Tomohiko Sano

  • Research Interest
    • My research interests are centered in the field of physics and mechanics of thin and slender structures, focusing on their tunable mechanical functionalities. As their deformation relies primarily on geometric nonlinearities, studies of specific structures would provide common knowledge in seemingly different physical phenomena. The goal of my research is to clarify how and why the complex mechanical functions emerge resulting from physics and mechanics, embracing instabilities of structures. The methodologies of the study are analytical calculus and computational modeling (including finite element method), combined with desktop-scale experiments.
  • Education
    • Ph.D. Apr. 2013 - Mar. 2016 Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University (supervisor: Hisao Hayakawa)
    • M.Sc. Apr. 2011 - Mar. 2013 Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University (supervisor: Hisao Hayakawa)
    • B.Sc. Apr. 2007 - Mar. 2011 Faculty of Science, Kyoto University
  • Employment history & Research experience
    • Apr. 2021 - present
      Senior Assistant Professor
      Department of Mechanical Engineering, Keio University, Japan.
    • Apr. 2019 - Mar. 2021
      Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Overseas Research Fellow for Young Scientists (PD)
      École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne(EPFL), Advisor: Pedro M. Reis
    • Apr. 2016 - Mar. 2019
      Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellow for Young Scientists (PD)
      Ritsumeikan University, Advisor: Hirofumi Wada
    • Apr. 2014 - Mar. 2016
      Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellow for Young Scientists (DC2)
      Kyoto Univerisity, Advisor: Hisao Hayakawa
  • Awards
    • Nominated as Emerging Talents 2021, Journal of Physics A.
    • Best presentation award at M&M 2021 conference, The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME).
    • The Winners of the Most Watched Videos at Virtual Technical Meeting Society of Engineering Sciences 2020
      A Kirchhoff-like theory for hard magnetic rods under three-dimensional geometrically nonlinear deformation
    • The 13th Young Scientists Award of the Physical Society of Japan
      Theoretical and experimental studies on the flexibility of structures -friction, buckling, and snap-buckling-.
  • Grants
    • Apr. 2018, Apr. 2021 - Mar. 2024 (expected), Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists, Project number 18K13519.
    • April 2016 - March 2019, Grant-in-Aid for Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellows, Project number 16J05315.
    • April 2014 - March 2016, Grant-in-Aid for Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellows, Project number 14J02906.
  • Membership
    • The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME)
    • The Physical Society of Japan (JPS)
    • American Physical Society (APS)
  • Referee
    • Physical Review Letters, Physical Review E, European Physical Journal E, International Journal of Solids and Structures, Advances in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics
  • Organized workshops & symposium (including joint operation)
    • Apr. 2021-present, Young Soft Webinar.
    • Mar. 2019, The focus symposium at the 74th JPS annual meeting, Kyushu University,
      Flexible material design -From structural mechanics, origami, kirigami, to metamaterials-.
    • Mar. 2019, The focus session at the March meeting APS Boston MA,
      Physics and hydrodynamics of micro-swimmers' suspensions.
    • Mar. 2015, 5th Kyoto soft matter symposium for young scientists, Kyoto, Japan.
    • Mar. 2014, 4th Kyoto soft matter symposium for young scientists, Kyoto, Japan.
    • Mar. 2013, 3th Kyoto soft matter symposium for young scientists, Kyoto, Japan.
    • Mar. 2012, 57th Condensed Matter Physics Summer School, Gifu, Japan.