Trains seem luxurious by European standards. No garbage is strewn on the floor; the roomy seats recline comfortably. And, on the Shinkansen - the world's second-fastest train - the average delay is six seconds. To take the bus, several uniformed employees obsequiously attend to passengers, directing them to the correct line (which is explicitly drawn on the sidewalk), simultaneously dealing with the severely jet-lagged passengers' luggage. Every contact with these employees is concluded with deep bows.
Such was the experience of some of the UT Science and Technology researchers who attended the 5th International Conference on Multiphase Flow (ICMF) Yokohama, Japan early this June. Among the conference participants were Arie Biesheuvel, Peter van Dijk, Rob Hagmeijer, Harry Hoeijmakers from the Engineering Fluid Dynamics group; Detlef Lohse, Stefan Luther, Andrea Prosperetti and Christian Veldhuis from Physics of Fluids; and, Dadan Darmana and Hans Kuipers from Fundamentals of Chemical Reaction Engineering.
Lohse delivered a plenary lecture on turbulent bubby flow; Kuipers gave a keynote lecture on dispersed gas-liquid two-phase flows. Andrea Prosperetti, of both the UT and Johns Hopkins University, won the prestigious ICMF Senior Award and was therefore invited to give the Award Lecture.
The ICMF 2004 was held in the Yokohama Pacifico Conference Center, which is part of an ultra-modern port redevelopment project completed in the 21st century. Here, too, Japanese technology reigns supreme. Although skyscraping buildings dominate the skyline, serene fountains and rock gardens between the structures gives the complex a harmonious balance rarely achieved among concrete edifices. One other structure adds a bit of whimsy to the skyline: the world's second-highest Ferris wheel (the largest is now in Tokyo), which takes 15 minutes to complete a full rotation.
Several UTers stayed in the Yokohama Royal Park Hotel, situated in Japan's tallest building, the 70-storey Landmark Building. Standing 296 meters high, it also boasts the world's fastest elevator that transports passengers at an ear-popping 750 meters per minute. The Landmark affords a breathtaking view of Mt. Fuji in the distance.
Although doctoral candidate Christian Veldhuis found Yokohama a bit too sterile for his taste, he has many positive things to say about the city, `It's clean, well organized. I have not
seen anything whatsoever that looked like grafitti; that surprised me a lot. And then the taxi - the cabdriver is properly dressed (even wearing white gloves) and the seats are covered with a blanket that could have been my grandma's. The people are very polite and keep on smiling the whole day. I liked that a lot. If you compare it to the Dutch standard, then the Dutch way of life would almost be barbaric.'
Something that amused PhD student Peter van Dijk were the `fully controlled electronic toilets' found in most public restrooms. A panel next to the toilet offers an array of buttons featuring spray options - direction and intensity of spray - as well as toilet seat temperature choices. In the ladies' room, this automation goes one step further by featuring a sensor that, when activated by a waving hand, yields a flushing sound in order for ladies to mask any unseemly noises that might occur during their visit to the toilet.
For Rob Hagmeijer, eating a Japanese breakfast one morning underscored how far apart Japanese and European cultures are in some respects. He describes the experience, `Japanese servants in kimonos bowed frequently and brought us a big tray with squid, fish, rice, eggplant and a bowl of black soja soup with a white cloud - egg, perhaps - swirling through it. While we were impressed and fascinated by this, a Japanese family next to us was eating the same breakfast in a routine fashion. There, I really felt that our worlds were very different; I enjoyed it very much.'
Kristin Zimmerman
Yokohama Pacifico Conference Center
