SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, TOHOKU UNIVERSITY Driving Force THE POWER TO MAKE TOMORROW INTERVIIEW REPORT
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, TOHOKU UNIVERSITY Driving Force THE POWER TO MAKE TOMORROW INTERVIIEW REPORT

Sketching a future map of Sendai with the goal of having a better city Sketching a future map of Sendai
with the goal of having a better city

Engineer
Community Planning Unit
City Planning Division
Planning Department
Urban Maintenance Bureau
Sendai City
Misato Oshio REPORT #28

© School of Engineering, Tohoku University

Her interest in becoming
an engineer for Sendai City
grew from her experiences
during the
Great East Japan Earthquake

“Being a major city, I like the convenience of living in Sendai City; and even though it is an urban area, there are pockets of green where I like spending time with nature" says Misato Oshio, who became an employee of Sendai City after receiving her Master's Degree from the Department of Architecture and Building Science at Tohoku University's Graduate School of Engineering. Ms. Oshio works at the city's City Planning Division in the Planning Department of the Urban Maintenance Bureau. Her division is in charge of planning and coordinating with other divisions to make Sendai a better city where people can live comfortably and safely. She explains, “Our job is to create a future map of Sendai City - vestiges of the forms that we sketch on that map will remain after many years. We bear the heavy responsibility of possibly affecting our citizens' property and how people move around the city. In order to achieve a better city from their standpoint, we on the administrative side must do our best and consider the impact of what we do from various perspectives. I hope we can create a city where people from all walks of life can shine and be happy while harnessing ideas and power unique to the private sector through public-private partnerships.”

The reason why Ms. Oshio chose to work in public administration was the Great East Japan Earthquake which she experienced during the spring break of her junior year at university. After the earthquake, she and other students were called by the architecture and structures laboratory where they had already been assigned to collect data on damage and assess the damage level of buildings. She says, “We assessed the damage level of 3 to 4 schools a day. Even though the work was so tough that I lost 4 kilograms in a short period of time, I began to take an interest in Sendai City Hall as I watched the city officials and university researchers discussing the disaster. I became an engineer for the city because I thought I could help create and protect the city I love.”

Changing the
properties of concrete
by adding metallic fibers

After graduating from the Miyagi National College of Technology （currently National Institute of Technology, Sendai College） with a certificate in architecture, Ms. Oshio joined the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture at Tohoku University's School of Engineering as a third-year transfer student, continuing her studies at the Department of Architecture and Building Science at Tohoku University's Graduate School of Engineering. The study of architecture covers a wide range of fields including architectural structure, design, history, and facilities, as well as environmental engineering. However, throughout her career, Ms. Oshio has specialized in the study of architectural materials, specifically concrete （mortar）. She explains, “When I made mortar in a class experiment in technical college, I found it interesting that the mortar's strength differed even though it was made by the same person using the same amount of time and the same amount of mixture. Perhaps the fact that I had seen my father who worked in a construction-related job handling architectural materials at construction sites as a child had made me subconsciously interested in a topic like this. When I wanted to learn more about architectural materials, I found out that there was a professor who was a world-class expert in the field at Tohoku University's School of Engineering, so I narrowed down my options and took the university's exam for transfer students.”

After being assigned to a laboratory in the School of Engineering, Ms. Oshio conducted full-fledged experimental research on mortar mixed with fibers. Her goal was to change the conventional thinking about concrete as a strong but brittle material into one that it's both strong and tough by adding metallic fibers. Her research also had the potential to unearth new discoveries that may tamp down common knowledge that rebar （reinforcing steel bar） rusts in the presence of water and oxygen. She says, “Ultimately, architectural materials support the lifespan of a building. In humans, such materials would be equivalent to the legs. If we can develop even better materials, they may even change the composition of the building space itself. With such expectations, I was able to continue my research for nine years, from technical college to graduate school.

School of Engineering, Tohoku University Driving Force, The Power to Make Tomorrow. INTERVIIEW REPORT

The greatest assets
that she gained
as a transfer student
were her bonds with
friends and colleagues

Looking back, Ms. Oshio says that up until that point, studying for the transfer exam was the hardest thing she has ever done. At her technical college, she had to spend plenty of time on her graduation research as well as her graduation design, so she studied for the exam after school. She says, “I was told that the level of math and physics in the transfer exam of Tohoku University's School of Engineering was very high. From what I've learned at technical college, I had a good grasp of the basics, but my challenge was how I should tackle practical questions. Thankfully, I passed the exam by studying past exam questions even from other universities, and from the advice and guidance I received from my seniors who sought to become transfer students as well as from my professors.”

After graduating from technical college where she was busy with classes and experiments, Ms. Oshio felt that she wanted to enjoy her university life. However, what awaited her was her daily schedule of trying to acquire credits for classes aside from general education. She explains, “There was a limit on the number of credits from my technical college that could be transferred, so in my third year, I attended lectures from Monday to Friday, and there were times when I had to write eleven reports in a week. But I still remember the fun times with my new university friends writing up reports as one of the best memories at university, and they are still deeply etched in my mind.

Ms. Oshio says that the greatest assets she gained from transferring were her friends. “It was at Tohoku University that I was able to forge a friendship with someone that I’m still very close to. Working outdoors and conducting experiments were especially difficult during the summer and winter, but I was able to persevere in my research because the members of our lab were close to each other. We cheerfully supported each other, cooperated with each other, and shared our joys and sorrows together,” she explains.

Don't stop learning,
and keep trying boldly

Ms. Oshio says that her work in urban planning is not directly related to the architectural materials she studied and researched at technical college, university and graduate school. But she says that her being able to discover interesting things as long as it’s in a field that’s unknown to her, even though they are not about concrete which she has been most interested in, is what's most useful in her current work. She says, “Because the expertise of many departments is interconnected, government work entails being able to read, understand, and reconstruct various laws and ordinances when creating or deciding on something new. Each department differs in thinking about laws and management, so it is often very difficult to coordinate among departments. I worry about this daily, and I'm working through trial and error. When I joined the city hall, I set for myself the goal of “creating environment where people can live comfortably and happily so that they and their loved ones will love Sendai forever.” So, I want to keep learning and trying together with my superiors and colleagues that I trust.”

Ms. Oshio says it is important even for young city employees to honestly communicate their ideas with others at work about how to make Sendai more attractive, and to boldly tackle their work. While building on her professional experience, she says she also wants to grow as a versatile worker. We are anxious to see what kind of map she will sketch for Sendai’s future urban planning, and how she will color it.