We are pleased to publish the report of Prof. N. K. Mukhopadhyay’s visits to universities in China, and in Far East countries, namely Japan & South Korea. He visited universities for attending seminars/conferences and as a visiting professor. His report also includes details about cities and local places he visited. The report includes some links as well as five breath-taking photos. We hope that our readers will enjoy the report in its every detail. We also hope that it will also inspire some of our students to plan their future study at these great universities.
A report on the visit to Korea, Japan and China
N. K. Mukhopadhyay
Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India,
E-mail: mukho_nk[AT]rediffmail.com
I. CENTRE OF NON-CRYSTALLINE SOLIDS, YONSEI UNIVERSITY,
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (June/July, 2006)
Yonsei University is a modern institution located in Seoul. The university was established in 1885 with an educational mission based on the Christian principles of truth and freedom. On March 1, 1919, Koreans calling for an end to Japanese rule staged a national protest. Throughout the following years, this university remained the center of nationalist thought and resistance against Japan's colonial policy. The Yonsei University lies at the north end of Sinchon, where many Yonsei students join other college students from nearby Ewha Women's, Sogang, Hongik, and Kyunggi Universities for shopping and nightlife activities. There are possibilities for undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate studies for Indian students. However, the opportunities are more for the students for PhD and Post-doctoral fellows. Next year an Indian postdoctoral fellow (who has completed PhD in BHU, Physics) will join the centre.
Dr. Mukhopadhyay was invited as a visiting professor for a month to be with the centre for Non-Crystalline Solids (June-July, 2006). He gave 2 lectures and interacted with the students and faculties of the centre (Figure 1). There are many advanced research are being undertaken in this centre. Some collaborative research work on bulk metallic glasses has been taken up jointly. The work atmosphere is also very good. Dr. Mukhopadhyay also visited Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), which is located in Seoul. He interacted with Prof. J.H. Park who is working on superplastic forming. He is keen on having Indian students for PhD program. This year one student from BHU, Met. Engg (Ritesh Sachan) has applied. It is hopeful that he will get through and initiates his PhD work from 2007 spring session. It was felt that there are good opportunities for Indian students to pursue higher studies in Korea. Initially one may face the problem of language, as in general Koreans are not very well conversant in English. However that can be overcome within a short period due to their friendliness, support and respect for Indian students as well as other advantages.
II. APERIODIC 2006 (JAPAN) (September 2006)
Dr. Mukhopadhyay visited Japan in September to attend the conference Aperiodic'06, which is the fifth International Conference on Aperiodic Crystals, organized under the auspices of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) Commission on Aperiodic Crystals. It is important to mention that this conference was organized in BHU, Varanasi in 1988 organized by Prof. P. Ramachandra Rao, Prof. S. Lele and Prof. D. Pandey. Prof. D. Pandey of School of Materials Science and Technology, It-BHU is continuing as a member of the International advisory body of this conference. Prof. A. Yamamoto (National Institute of Materials Science, Tsukuba) and Prof. A. P. Tsai (Tohoku University, Sendai) organized this conference from 17 to 22 Sept. 2006) at Miyagi Zao Royal Hotel, on the mountain of Zao, Miyagi. This place is about one hour by bus or taxi from Sendai station and located 350 kilometers north of Tokyo on the pacific coast side. It is conveniently accessible from Tokyo by the super express "Sinnkannsenn” train (which is known as bullet train).
