ブックタイトル東北大学　アニュアルレビュー2015(英語版)

概要

東北大学　アニュアルレビュー2015(英語版)

StudentFeaturesTEAchnology on a Nano-micro ScaleFlying High with the WindnautsA team of students took the traditional Japanese art of the tea ceremony,fused it with modern technology and went on to win first prizeat the 2015 International Contest of Application in Nano-micro technology.Tohoku University’s Human Powered Aircraft Club took its fifth winat Japan’s International Birdman Rally in 2015,cementing its position as champion of the propellor-driven long distance division.This fun, and at times funny, com-says 2 ndyear engineering studentto stay in the air just that little bitpetition is open to members of theDaisuke Yoshizawa.“But there’slonger.public who create their own aircraftalso the joy that comes with working“I couldn’t walk after I got outand compete for distance and timeand learning alongside senior teamof the craft. It took about 2 or 3spent in the air. Every summer pilotsmembers.”hours until I was able to start to walk.launch their craft from the edge ofAmong those members is 3 rdI wasn’t back to normal for aboutJapan’s largest freshwater lake,year student and pilot of the aircraftthree days,”says Matsushima.Biwa. And engineers wait anxiouslyKota Matsushima. The Wingnauts’The Windnauts’winning distanceon the sidelines to see whether theirwinning craft was specifically de-this year was the second longest flightflying machines will glide effortlesslysigned around his weight and bodyrecorded in the history of Japan’sacross the water, or plummet soonshape to maximise power and flight.Birdman Rally, falling short only toafter takeoff.“There was no backup plan,”their own record flight of 36000.00m inWhile some are in it purelyhe laughs.“I was it.”But Matsu-2008.The winning inventionAnywhere SadoTeam Sado from left to right:Junpei Masuho, Kaho Matsuda, Yusei Takahashi, Koichi Hiraokafor the fun, Tohoku University’sWindnauts have a strong winningshima’s not so jovial when he talksabout the gruelling diet and trainingMatsushima admitted that hehas never travelled overseas and intradition to uphold.schedule he underwent so as notfact never flown in an aeroplane.“I’d“Plans for the aircraft areto affect any of the aircraft’s weightdefinitely like to fly again,“he chuck-The contest, whose final was heldin Alaska this past year, is open tostudents interested in translatingrapidly evolving nano-micro technologiesinto commercial and industrialapplications. Miniaturization used inthe nano-micro field, offers giant possibilitiesfor tiny devices to be used inbiomedical and information technologies,energy systems and more.For 3 rdyear engineering studentKaho Matsuda, the chance touse minute sensors came when shescience.She gathered three similarlyinquisitive friends and formed TeamSado. Together, they came up withan innovative device, a sensor-embeddedtea whisk called“AnywhereSado.”The point, Matsuda says,is to give anyone, anywhere, thechance to learn how to perfect theart of tea-making.The device is a bamboo whiskused to make traditional tea, withthree sensors embedded inside. Theand junior high school students.There, university students with aninterest in education help to mentortheir younger peers.It was also through Natural Sciencethat they heard about the iCANcontest. After winning at the nationals,they decided to go wireless withtheir device.“We had problems tryingto downsize the internal componentsand get accurate results using lithiumbatteries,”says engineering studentYusei Takahashi.openly published. But there are aspects,like assembly, that you can’tsee in a diagram, which require alot of technical knowledge,”says 3 rdyear engineering student ShuntaroInoue.“We get a lot of questionsfrom other teams.”While the basic design of thecraft has changed very little over theyears, it’s the Windnauts’winninglegacy that continues to inspire studentsduring long hours of construction.“There’s definitely pressure,”calculations. The craft was poweredby constant pedaling.The Windnauts launched morethan a hundred test flights in thelead-up to the rally ? often startingat 4am, before the students headedoff to class.On the day of the competition,the flight across the lake was filmedfrom inside the Wingnauts’cockpitand broadcast on national TV.Viewers were taken on an emotionaljourney as pilot Matsushima stroveles.“But for once it would be nice if Ididn’t have to fly the plane.”Windnauts team members from left: ShuntaroInoue, Kota Matsushima and Daisuke Yoshizawahad the idea of creating a system tosensors monitor the stirring speed,But they persevered, and wentmeasure what is considered to be athe angle of the whisk and the tem-on to top the final field of 19 withperfect cup of tea.perature of the tea. When the tea istheir unique invention. The wholeDespite having studied theready, electronic data on the user’sexperience was one they could onlyart of tea ceremony or“Sado”for 5tea-making technique is sent to ahave dreamt of, including the oppor-years, Matsuda says it’s still hard tocomputer, where it is graded on atunity to eat Alaskan crab and rein-know how to make good tea.“Much100-point scale.deer. The team now has its sights onof it is supposed to be through intu-“We all brought different skillsnext year’s iCAN final in Paris.ition, which is why it is really difficultto the table in making this project“It was very cool to discoverfor a learner to know where he or shesuccessful,”says teammate Junpeithat we could introduce Japaneseshould be making improvements,”Masuho. The four-member teamculture through science,”says Mat-says Matsuda. So, as always whenmet at Natural Science, an NPO thatsuda.“It would be nice to be able tofaced with a dilemma, she turned toruns science classes for elementarycontinue along this theme.”Tohoku University ANNUAL REVIEW 2015Tohoku University ANNUAL REVIEW 2015page: 06page: 07