Professor lights

After encountering unexpected trouble, the asteroid explorer Hayabusa launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2003 finally returned to Earth in June 2010 along with particles it collected from an asteroid called Itokawa. In 2014, its successor space probe called Hayabusa2 was launched, and 6 years later brought back pristine material from the interior of the asteroid Ryugu. The analysis of this unknown material required advanced techniques. A person who played a key part in this analysis work is Dr. Kentaro Uesugi who is here introduced on our website as a professor light). Dr. Kentaro Uesugi is a professional in analysis and experimentation and busily involved in research in a vast range of fields including materials such as rubber and metals, as well as rocks, minerals, and animals. We asked him about his daily activities.

Kentaro UESUGI
Chief Scientist, Coordinator, Scattering and Imaging Division, Center for Synchrotron Radiation research, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI)

To observe the universe, construction of an ultra-huge water tank with a diameter of 68 meters and a depth of 71 meters is underway at the underground site of the Kamioka Mine in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The name of this facility is “Hyper-Kamiokande.” It will be filled with ultra-pure water about 5 times more than the Super-Kamiokande water tank which led to Nobel Prizes in physics. On the inner walls of the water tank, a total of 40,000 ultra-sensitive photosensors (photomultiplier tubes) will be installed to capture the moment of proton decay predicted by the Grand Unified Theories. Construction of Hyper-Kamiokande is already underway with its completion scheduled for 2027. The co-spokesperson of the Hyper-Kamiokande experiment is Prof. Masato Shiozawa who has devoted half his life to research into elementary particles. How does he feel about taking on this huge project that might shake up the world?

Masato SHIOZAWA
Director and professor Kamioka Observatory, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, The University of Tokyo

Professor Hitoshi Murayama, who founded the Kavli IPMU located on the Kashiwa campus of the University of Tokyo, is a particle physicist and key researcher on the research team using the Subaru Telescope to challenge the mysteries of the universe with cutting-edge science. While pushing ahead with research activities through constant travel back and forth between the United States and Japan, Professor Hitoshi Murayama gives lectures in various places, appears on TV programs, and writes a series of articles for a national newspaper in Japan. His energetic activities span a wide range of issues. We talked to Professor Hitoshi Murayama to hear about his work at the forefront of science that strives to unravel the mysteries of the universe and find out more about the background of this amazing person with seemingly unlimited energy.

Hitoshi MURAYAMA
Principal Investigator and Hamamatsu Professor of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) at the University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study

In Europe, a learning kit is available that helps middle school students learn optical engineering (hereinafter “photonics”) while experimenting on their own or in small groups. Using this kit, kids can learn optical engineering and technology almost instinctively. A person who is strongly promoting the development and spread of this kit is Prof. Hugo Thienpont, vice-director of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) or Free University of Brussels in Belgium. He has believed in the possibilities offered by photonics since its earliest days and has been working to foster photonics engineers and promote collaborative efforts with industry. Here in Professor Lights Vol. 05, we shine some light on Prof. Thienpont’s energetic activities in photonics from Belgium.

Hugo THIENPONT
Vicerector of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Director of Brussels Photonics (B-PHOT)

The Janken (Rock-Paper-Scissors) robot that never loses, video control that follows up on fast moving objects, and high-speed book scanner that scans 250 pages per minute. All of these were created by Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa of the University of Tokyo who constantly invents “strange things” and “things we’ve never seen” by applying ultra-high-speed image processing technology. Here we get a close-up look at Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa and his Proof of Concept or POC approach that is now needed in the post catch-up era to show the world will accept a technology or idea.

Masatoshi ISHIKAWA
Professor, Department of Creative Informatics and Department of Information Physics and Computing, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, University of Tokyo

For half a century since the dawn of the age of the laser, Yoshiaki Kato has helped steer its progress and development. Over those years he has served in roles ranging from a researcher in laser spectroscopy to a project manager for laser fusion research. Currently, holding top positions at the Laser Society of Japan and The Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries, he has a sweeping view spanning the R&D research in academic fields and creation of new industrial fields, as well as fostering of human talent for these areas. Let’s take a brief look at the path he has traveled up to now.

Yoshiaki KATO
President of Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries
President of Laser Society of Japan

By creating physical sensations from individual particles of light, Mr. Takahiro Ando, a gifted artist & creator, has succeeded in expressing these sensations as unique artwork. This creative work merges art with photon counting — an advanced technique for measuring low-level light using a photomultiplier tube (often abbreviated as PMT). The world of this artwork spans phenomena from the activities of organisms to the workings of space and time. This article explores the continually expanding modes for expressing this world.

Takahiro ANDO
Artist & Creator

If we could check health of plants the same as getting a health exam then... There is a researcher who is working hard to develop the diagnosis of plants health which had been no easy feat even for veterans in this field. That is a long way before putting the technology to practical uses yet the roadmap towards their goal seems to be clear.

Aya AKIKUSA
Lab No. 8, Hamamatsu Photonics
Central Research Laboratory