Open Seminar and Lectures by Prof. Gong

We hosted an open seminar titled "Biodegradable Composites" by Prof. Hugh Gong from the University of Manchester on July 15, 2015.
Common composite materials, such as carbon fiber or glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites, are made of fossil fuel, they are hard to recycle and not environmentally friendly. While the awareness to protect environment and sustainable development is expanding, it is urgent to develop fully biodegradable composites. Prof. Gong introduced two approaches his team has used to develop fully biodegradable composites, both based on PLA. A 3rd-year program student Mr. Tatsuya Ishikawa chaired the seminar. It was the first time for our students to preside an open seminar like this, but he did a good job and Q&A session was loaded with questions from other program students.

Prof. Gong also gave a series of lectures as a part of "International Topics on Fiber Engineering I&II" with a topic of "the Development of Yarn Technology." This class was opened for regular master/doctorate course students as well and 5 of them joined with 17 program students. On Prof. Gong's last day, he and the program students had a couple of hours to sit and talk on non-research related topics. They seemed less shy than the last time thanks to Prof. Gong's gentle and welcoming personality.