LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Fluid System Engineering Lab
Machine-translated · View original
The lab studies fluid systems, aiming to understand and control flows in gaps as small as molecules in order to advance machines.
AboutAbout the lab
Innovating mechanical systems through advances in fluids.
The Itoh-Azuma Lab studies how to understand and control the behavior of fluids from an engineering standpoint, at scales ranging from the microscopic world of molecules to the size of spacecraft.
The lab runs research projects related to improving the energy efficiency of automobiles, next-generation semiconductor processing, information devices, and the development of new medical devices.
Building on mechanical engineering, the lab also works in fields that combine it with new materials development, information technology, and biotechnology.
Key terms
- Nanoimprint lithography
- A microfabrication method in which a mold with fine surface patterns is pressed into a liquid film, and the pattern is transferred by hardening the film with light
- Hydration lubrication
- A mechanism in which a water-containing gel-like layer helps surfaces slide against each other. It is the reason friction in joints is extremely low
- Nanogap
- A very narrow gap, on the order of nanometers (one billionth of a meter), between solid surfaces rubbing against each other
NewsLab news
A doctoral student won the Research Encouragement Award from the Imaging Society of Japan
Held the fiscal 2026 lab assignment open house
Published a method for rapidly analyzing the size of giant DNA in Lab on a Chip
A master's student won the Outstanding Interdisciplinary Research Award at ROBOMECH 2024
A master's student won the Outstanding Presentation Fellow Award for Young Researchers from the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies a wide range of fluids, including functional fluids used in automobiles and materials used in semiconductor manufacturing. By developing its own measurement methods, it reveals flows and molecular motion at the nanometer scale, with the aim of developing new materials and devices.
*Illustrative imageFunctional fluids for next-generation automobiles
The lab investigates, at the nanoscale, fluids used in units that integrate the motor and reduction gear of electric vehicles. Using its own nanoscale measurement methods, it found that liquid in gaps of a few nanometers has properties different from normal, and showed that these properties can be controlled by adding polymers. It also develops new technologies through joint research with companies.
*Illustrative imageSingle-nanometer semiconductor processing
The lab aims to achieve processing below 10 nanometers using nanoimprint lithography, in which a mold is pressed into a photocurable liquid to transfer a pattern. It studies how liquids wet nanoscale structures and how photopolymerization reactions occur in nanoscale spaces.
*Illustrative imageHydrated gel lubrication for medical devices
The lab aims to clarify the mechanism of hydration lubrication, which gives extremely low friction as in joints, and to develop a technology that makes material surfaces slippery with a thin gel film. With applications to artificial joints and catheters in mind, it conducts joint research with medical device manufacturers.
Molecular transport for ultra-low friction
Using its own techniques, the lab visualizes how lubricant flows and how it slips at the walls in nanogaps between surfaces rubbing against each other. It aims to develop a technology that uses flow to carry lubricant molecules to where they are needed, creating low-friction surfaces.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Itoh-Azuma Lab are faculty and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorShintaro Itoh
- Associate ProfessorNaoki Azuma
VoicesStudent voices
Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Student ratings (0 students)
--
--
--
--
--
--
Student voices answer questions like these
- What's great about this lab?
- What did you learn after joining?
- What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
- Who is this lab for?
- Where do graduates go?
Your experience can help younger students choose their lab. Your name won't be shown.
Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Fluid System Engineering Lab
Sensing Engineering LabSchool of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringSensing engineering is a research field that creates new tec…
Thermal Control Engineering Lab (1)School of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringThermal, energy, and combustion systems for reducing environ…
Intelligent Robotics LabSchool of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringIntelligent robots assisting human movement and object trans…
Biocybernetics LabSchool of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringWe aim to understand biological functions through engineerin…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Microfluidic Chip iX-factory” IX-factory STK / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Functional fluids for next-generation automobiles: “Electric motor and transmission in a truck” Foxcorner / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Single-nanometer semiconductor processing: “Semiconductor Wafer of Microelectronics” DrHughManning / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Hydrated gel lubrication for medical devices: “Superabsorber Hydrogel KSG 2917 pK” Petra Klawikowski / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Sensing Engineering Lab): “Atomic Force Microscope 01” Gannu03 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Thermal Control Engineering Lab (1)): “NASA’s Pandora Mission Closer To Probing Alien Atmospheres (SVS14754)” NASA/Weston Maughan, BCT / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Intelligent Robotics Lab): “Pepper the Robot” Softbank Robotics Europe / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Biocybernetics Lab): “Observing cell lines under microscope in a cell culture lab” Pinky9697 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.