Young member - Kazuho Okada

Kazuho Okada
Researcher, Steel Research Group, Materials Evaluation Field, Research Center for Structural Materials

C.V.（As of September 2024）
Bachelor, Undergraduate School of Engneering Science, Kyoto University, 2017
Doctor, Department of Materials Science and Engneering, Kyoto University, 2022
JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (DC1). April 2019- March 2022
Present post, April 2022- 

Q＆A

Q：How was your life in the university?
A：During my undergraduate years, I was so passionate about my athletic club (rowing club) that I rarely attended lectures and ended up repeating a grade. After being assigned to the laboratory, I remembered my childhood dream of becoming a researcher and started to become absorbed in research. Research is exciting. I have enjoyed the springtime of my life throughout the five years of club activity, the five years of research in university, and even the two years since I arrived at NIMS. I’m really happy to be passionate about something.

Q：How did you learn about NIMS?
A：I first learned about NIMS when one of my supervisors transferred to NIMS. After that, I saw how the staff members were energetically conducting research using state-of-the-art equipment when I came to NIMS for experiments. The research environment was so good that felt I wanted to be a NIMS researcher.

Q：What is the attractiveness of NIMS?
A：We have opportunities for discussion with researchers who belong to other groups on a daily basis because many of our researchers work in similar fields. Such opportunities can be sources of new ideas and, at the same time, can motivate me to beat my closest rivals. There is also plenty of support for young researchers. For example, new researchers can receive 10 million yen for a start-up budget in their first year, which greatly accelerated my newly established research theme. Additionally, many NIMS researchers proceed with their own research at their own discretion and without entrusting it to students, because NIMS is not an educational institution. I feel the student-free environment suits me.

Q：What is your research theme?
A：The objective of my research is to improve the hydrogen embrittlement properties and fatigue properties in steels. Achieving widespread application of steels with as high strength as possible is desired to improve automobile fuel efficiency and collision safety. However, resistance against hydrogen embrittlement and fatigue fracture decreases with increasing strength of steel. I am trying to clarify the origin of the trade-off relationship between strength and fracture resistance and to propose microstructural control guidelines to achieve both high strength and high fracture resistance.

Q：What is the attractiveness of your research?
A：Creating strong materials is really fascinating. I was drawn to the word "superalloy" when I saw a TV anime in my childhood. I am proud to be involved in the creation of materials that seem to defy common sense. I believe the role of researcher is not only to discover new phenomena but also to elucidate the mechanisms of new phenomena, leading to the possibility of applying those mechanisms to other materials. Anyway, daily muscle training is essential to becoming a "strong creature" befitting "strong materials."

Q：Good / not good points of Tsukuba
A：I lived in the basins, i.e., Saijo in Hiroshima and Kyoto, so I'm not used to landscapes without noticeable ups and downs other than Mt. Tsukuba. However, the streets of Tsukuba get very dark at night, and that makes me happy. This is because my wife, who is a coward, gets a little closer to me. I feel that fresh food at the supermarket is also much cheaper than in Kyoto.

Q：What is the attractiveness of researcher as a job?
A：Two seemingly contradictory elements, i.e., "great adventures in unexplored territory for humankind" and "ordinary daily life," can coexist in research life. I yearn for great adventures, such as reaching the summits of unexplored peaks, discovering treasures in ruins, and traveling to space on a rocket, etc. However, it is difficult to even try them if I don't give up everything in my peaceful daily life. I cannot do that because I want to cherish the ordinary everyday life with my family and friends. On the other hand, they can coexist in research life. There are no spatial restrictions on knowledge and studies. I can go on an adventure to my heart's content on the cutting edge of human wisdom that has been established since time immemorial, and when I return home, a peaceful life with my family awaits me. Being a researcher is a profession (hobby) that has everything I want.