Message from the Chair of the Division of Materials and Interfaces

　I am happy to announce that in 2013, the Division of Materials and Interfaces marked its 11th anniversary. With the largest number of members and presentations at the Autumn Meeting of the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan, the Division is expected to become furthermore active. I would like to explain the outline of the Division of Materials and Interfaces, including its operational policy, inherited from the former Chair Dr. Miyahara. I hope that many members of the Society will join this Division and the current members of the Division will offer their cooperation.

Sub-divisions

There are 5 sub-divisions, which cooperate with each other in a series of seminars and discussions while each maintains its uniqueness.

• Coating technology sub-division…Thin-films, coatings, composite membranes, and roll-to-roll
• Crystallization technology sub-division…Nucleation, polymorphism, solubility, and particle size/shape control
• Functional particles sub-division…Micro-capsules, micro-spheres, mono-dispersity, and colloid particles
• Polymer/gel technology sub-division…Structure/phase control, shape processing, rheology, stimulation response functions, and soft materials

The Autumn Meeting and Symposium

In addition to the symposium hosted by each sub-division, a general symposium is held for the entire Division, where participants are involved in lively discussions on themes such as composition of functional materials mainly through processing, control of micro-structures, explanation of the creation of material functionalities, and proposals of new processing through presentations and posters. Also, the general symposium, or the plenary session, on the first day provides information about recent research activities within the Division and by researchers recommended by sub-divisions. Furthermore, the general symposium provides opportunities to young researchers to make a keynote presentation. With the award of excellence, the poster session highly motivates presenters, while the presentation session prompts participants to discuss the themes in detail.

Japan–Korea Symposium on Materials and Interfaces

The Division of Materials and Interfaces overtook the international exchange project between Japan and Korea from Dr. Shigeharu Morooka, who was committed to realizing this project in the past. He now serves as an emeritus professor of Kyusyu University and Fukuoka University, and he continues to hold a symposium every two years, alternating with Korea. The symposium celebrated its 11th anniversary with the one held on Cheju Island in November, 2014. The symposium is a great opportunity to exchange cutting-edge results between the researchers in these two countries and to familiarize with the key persons at the Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers. We would be grateful if many people participated in this symposium.

Debate on Material Chemical System Engineering

As a successor to the former “Symposium on the entire area of polymer research,” this debate project has been held since 2009 to explore functionalities of various materials, ranging from composition of materials to creation of new properties through integration to application of materials. One of this debate project’s features is that it is planned and run by the younger generation of the members in the Division, especially encouraging young researchers to participate in the lively debates beyond the boundaries of the Division every year. The debate has taken place in Matsushima in 2013 and is planned to be held at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2014.

The Division’s Future Operating Policy

• All projects listed above are considered to be run effectively with noticeable changes and improvements of the content.
• The Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan (SCEJ) is the main governing body for most researchers in engineering. However, its vast size and scope make it less responsive and flexible. Instead, divisions are responsible for promoteing technical and personnel exchanges. Our Division has its own budget, which is limited. It is the Chair’s mission to make the best of the budget. Recently, I strongly feel that interactions (through presentations and discussions outside of the Society) with other areas are continually decreasing among students and young researchers. I sincerely hope that this Division’s activities will help young researchers grow well. I would be grateful if you could kindly propose new plans and offer your opinions about the significance, feasibility, and possibility of the new plans at various opportunities such as the upcoming board meeting.
• Considering the missions that engineering must perform, the importance of cooperation between industry and academia is unquestionable. Unfortunately, although the division well understands the importance of such cooperation, it does not take sufficient specific actions to promote industry–academia cooperation. During my term of office, I am going to seek the ideal cooperation, in which the Division can contribute to industry, and I am going to move forward with the enhancement of this cooperation.

　Finally, I would like as many people as possible to join the Division and get involved in various activities of each sub-division while balancing their uniqueness and cooperativeness for the further development in the future. Also, I would like to ask current members for continued cooperation through activities within the Division.

History of the Division of Materials and Interfaces

In 2002, the Division of Materials and Interfaces was established with 6 research groups, formerly a functional interface research group, functional particles research group, gel technology research group, crystallization technology research group, coating research group, and micro-structure research group. These research groups began their activities with the common base of the Division. The research groups of polymer functionalities, functional interface, and micro-structure were integrated into a self-organization research group in 2008. The Division now has the following 5 sub-divisions as of 2015.

• Self-organization process
• Functional particles
• Polymer and Gel technology
• Crystallization technology
• Coating technology