UTokyo-IIS held a seminar titled “Delivering the Vision — Closing the gap between academic research and society” on June 13, 2022, at the university’s New York Office to belatedly showcase the facility that underwent major renovations in 2020. The seminar focused on the institute’s research activities at the boundary between life science and engineering. It demonstrated IIS efforts to facilitate further research and spark innovation through interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration among researchers, engineers, designers and those outside the university who are willing to support such research. Participants in this thought-provoking event were Professor Miles Pennington (design-led innovation); Associate Professor Yoshiho Ikeuchi (biomolecular and cellular engineering); and Associate Professor Yoshiyuki Kawazoe (design of architecture), all from IIS. UTokyo President and former IIS Director General Teruo Fujii joined the session online from Japan as a keynote speaker.

Researchers at The University of Tokyo simulated fractures in amorphous materials due to both cyclic fatigue and constant stress using course-grained dynamics, and demonstrated various failure modes, which can help improve reliability of materials

To help prevent the worst consequences of climate change, Japan and more than 100 other nations have pledged to achieve carbon neutrality, or net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. However, Japan lags far behind many European nations in the wide adoption of Battery Electric Vehicles (EV hereinafter), which have been touted as eco-friendly because they do not emit greenhouse gases. To rectify this situation, Project Associate Professor Hiroyuki Baba and Project Research Associate Masaki Imanaka, both of the Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo (UTokyo-IIS), are developing IoT-based technologies to charge electric vehicles in a more eco-friendly manner by adjusting demand for electricity generated from renewable energy sources.