Chemical Engineering
At the laboratories…

Developing process design and optimization
techniques based on precision mathematical modeling
Chemical Engineering

Process Control（Tsukada Laboratory）

O metals, semiconductors, polymers, ceramics
ur lives are filled with various materials --Professor of Chemical Engineering atthe Graduate School of Engineering
Doctor of Engineering

Takao Tsukada
Graduated from Matsumoto Fukashi HighSchool (Nagano Prefecture) in 1975.
Completed a doctorate at the Tohoku
University Graduate School ofEngineering in 1984. Served as assistantprofessor at the Tohoku University
Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for
Advanced Materials and professor at theOsaka Prefecture University Graduate
School of Engineering before assuming
current position in 2008.
"I loved mathematics in my junior andsenior high school days. Somehow thatturned into a career in chemistry, but I
have made mathematics the central
aspect of my work."
The three keywords of the Tsukada
Laboratory are: "Be absorbed,""Earnestly, boldly," and "Stay cool."and so forth -- which play a vital role in cuttingedge fields such as environmental systems, energy
generation, medical science and biotechnology, aswell as information, communications andelectronics.
The laboratory is where new materials andproduction processes are designed and discovered.
But in order to benefit from these discoveries, weneed to be able to manufacture the new materials
Numerical simulation of transport phenomena in oxide
at the industrial level, in other words, with a higher
monocrystal growth in the furnace environment
speed and scale of production equipment andprocesses. In many cases, the end result is quite different to the laboratory experiments. This isbecause of variations in flow, temperature and concentration distribution within the equipment,
which generate far more complex and nonlinear phenomena than those initially observed in thelaboratory. The objective in industrial terms is efficient production of materials to the desired quality
standard. To this end, we need to identify the causes of variation within equipment and processes,
clarify the underlying mechanisms, and develop the appropriate controlling technology.
Actual industrial processes generally take place at very high temperatures and often involve
highly reactive substances. Such conditions are not conducive to observation and measurement.
Computer simulation can be used instead to explore the phenomena occurring within equipment andprocesses. At the Tsukada Laboratory, our work involves developing equipment design and processcontrol techniques, mainly for material production processes, based on analysis of internal flow andmacro-field temperature distribution in equipment using microscope observation and other opticaltechniques along with computer-controlled numerical simulation. More recently, we have been
exploring the nature of macro field design and control techniques for regulating nano and meso
scale material structures, based on the close correlation between the structural formation ofmaterials at the meso level material and their resulting functions and qualities. To this end, we aredeveloping models for nano and meso scale structural formation in macro fields.
Our research objectives cannot be achieved without the support and cooperation of other fields,
particularly materials engineering. To this end, we often set up multidisciplinary research teams tobring together experts from different areas. The resulting discussion and debate encourages abroad-based approach to the generation of new ideas and insights. This in turn propels us towards
our goals while also providing an important source of intellectual stimulation and enjoyment.

Main research themes● Transport phenomena in semiconductor and oxide monocrystal growth process● Transport phenomena in molten metal and semiconductor materials inside theelectromagnetic levitation furnace● Multi-component phase separation in non-uniform fields● Dynamics of particle aggregation in liquid phase● Transport phenomena in the functional polymer thin film production process