午夜剧场

What impression do you get when you hear the word "fracture"? Most people likely associate it with a negative image. This negative perception of fracture is inevitable. This is because the fracture of transport machinery such as aircraft and automobiles, or infrastructure equipment, threatens our lives as "accidents" and can even take human lives. However, the mindset of engineering researchers working on fracture research is by no means negative. Rather, they approach their research with the positive enthusiasm of "Let's eliminate fracture from the world!" The daily work of causing metals to fracture in the laboratory to investigate the causes and the efforts to eliminate fracture from the world are understated but deeply significant.

The targets for "eliminating fracture" are not limited to mechanical structures. The things we consume daily are also related to fracture. My family's main household runs a sake brewery (Kikuchi Sake Brewing Co., Ltd.) in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, and in the process of making Japanese sake, great importance is placed on "how to prevent fracture." In the rice-polishing process, technology is required to polish the rice without breaking it, and in the washing and koji-making processes, work must be done to ensure the rice does not crumble or crack (fracture). In the fermentation process, the secret to making delicious sake is how to keep the yeast alive and ensure it grows steadily. When yeast dies, the cell walls are fractured, causing unnecessary amino acids to scatter, which leads to off-flavors or a breakdown of the aroma.

Furthermore, to use a more appropriate expression, I have recently been keenly aware of the importance of "controlling" fracture rather than just "eliminating" it. At a private medical company where I serve as an advisor (Doctors Co., Ltd.), we are developing a medication management system using aluminum foil with opening detection as one of our crowdsourcing projects involving a team of over 400 active doctors. When the aluminum foil with a special sensor is fractured (the medicine is opened), the attending physician can detect the patient's medication intake via smartphone, allowing for the monitoring of overdoses or forgotten doses. Therefore, the key point is whether the patient can easily fracture the sensor-equipped aluminum foil only when taking the medication. The exquisite strength design of the aluminum foil to achieve fracture control is where an engineering researcher can truly show their skill.

Fascinated by fracture, I seem to have developed an occupational hazard where I link everything to fracture.