Attending 19th Solid State Ionics Seminar @Matsushima (Kim)

Hello, this is Kim, an M2 student. From August 5–7, I participated in the 19th Solid State Ionics Seminar held at Hotel Daimatsuso in Matsushima, where I gave a poster presentation.

This seminar was mainly focused on all-solid-state batteries, which is different from my own research field of fuel cells. Because of this, I was able to learn a great deal in an area where I do not yet have much experience. Through the poster sessions, invited talks, special lectures, and young researcher presentations, I was exposed to a wide range of topics, including sodium-ion batteries, sulfide-based lithium all-solid-state batteries, etc.

Among the presentations, the poster session on applying machine learning to materials discovery interested me the most. As I am about to begin my doctoral program, I found this particularly relevant as a potential starting point for my new research topic. Recently, many researchers have been utilizing machine learning tools to identify candidate materials in advance of experimental work, and I was inspired by how this approach could also be integrated into my own future research.

For my own poster presentation, this was actually my first time presenting a poster during my university life, as I usually choose oral presentations whenever possible. Compared to oral presentations, I found it more challenging to maintain the attention of the audience, since I had to focus on showing only the most interesting results from my research. Nevertheless, I was able to convey my work effectively and also exchange some valuable comments with the participants. Although most of them were working mainly on all-solid-state batteries rather than fuel cells, I still received useful feedback and different perspectives on my research.

Since the seminar lasted for two nights and three days, I had the opportunity to enjoy dinner at the hotel twice. On both evenings, we were served fresh and delicious sashimi along with various local dishes—some of which I could not even identify, yet they were all very tasty. During the dinner sessions, I also had the chance to talk with several professors on casual topics outside of research, which was a wonderful and memorable experience.

↑Matsushima view from the hotel room.                                 ↑Dinner at the hotel

Lastly, I would like to sincerely thank Professor Takamura for recommending this conference and giving me the opportunity to attend the seminar. This was only my second conference overall, my first one in Japan, and also my first experience with a poster presentation. I am truly grateful for this valuable opportunity, which provided me with many new experiences and insights.