During the summer, The Ohio State University's Starlab - George Washington Carver Science Park team hosted students from the University of Tsukuba in Japan to participate in research collaboration and learning in the field of materials joining and manufacturing in space.
Haruki Tanaka, Natsuki Matsuoka, Nodoka Shimazaki, and Shoichiro Funayama are all graduate students at Tsukuba studying aerospace engineering, and made the 14-hour trip from eastern Japan to Columbus as a part of their space exploration curriculum, choosing to visit Ohio State amongst other prestigious international universities.
While on campus, the students primarily partnered with Eddy Lui, an aerospace engineering PhD student, to research cold welding, a process where two pieces of metal join together without heat, simply by pressing them together under high pressure, causing their surfaces to fuse as if they were a single piece. Cold welding is essential for space research because it allows for the creation of strong, reliable joints in the vacuum of space where traditional welding methods aren't feasible due to the lack of air or heat in the atmosphere.
"We had a fantastic time collaborating with our graduate students from the University of Tsukuba," said Lui. "They quickly mastered and applied their research skills and had the opportunity to experience American culture in a rewarding way. I gained a wealth of knowledge and experience from working with our international visitors.
The research portion of the trip included reading journal articles and papers, building prototypes, and preparing those prototypes for testing, the results of which will hopefully contribute to the students' research in Japan.
"One of the most important things we gained was to see the difference in different countries' space research programs at the college level," said Matsuoka "Learning at Ohio State and in Starlab atmosphere was very beneficial and unique."
Outside of the lab, the Tsukuba students had several opportunities to explore the United States and Canada. Their first trip was to Niagara Falls, and then the group went to Detroit to see the Tigers play the Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani. In Ohio, students rode rollercoasters at Cedar Point and enjoyed Columbus activities like the zoo, the state fair, and the wildlife.
"We hope that we provided good things to Ohio State, both in a research way and a cultural way," said Funayama. "Tsukuba and Ohio State have a lot in common, so we hope we can take what we learned back and improve our research."
This is just the first iteration of the cross-cultural and inter-collegiate collaborative research efforts of the Starlab - George Washington Carver Science Park initiative. Students from around the world will continue to visit Ohio State to advance space research at the university and beyond.
Article written by Casey Coughlin, Marketing and Communications Specialist, Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering