gave her a gift. Some gifts were funny, some were seriously picked out. Trying to make her cry, someone even prepared a handmade gift!
Sep
Summer TripThis year, we went to Iizaka Onsen in Fukushima. We had dinner, ate enban-gyoza, and drank a lot and when we realized it was getting light outside! Yoshida-kun kept on eating snacks the whole time instead of alcohol. He eats like an athlete.
Oct
Department of Metallurgy, Materials Science and Materials Processing Ekiden (Long distance road relay)We competed in the Department Ekiden. We had been practicing in the evening since the beginning of October, but we ended up in 14th place… Let’s try our best next year so that we can be ranked in the top 10!
Nov
International ConferenceKatabira san and Nakajima san participated in an international conference called ACMFMS2016 held at Shanghai University in China. They were nervous since this was their first international conference, but they were able to successfully give their presentations. Afterwards, feeling relieved, they went to see Shanghai’s nightscapes. They say the view is amazing.
Futsal TournamentWe got first place in a futsal tournament of the Department of Metallurgy, Materials Science and Materials Processing (Group of Materials Processing). We had been playing futsal once a week (on the left) so our teamwork was excellent.
Mid-Term PresentationFourth year undergraduate students gave a short presentation in English using a poster prepared in English about their research up to now. It’s hard work, but it’s also a good way to get used to making slides and public speaking in preparation for their thesis presentation which is coming up.
Dec
Bounenkai (Year-end party)This year, we did a year end cleaning of our lab in the morning, and then the fourth year undergraduate students gave a mid-term report on their graduation research. In the evening we held a bounenkai. Professor Murasawa from Yamagata University was able to join us, and we all had a good time. At the end of the party, the fourth year students gave an important announcement…This year is flying by. We hope to make next year a good one by enjoying research and recreation.
Jan
Open LabThere was an open lab, an event aimed at introducing the lab to third year undergraduate students of the Materials Department. Thanks to the wonderful (?) presentation given by the fourth year students, there were many who said they want to come to our lab next academic year. We can really look forward to the next fourth year students!
Nabe-Jiro & VR ExperienceWe enjoyed the famous Ramen Jiro in a nabe (pot) which belongs to the lab. Also, we experienced Takeuchi-kun’s PlayStation VR at the lab. Everyone was so excited with the taste of Jiro and the otherworldly feeling of VR.
Mar
Farewell Party & GraduationIt’s time to say goodbye to Kobayashi-san (M2), our seniors and the lab secretary Furuyama-san, who have all been a big support to this lab.
Thank you so much. We will miss you but we wish you all the best in your future endeavors!
And then, at the end of the day we had a little wrap up party. In order to verify why sausages always split lengthwise, we cooked some sausages (this is about combined stress such as cylindrical fuel tanks that appear in Mechanics of Materials). The skin of cheap sausages split right away, but expensive sausages didn’t split easily. This is a big discovery! What we found out later was that expensive sausages use sheep intestines, whereas cheap ones use artificial skin. That’s why expensive sausages are ductile (they stretch), and cheap sausages are brittle (hard to stretch). When they were about to leave, the students all looked sad (maybe they wanted to eat more?) which made us sad too. Come visit again! You can enter Tohoku University and join our lab!
