Vision

Our research vision

Become “International Research Center” for “Dynamic Interfacial Dynamics”, a new multiphase flow field! 

We will contribute to new “manufacturing” that will be the foundation of future society by making full use of our unique and advanced technologies. We will form an international research center for the new academic field of “Dynamic Interfacial Mechanics” and challenge unresolved problems together with domestic and foreign researchers. *1 

We will contribute to new “manufacturing” that will be the foundation of future society by making full use of our unique and advanced technologies. We will form an international research center for the new academic field of “Dynamic Interfacial Mechanics” and challenge unresolved problems together with domestic and foreign researchers. *1

Biomedical Engineering Research Leading to Manufacturing

  The driving force of our laboratory's research is “We want to create useful things that have never existed before! and “I want to create something novel and interesting! and “I want to create novel and interesting things! In manufacturing, the deeper one understands the mechanism, the more precise and ingenious one can be. The basis for this is academic research (medical engineering) to understand the mechanisms of natural phenomena. The real thrill of research is the feeling of “I see” when something is clarified, or “I didn't know that! I didn't know that was the case! and “I didn't know that was the case! Our hope is to contribute to society by bringing happiness to people who have never heard of fluid mechanics through new, useful, and interesting things.

  Creative experimental techniques and first-class facilities

   Our laboratory places great importance on developing world-leading advanced measurement and advanced equipment that incorporates novel ideas*3, and we have extremely well-equipped experimental facilities*4 such as an ultra-high speed camera, polarization camera, and sound field measurement techniques*5 to realize these ideas. Our experimental techniques, which incorporate simple yet effective ideas, have attracted researchers from around the world.

International Network Centered on Invited Researchers

   We aim to form a new international research center and play the role of a “terminal*5” for researchers on a global scale. Our laboratory is active in sending students abroad, conducting exchange programs, conducting long-term overseas joint research by faculty members, and inviting researchers from abroad to conduct research. However, simply repeating dispatches and invitations based on a one-to-one relationship will not produce a ripple effect. We aim to create a synergy effect by strengthening invited research and making our laboratory a place for researchers to interact with each other. We will bridge the gap between the world and our laboratory, and between our laboratory and the world, and stimulate dynamic research development.

Hydrodynamic Elucidation of Microjets

   Focusing on impact force as a different liquid driving force, we have developed the world's first*6 method for generating supersonic microjets (high-Re number flow) in which the inertial force is more than 1,000 times greater than the viscous force. Furthermore, we have achieved various results in medical applications (development of a needle-free syringe (Fig. 1)) and engineering applications (development of a high-viscosity liquid dispensing device (Fig. 2)). This research, which has been patented both in Japan and abroad, has attracted attention both in Japan and abroad, including a feature article in the Nikkei Business Daily. Currently, we are developing new technologies for dispensing functional materials (adhesives, cell culture media, etc.). We aim to develop a new field of microfluidics through research into academically unexplored phenomena*7.

Our educational vision

Fostering “intellectually independent” students! 

The 21st century is an era in which those who can create value on their own can live more fulfilling lives*8. We nurture “intellectually independent*9” students who can think for themselves what they can do, gather necessary information, make plans, gather funds and human resources, and boldly take on challenges. 

Step-by-step Improvement of Research Skills

   The research activities in our laboratory are designed to help you develop your research skills in a step-by-step manner (see the figure below), from undergraduate to master's to doctoral level. Through these activities, you will develop the ability to identify what you need to know, how you can know it, and how you can help those who need help, and to do so.

Good questions and discussions

   In research, the quality of the “question (problem setting)” is extremely important. This is because research always begins with the question “why” and never with the answer. Students need training to improve the quality of their questions. The full answer to a question is not immediately available, unless one is omniscient. But each of us has a little “piece” of the truth*12, and bringing those pieces together, showing them to each other, and exchanging them - in other words, repeated discussions - is the way to get closer to the truth. Good discussion requires respect for differences and a willingness to seek the truth from diverse perspectives. Asking questions involves anxiety, and debate is always accompanied by a certain amount of stress. Therefore, Professor Tagawa considers it his role to ensure that students have the opportunity to ask questions without anxiety, and to discuss issues in a relaxed and open manner. He strongly hopes that graduates who have acquired the ability to engage in discussions as equals or better, transcending the barriers of faculty, seniors, and juniors, will follow the path they believe in and play an active role in society.

Emphasis on Interviews

    Individual interviews are the most important element of our research and education. In order to become intellectually independent, it is necessary for students to start from where they are, determine their own path, and move forward step by step on their own. For this purpose, students and faculty members seriously face each other and think together about how to develop the unique strengths of each student*13.

Finally....

    When I am in contact with students, I am keenly aware that students will not listen to me seriously if I only approach them from the standpoint of a “teacher. In the words of Isoroku Yamamoto, former Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Navy, “Do it, say it, do it, let them hear it, praise them, or they will not move. I believe that the basic premise of research and education is for faculty members to be enthusiastic about their research, to spare no effort for their own growth, and to tackle difficulties in a positive manner.

　The musician Hideo Saito*16 said, “Education is like growing plants. Even if you give a plant ten drops of fertilizer, it will not absorb all of it; it will only absorb a fraction of it. Therefore, when teaching, we should not think about whether or not it will be wasted. It is true that the amount of water a plant absorbs is only a fraction of the water we give it.

    However, if only a percentage of the water is given to the plants from the beginning because it will be wasted without being absorbed, the plants will wither and die. I have learned from my many failures in my teaching activities that the right amount of content to convey to students includes the amount that is seemingly wasted without being absorbed. I try to find the “right amount” for each student and try to be attentive to each student.

The joy of seeing a seed sprout, grow leaves, and finally bloom into a beautiful flower is irreplaceable.