Experience note
Stay at Tohoku University, 7th of February − 18th of March, 2005


I went to Prof. Qiu laboratory thanks to the International COE of Flow Dynamics internship program. In France my fields of interests are vibration control and energy harvesting using piezoelectric materials. I'm preparing my PhD in the Electrical Engineering and Ferroelectricity Laboratory at the National Institute of Applied Science from Lyon (INSA de Lyon). This laboratory directed by Prof. Guyomar and the Intelligent System Laboratory directed by Prof. Qiu have entered in strong relationship since a few years. Prof. Qiu kindly received me and gave me the possibility to test a new vibration control technique developed in Lyon on a very interesting experimental set-up. This set-up is composed of a composite board with built in piezoelectric elements. This smart board  is clamped on the end of a rectangular section pipe. The opposite end of the pipe is closed. Noise is generated inside the pipe by a speaker and can only be transmitted to the outside via vibration of the composite board. Controlling the transmitted noise is similar to control the vibration of the board. The experiments I carried out on this set-up were very instructive.

I was impressed by the quality of the research conducted in the Intelligent System Laboratory. This is a small lab but very active in many different fields. I was particularly interested by activities related to piezoelectric materials applications since it is my own field of interest. I was especially impressed by the auto-adaptive active control law developed to address the problem of noise transmission and by the concept of self-sensing actuators which appears to be a prime novelty. I was also surprised to see that this lab was also highly skillful in the field of piezoelectric ceramic fibers realization.

I am very grateful to the International COE of Flow Dynamics which gave me the precious opportunity to visit Prof. Qiu laboratory. The administrative staff of the Program is very considerate towards the foreigner students and helpful. My stay was very well organized and profitable. The location of my flat was extremely convenient, near Sendai city downtown and near the university.

I also had time to travel across Japan. It was an unforgettable experience. I went to Tokyo and Nikko. Nikko is a very good place to see, with very old and very beautiful shrines. The Juzenji lake near Nikko is also very nice, with a splendid view of the mountains. Nearer from Sendai, Matsushima is famous for its bay which is dotted by many pine clad islets and has been ranked one of Japan's three most scenic views. Sendai downtown is a very nice place for walking and Sendai food specialities are excellent...

Finally I really enjoyed my stay in Japan. Japanese people were always very nice and helpful with me. I will try to come back soon, but this time I will go for one full year...