“The key to success is failure and effort.”
Contributing to solving environmental problems through engineering and inner strength.
Environmental Protection Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University
Kazuki Tonouchi
A complete transformation from his previous self. “I didn't know that research was this much fun!”
The Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, School of Engineering, Tohoku University. Aobayama Campus, where Mr. Tonouchi started a new phase in his life, was located in a rich, natural environment. “Actually, I took the exam and passed without ever seeing the campus, so when I first came, I was really impressed with the setting and the atmosphere. I've always liked nature, and even now, when I'm tired from my research work, the surrounding forests calm me,” he says. His freshman year up to his junior year was spent studying the basics of architecture and civil engineering. He joined the volleyball club and even served as team captain. He was finally able to balance his studies with playing volleyball, which he had been unable to do at junior high and high school, but he found he was ever more interested in studying the environment in a more specialized way. If things continued as they were, he was worried everything would end up in a mess again. Recalling his past setback, he knew he had to do something about it. The laboratory that he was assigned to in his senior year completely changed the situation. He says, “I never thought that research could be this much fun. In a lab specializing in the environment, I became a fully-fledged researcher for the first time, and my motivation increased in bounds. I decided to completely change what had been my half-baked approach during this one year and really dedicated myself to my work. It was a complete transformation.”
“There is freedom and no end to the possibilities and directions to take. ”Research involves endless learning.
In his lab, Mr. Tonouchi chose to research the topic of methane fermentation, one of the main research themes of the professor in his laboratory. After reading through the research papers and learning from the knowledge acquired by his seniors, he had a discussion with his professor and decided to write his undergraduate thesis on “The Reduction and Energy Recovery of Mixed Food Waste through Methane Fermentation.” He says, “Japan's food waste now stands at 20 million tons a year. It has become difficult to dispose all of this even through landfill and incineration. I made a methane fermentation recycling processing device that can reduce waste and recover energy, and conducted research that tested its usability,” he says. After six months of research, he had the results he needed to write his thesis. Although he received lots of positive feedback from many different sources, Mr. Tonouchi acknowledges that not all of the steps in his research were fun. He had a succession of failures right after he began his research. He was frustrated with experiments that did not go as planned. But Mr. Tonouchi did not lose heart. “Until then, I had simply been learning what others decided I should learn, but now, there was freedom and no end to the possibilities and the directions I could take. Of course, this equates to a lot of personal responsibility, but the never-ending opportunity for learning in research always excites me,” he adds.
“You can't push forward without failing. ”The ability to transform negatives into positives.
Mr. Tonouchi, who was awakened to the joys of research, entered the Graduate School of Engineering of Tohoku University this spring. “Actually, I still had questions about methane fermentation that I could not answer when I presented my thesis. I thought I had mastered it, but there were things that I still hadn’t grasped. I also realized that there wasn’t anything that I could confidently say that I had learned and really know completely.” What lies behind this desire to want to master something? Behind this passion lies the regret that he has been harboring since he was in junior high school. Having once experienced a setback, he now is determined not to experience the same disappointment again. This has come from experience, and it has influenced his approach to research. “Experiments are a series of failures. That’s what it is all about: finding the cause of failure, and at times, the reasons for success, then doing the experiment again. In other words, you can't move forward without failing.” Rather than thinking that he will be rewarded if he makes efforts, he thinks to himself that he will never be rewarded unless he makes an effort. As Mr. Tonouchi explains his approach to research, his smile reveals the confidence he developed by transforming tough experiences into positive life lessons. As he acquires even more inner strength at graduate school, for Mr. Tonouchi, the day when his dream of becoming someone who can contribute to solving environmental problems comes true is surely not far away.
Environmental Protection Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University
Kazuki Tonouchi
Graduated from Saitama Prefectural Urawa High School in 2010. Entered the Water and Environmental Studies, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, School of Engineering, Tohoku University in 2011. Was assigned to a laboratory in his senior year after learning the basics of architecture and civil engineering. His research and his undergraduate thesis, titled “The Reduction and Energy Recovery of Mixed Food Waste through Methane Fermentation” was highly evaluated. Continuing his studies at the Graduate School of Engineering of Tohoku University, starting from 2015. He is assigned to the Environmental Protection Engineering laboratory, and is involved in research about environmental protection and energy, including methane fermentation. After graduating, he would like to work in a company involved in the environmental and energy fields.