Research Activities at RISH: A Trip of Connection

Dr. Jianhui Zhou (Associate Professor, Wood Engineering School of Engineering, University of Northern British Columbia)

I had the privilege to work as a visiting associate professor in the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH) at Kyoto University from June 11^th to September 18^th, 2024. This visit is part of my one-year sabbatical leave plan. I am very grateful for Prof. Isoda’s invitation and host, and this position provided me a great opportunity to visit Japanese universities, researchers and companies in person. During this 3-month stay, I was able to get the first-hand experience and communications to understand Japanese wood architecture, design practice and building code.

Right after arrived in Kyoto, I was provided the opportunity to travel to Tsukuba to observe a shake table test of a full-scale two-storey wood house using cross laminated timber (CLT) at the Public Works Research Institute (PWRI, 土木研究所). It was my first time to observe a full-scale shake table test. It was interesting to see the application of CLT in houses since CLT is used mainly for mid-rise and large buildings in Canada. I was able to meet with Prof. Takuro Mori from Hiroshima University (previously Assistant Prof. at RISH), who is an old friend of mine. We knew each other in Canada when he was a visiting researcher at the University of New Brunswick and I was a graduate student in 2013. In Tsukuba, Prof. Isoda introduced me to Dr. Shoichi Nakashima at Building Research Institute (BRI, 建築研究所). Dr. Nakashima gave me a tour of BRI, and we shared research ideas on wood buildings.

While working at the Uji campus, I attended the weekly meeting in the Isoda lab and discussed with each lab member about their research project. In particular, I helped one master’s student on the numerical modelling of CLT structure under lateral loads, and the manuscript is currently under preparation. I discussed the differences between Japanese building standard law and Canada building code regarding wood design with the group members, in particularly, Mr. Takuya Tsuji (research engineer in the Isoda lab). On July 17^th, I gave a presentation entitled “vibration performance of mass timber buildings” for the 311^th Open Seminar for Sustainable Humanosphere. This presentation has attracted interest from Japanese researchers. Dr.  Nakashima, Prof.  Miyazu and I discussed the potential collaboration on seismic health monitoring of mid-rise wood buildings. I gave another presentation entitled on “Wood Engineering at the University of Northern British Columbia: Education, Research & Development” at the Isoda lab Summer Seminar on July 24^th. During this event, I was able to meet a lot of researchers and wood building companies. Besides research presentations, I also provided guest lectures on finite element analysis to the lab members during my stay.

Starting from the end of July, I visited Prof. Takuro Mori and his Building Materials and Components lab in Hiroshima University, Prof. Aoki Kenji and his Laboratory of Wood-based Materials and Timber Engineering in Tokyo University, and Prof. Yuki Miyazu and his lab in Tokyo University of Science. I shared our research on mass timber buildings with the students and had good discussions on the future of mass timber construction in Japan. Prof. Mori and I discussed the collaboration on moisture monitoring of CLT. Moreover, I visited the first 8-storey timber building, AQ Group office building in Saitama, with the help of Dr. Nakashima. The building tour and discussion with AQ Group provided me an in-depth understanding of wood building design in Japan. I also had two meetings on a specific wood design problem with the Center for Global Product Design & Development from SEKISUI HOUSE. I will continue working with SEKISUI HOUSE to provide a better solution for their international market.

Besides the research activities, I visited many places in Japan such as Amanohashidate, Legoland Japan, Miyajima, and Okinawa. I had a great time to enjoy the kindness, friendship, culture, history, food, nature, and entertainment in Japan. I believe that I will have more collaborations with Japanese researchers and companies, and contribute to the wood building culture and education in both Japan and Canada.