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| Thermal and Fluid Engineering for Turbulence Control and Cell Separation |
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Nobuhide Kasagi, Prof., Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering I have been working in the field of thermal and fluids engineering since my university years. My advisor assigned me a research topic, in which I tried to make system designs by fully understanding fundamental processes of fluid flow and heat transfer of gas and liquid. I particularly concentrated my research on turbulence control, and aiming to actively control turbulence, I developed a numerical simulation method that can visualize the turbulence structures near a wall surface. I also developed a control unit by integrating micro wall shear stress sensors and shell-deformation-type electromagnetic actuator. They are lined up in a matrix state and created a feedback control system with a CPU controller. This unit was tested in a wind tunnel and was found effective for reducing the friction resistance of turbulence. As a project of the COE program I am now also involved in analysis and design of an energy system that can extract heat and electricity simultaneously using a hybrid system composed of a gas turbine and fuel cell. I am nearing the stage where the system may be just as powerful as modern thermal power plants. I am also making a current effort in developing a micro cell sorting technology with the theory of fluid motion to sorting stem cells from blood. Capturing one unique stem cell out of 1 to 10 hundred million cells from the blood stream will become the basic technology for tissue engineering. Although there are already large-scale and costly systems available, only a limited number of people is benefiting from them. To that end, I am aiming to use the MEMS technology to create an efficient cell separation system on chips. We are currently developing the control system for diminishing turbulence in both hardware and software aspects. The photograph above shows the control units developed in our laboratory with micro wall shear stress sensors, micro electromagnetic actuators, and a controller. |
 Overcoming turbulence, we are currently developing the decreasing control system in both hardware and software aspects. The photograph above shows the control device developed in our laboratory with a micro wall surface shear stress sensor and a wall surface shift type electro-magnetic actuator, a control system built using a controller. |
Ever since I was little I have always liked making things. I would always wait for everyone in my family to finish eating the `castella' sponge cake because I had wanted to make models out of the paulownia box that cased the cake, which was a luxury gift back then. I entered the School of Engineering in university because I thought about doing something useful for the society. During my master course, I studied about heat transfer, but could not quite make up my mind as of what I wanted to do. Thereafter I continued on to the PhD course and later remained at the university as a full-time lecturer. When I worked in Stanford University as visiting professor, I was surprised by the difference in the research facilities and the fact that specialists in physics, chemistry and aeronautics, researchers from NASA, and venture business people from the nearby Silicon Valley were entering and leaving the laboratory without any restrictions. It was there that I learned the importance of having transdisciplinary discussions. I still frequently discuss with researchers from the physics and chemistry fields. I hope that, in order to bring forth new creations based on the knowledge of dynamics, everyone in the COE program will work with people with different expertise. I want to tell young researchers "While you are still young, take a more difficult path when you are lost." It is not about which way would help you gain more or which way would be easier, but to choose and challenge something more difficult, and never looking back once you make your mind. This is the privilege of young people. I often get my inspirations for my research while walking from Hongo 3-chome station to my office in the mornings. It seems that the walking rhythm helps create ideas, though it also could be that the morning air makes the head fresh. When I am stuck with my research, I would often go and have beer with my students, and we would have a brainstorm session. We vote for one person as clerk, who will not drink, while the rest of us come up with as many ideas we can, even if they are not realistic. When we examine these ideas in the following research meeting, we often find that many are actually executable. It was through this way that we were able to develop the method of measuring fluid velocity using imaging processing. When I am in my office on Saturdays and work is slow, I would go out to pay respect to my father's grave in Yanaka before visiting an art museum in Ueno. I find it fascinating that reading about an artist after seeing his or her works can help us understand the thoughts and ideas of the artist in the paintings. When I have more time I would also like to go back to Suzumoto Engeijyo (comedy hall). I find the rakugo artists' speaking style is very useful for my own speaking style in my lectures. My wish is to continue giving self-satisfying lectures until my retirement from the University of Tokyo. |
<Personal Background>Dr. Eng. from the School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo in 1976. Appointed as Assistant Professor at School of Engineering in 1977. Worked as Visiting Professor at Stanford University in 1980-81 and became Professor at the School of Engineering in 1990. During 2002-2004, worked as Councilor at the University of Tokyo, and has been a member of the Science Council of Japan since 2005. Assumed posts as President of the Japan Society of Fluid Mechanics, Vice President of the Heat Transfer Society of Japan, President of Japan Society of Computational Fluid Dynamics, before assuming the post of President of the Japan Society for Mechanical Engineers since 2006. Also Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Leader of the 21st Century COE Program on Mechanical Systems Innovation at the University of Tokyo. |
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