2021 Tokyo Tech Challenging Research Award Winners, including Assistant Professor Yota Takamura and Assistant Professor Takamasa KAWANAGO Announced

August 5, 2021

Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) announced on June 18, 2021, ten winners including Assistant Professor Yota TAKAMURA and Assistant Professor Takamasa Kawanago of the 20th Tokyo Tech Challenging Research Awards. Three of the awardees were also selected for the Suematsu Challenging Research Awards for outstanding research.
The award ceremony was held on July 28 via online video conference.

(From top left) Executive Vice President for Research Watanabe, President Masu, and ten award winners

(From top left) Executive Vice President for Research Watanabe, President Masu, and ten award winnersa

Assistant Professor Yota Takamura(top right), Assistant Professor Takamasa Kawanago(the 3rd from top right)

Tokyo Tech established the Challenging Research Award with the aim of encouraging young faculty members at the Institute to engage in challenging research. It recognizes creative, up-and-coming researchers who boldly pursue the promotion of the most advanced research in the world, pioneering of new fields of study, innovative development of new research, and important issues that are difficult to solve.

The Suematsu Challenging Research Award is given to the highest qualified researchers among the Challenging Research Award winners. This award was established by the "Suematsu Fund", which was created based on the desire of former President Yasuharu Suematsu to support young researchers. When Professor Yasuharu Suematsu received the Japan Prize in 2014, he donated a portion of the prize money to Tokyo Tech, which established the Suematsu Fund to encourage young researchers. The Fund supports mainly young researchers to encourage their research activities to predict and study the development of unexplored scientific and technological systems in diverse fields and to bring the potential future to real society.

This year, The Suematsu Challenging Research Award was awarded to Associate Professor Masaki Uchida, Department of Physics, School of Science; Associate Professor Ayuko Hoshino, Department of Life Science and Technology, School of Life Science and Technology; and Associate Professor Masaki Tahara, Laboratory for Materials and Structures, Institute of Innovative Research.

2021 Tokyo Tech Challenging Research Award Recipients

Name	Affiliation	Title	Research Topic * Granted Suematsu Challenging Research Award
Masaki UCHIDA	Department of Physics, School of Science	Associate Professor	* Establishing scientific theory of novel quantum transport based on chiral zero mode
Kotaro FUJII	Department of Chemistry, School of Science	Assistant Professor	Exploration of novel ionic conductors based on structure science
Masayasu SHIMURA	Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering	Associate Professor	Development of plasma assisted turbulent combustor based on　characteristics of combustion oscillation transition
Yota TAKAMURA	Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, School of Engineering	Assistant Professor	Superconducting spin valve Josephson Junction
Yuta KURASHINA	Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology	Assistant Professor	High sensitivity acoustic responsive microdevice for drug release
Daisuke ISHIKAWA	Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology	Assistant Professor	Nanoscale ORIGAMI at two-dimensional interfaces
Ayuko HOSHINO	Department of Life Science and Technology, School of Life Science and Technology	Associate Professor	* Role of maternal-derived exosomes in embryonic brain development
Takamasa KAWANAGO	Laboratory for Future Interdisciplinary Research of Science and Technology, Institute of Innovative Research	Assistant Professor	Demonstration of High Gain CMOS Inverter at 0.5 V operation Based on WSe₂ FET
Masaki TAHARA	Laboratory for Materials & Structures, Institute of Innovative Research	Associate Professor	* Research on stress-induced phase transformation in shape memory alloy
Takahiro NOMOTO	Laboratory for Chemistry and Life Science, Institute of Innovative Research	Assistant Professor	Development of innovative drug delivery systems utilizing amino acid transporters and systematic analysis of associated factors affecting intravital microenvironment