Were you good at chemistry while you were in high school?

Actually, there is a lot memorizing involved, and that’s something I’m not good at. But chemistry in university is completely different. Here, inference and imagination are more important than rote memory. Even when you’re actually looking at the same question, the difference in perspective makes it feel as if you’re viewing it from a different dimension.

What classes have you found most enjoyable, and most memorable?

There have been many, including teachers who do demonstration experiments in lecture classes. For example, one of my teachers demonstrated the “glass transition point” of rubber by showing how a ball that bounces when it is at room temperature will no longer do so after being rapidly cooled beyond a certain point by dipping it into liquid nitrogen.

What interests you most about your classes?

It’s very interesting to learn the principles that underlie familiar phenomenon and everyday technology. For example, it fascinates me to discover the principles that cause overweight people to sweat more, or why getting in a hot bath slowly feels different from getting in all at once. I was impressed too to learn of a mathematical expression that can be used to predict what temperature a cup of hot coffee will be 30 minutes in the future.

Tell us something about your lab.

I belong to Professor Suguru Noda’s lab in the chemical engineering division. The lab makes use of materials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, and silicon, but the aim of the lab’s research is how to put advanced technology to practical use.
Materials such as the ones I just mentioned exhibit behaviors at the nano level that you do not see under normal circumstances. However, taking practical advantage of such behaviors requires producing nano-level materials cheaply, safely, and in large quantities. And there you encounter obstacles. So, at Professor Noda’s lab, we study basic knowledge about materials in order to learn the processes that can be used to make them for practical applications.

I guess applied chemistry really involves many different fields?

Broadly speaking, chemistry can be divided into six or seven fields. The Department of Applied Chemistry has a reputation as being difficult, but actually the members of the department are involved in lots of activities besides their studies.

Tell us what you like about the Department of Applied Chemistry.

As the name suggests, it is a discipline that aims to create value for the world through application of chemistry. I have wanted to be of help to people since I was a child. I love making people happy, and this field closed to practical application is very attractive. And although it is all referred to as “chemistry,” you actually get to study a wide range of subjects. Once you start studying practical technologies and cutting-edge technologies, you will notice that knowledge about fields outside of your specialty may lead you to success in research. My first and second years were tough because there were so many subjects to study, but now in my third year I am happy that I’d worked hard on subjects in which I was weak. I would recommend the Department of Applied Chemistry to anyone who wants to create things of greater value through chemistry.