Weekly diary

Finally we got how to make a membrane. It was really interesting. For the first time, we made a membrane which had the salt rejection over 97%. Although it was not high as we expected, we really love it. It was the fruit of our one hour working hard.

Our Proffesor was giving us some comments about our experiment result

BOD analysis again! We do it every week. We are planning to get data series about our Membrane Bioreactor system. It was a little tired because of long time working. Usually we work in arround 8 hours from noon to late night. However, it will be a nice chance for us to get more lab skills and it will also be nice memories for us to look back when we graduate :D

This week seems to be an international cultural exchange week in Nagasaki. Several activities were held for foreign students. We wore Vietnamese traditional dress (Aodai) and went there. Let's enjoy some our nice photos.

Weekly diary...

What a good news! We have 3 new members in this semester. Now our course has 9 students from Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, China and Nigeria. Last Wednesday, new students joined the BOD analysis with us. It was really hard for them at the first time. They make us look back last semester. We also had a hard period with lab works. Some students have done lab works before while other students haven't worked in lab. However, we all passed this period and got precious knowledge and experiences. We believe that difficulties will help us be stronger. So, new students, fightingggg!!!

This week we also enjoyed a festival for people who are in love and will be in love. Nagasaki not only makes us feel peace but also makes us be interested in several festivals. We were really impressive by this festival. We enjoyed Japanese festival atmosphere, Japanese food, fireworks and a special concert conducted by our special friend. We will introduce our special friend in next articles. Now, let's enjoy some photos which show our interesting memories. 

2nd NU Membrane Workshop - Registration is now open!

We are pleased to announce that the 2nd NU Membrane Workshop focusing on forward osmosis will be held at Nagasaki University on 13 November. The workshop will be joined by colleagues in Sydney and three speakers remotely presenting through Skype. 

Title:    Emerging membrane-based desalination technology: Forward Osmosis
Date:   Friday 13th of November 2015
Time:  11:00  – 15:30 (JPN)
          13:00  – 17:30 (AUS)
Registration fees:   FREE

Forward osmosis (FO) membrane is emerging membrane technology that could play a crucial role in the production of water, and recovery of energy and resources in many water treatment applications. This workshop provides the fundamental knowledge and recent advances of these advanced techniques in Japan and Australia, particularly focusing on applications using FO membranes.

For registration and further details, go to our website below.
http://www.waterenviron.com/home/un-workshop/access-workshop

Private tour in Tucson & Orange County

The author (Taka) visited in the University of Arizona (AZ) and Orange County Water District (CA) on 22 and 23 Sep, respectively. I had good luck from the beginning of the trip - a free upgrade for my JAL flight from Osaka to Los Angeles despite my not-high membership status in JAL. Thanks JAL!

My first day in the US started with a visit in Tucson, AZ where the University of Arizona (UA) is located. Prof. Shane Snyder helped me out to arrange a seminar (& a nice accommodation for my stay!). I would like to thank Shane for his help and warm hospitality during my stay in Tucson. Shane's lab houses quite a few analytical instruments for the analysis of trace organics (the lab looks like a large booth in an analytical instrument exposition) and he has just opened up a new research centre for many water treatment activities. Anyway, during the seminar I gave a presentation focusing on the removal of trace organics by reverse osmosis membranes for potable water reuse, which actually got a strong attention from professors and students working in the department. It is always good to get a feedback from many professional people working in a similar field, particularly from places where water issue is actually happening. After my visit in UA, Shane showed me around Tucson city and we also enjoyed beers discussions about research at a local bar. Btw, I forgot to take any photos during my stay in Tucson...

A sign at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

I spent my second day in Orange County Water District (OCWD), California. They have the world largest water reclamation plant used for indirect potable water reuse. Surprisingly, the inside and outside of the facility doesn't look like 7-8 years old but rather like brand new! The scientist who showed me around explained the reason like that's because of the arid condition (= less subject to rust?). After having lunch at a Mongolian BBQ restaurant, I gave a presentation that is actually quite similar to what I did at UA. While my presentation was about 40-min long only, we had additional one hour to talk about the details of the research findings and ongoing research. I realised that the US is the place where my main research gets most attention! In any case, I met a number of professional scientists and engineers at OCWD and had great discussions. I really appreciate their help and hospitality during my stay.

 Reverse osmosis (RO) units.

 RO permeate, RO feed, and RO concentrate (from left to right).

Many states in the US like California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas (and maybe many more) are suffering from droughts and unbalanced supply & demand. Though Japan doesn't really have any issues in terms of quantity of water, I am hoping that technologies Japan has can contribute to solve some of the water-related issues happening in the US.

I was too lazy to take photos during this trip but I will try to get as many photos as possible for this blog next time!