Radiation sensors are used in various fields of science and industry. Recent
enhanced capability of radiation sources and expanded uses of these devices have raised the demand for high-performance detectors, and Professor Keisuke ASAI and his team at the Department of Applied Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biomolecular Engineering of the School of Engineering at Tohoku University are engaged in research in this field. They are developing radiation sensors based on photon emission upon impinging radiation, i.e., scintillation, and radiation-induced changes in the optical properties. They have already successfully fabricated plastic scintillators incorporating elements of high atomic numbers as oxide nanoparticles with two unique methods: sol-gel and two-step supercritical hydrothermal methods.
Alexandre Kircher is a 22-year old student from the Ecole Centrale of Lyon, one of the top engineering schools of France. Interested in Japanese culture since his childhood, he was given the opportunity to work in the Sugawa and Kuroda Laboratory for a whole semester during his gap year between his first and second years of his Master Degree, before returning to his home university to complete the last year of his master degree in On-Board System Engineering. At the School of Engineering of Tohoku University, he is doing research on the Random Telegraph Noise (RTN), electronic noise which appears in small transistors and in unreliability of the data obtained when a large number of transistors are involved.
Hafiyan comes from Tangerang in Indonesia. His first visit to Japan was in 2007 after graduating from a madrasa. He came as an undergraduate student and received a scholarship from MEXT. Following a one-year intensive training program in Japanese language, he started studiying information technology (computer science) in a college of technology in Yamato Koriyama, a small city in Nara Prefecture. He learnt how to program, a way to maximize the potential usefulness of computers for humans. He then came to Sendai in 2013, starting his graduate program at Tohoku University in the Ito-Nose Laboratory (then Ito Laboratory), mostly by happenstance. His motivation for continuing on to graduate school was to find an application for his rather limited knowledge of computer science.
The Division of International Education and Exchange of the School of Engineering often organizes events to promote Japanese culture. The last one, which attracted both international and Japanese students, was on the theme of gyoza, one of the most popular dishes in Japan, a kind of dumpling consisting of ground meat and vegetables wrapped in a thin piece of dough.
Cherry picnic
Every April, all laboratories of Tohoku University do Hanami, the Japanese tradition of enjoying the beauty of flowers, especially cherry blossoms, while picnicking with friends or coworkers.
Japanese whiskey and tradition.
About a dozen local and foreign students from the School of Engineering recently enjoyed a day trip around Miyagi and Yamagata. The annual excursion around the region, organized by the IEED, is always a great way for students to get to know more about Tohoku, as well as each other. This winter‘s trip began at the Nikka Whisky distillery in Sendai.