There were 130 papers scheduled for oral presentation and for poster presentation, which discussed on the subjects such as Mathematics and physics of Aperiodic crystals, Crystallography, Structures, Defects, diffuse scattering, Morphology and Growth, Phase transitions, Phonons and Phasons, Properties, Interfaces and Surfaces, and Applications. Single oral session is planned. The total number of papers received is around 130, among which 63 presentations are oral. Details of the programme and abstract titles are available in the website: http://aperiodic01.tagen.tohoku.ac.jp/. The technical papers, after a paper review, will be selected for publication in a special issue of Philosophical Magazine. There were 4 Indian participants in this conference. They are U. D. Kulkarni (BARC), K.L. Sahoo (NML), N.K. Mukhopadhyay (BHU) and S.K. Chaudhuri (Rohtak). Dr. Mukhopadhyay presented 2 papers in this conference. Dr. Mukhopadhyay visited Green Lake on top of the Zao Mountain. This lake has been created from a volcanic irruption (Figure 2). He also visited Yamaderra temple (Famous Buddhist temple in Zao) (Figure 3). The water of the lake is enriched mostly with Cr ions and it is found to be poisonous. Therefore, there is a provision to see this scenery from a distance only. These places are highly crowded and famous for tourist attractions.
After attending this conference, Dr. Mukhopadhyay was invited by Prof. A. Inoue, Director of the Institute, for three days to Institute for Materials Research (IMR), Tohoku University, Sendai, which is worldwide known for its excellent work on materials research. A lecture on ‘Micro and nanoindentation of materials’ was delivered in IMR on 22nd September 2006. Dr Mukhopadhyay also interacted with the students, faculty members of the Institute. During his visit he was taken care of my Prof. Y. Yokahama (Figure 4). The lecture was appreciated by the students and the researchers. It can be mentioned that Dr. Mukhopadhyay has recently published an authoritative review article on nanoindentation (International Materials Reviews, vol. 51, (2006) pp. 209-245; July/August issue). Most of the discussions were revolved around the various issues of this review article. The collaborative research work on the nanoindentation of bulk metallic glasses was discussed. There are several students who are doing PhD or post doctoral work in Tohoku University. There is also a provision for the students for short term visits depending on the mutual interest. Dr. Mukhopadhyay visited along with the Indian postdoctoral students to an Indian Restaurant located near the Sendai station. It seems that the Indian restaurants are becoming popular day by day here.
III. 4TH ASIAN WORSHOP ON QUASICRYSTALS (XIAN, CHINA) (SEPTEMBER 2006)
Dr. Mukhopadhyay attended and gave an invited talk at the 4th Asian Workshop on Quasicrystals (AWQ4) organized by Prof. C. Dong of Dalian University, China. This conference was held in Xian, China during 25-28 Sept, 2006. The aim of the series of the workshop was to exchange the latest development on Quasicrystals research in Asia. There were many experts in this area, who presented and work (Figure 5). Besides Dr. Mukhopadhyay, Prof. K. Chattopadhyay (IISc, Bangalore) attended this conference from India. The issues which are discussed in this conference include: (a) Metallurgy: synthesis, phase diagram, crystal growth, corrosion; (b) Structure: model, related clusters, approximants, mathematics of quasiperiodicity, symmetry; (c) Phase stability: stabilization mechanism, phase transformation, (d) Defects and dynamics: phasons, dislocations, diffusion , (e) Properties: Electronic, magnetic, thermal, elastic and plastic properties, tribology, (f) Applications: catalysis, composites, coatings, thermoelectricity. There is possibility that the next conference will be organized in BHU.
The visit of Dr. Mukhopadhyay to Xian was very short. However, some brief information of Xian can be mentioned here. It is interesting to see that Xian (located close to Sanghahi), records the great changes of the Chinese nation. Xian is one of the birthplaces of the ancient civilization in the Yellow River Basin area of the country. During Xian's 3,100-year development, 13 dynasties such as Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang placed their capitals there. The palace can be seen in the photograph. Actually, Xian enjoys equal fame with Athens, Cairo, and Rome as one of the four major ancient civilization capitals.
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Figure 1: Yonsei University (with Prof. D.H. Kim and his group, “Centre of Non-crystalline Solids”), Seoul, Korea
Figure 2: On the top of Zao Mountain, Miyagi, Japan: famous green lake created after volcanic irruption.
Figure 3: Yamadera Buddhist Temple in Miyagi, Japan
Figure 4: With Prof. Y. Yokayama, Institute of Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai.
Figure 5: Conference Delegates in Xian, China (Dr. Mukhopadhyay is in 6th position from left in second row)