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Kikuchi Lab
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A lab that uses simulation to evaluate the value of technologies within society.
AboutAbout the lab
Systems Engineering for Sustainability
The Kikuchi Lab studies the environment and sustainability, building on systems thinking and systems engineering.
Its research targets include energy, resource circulation, materials, and industrial systems.
By combining technology assessment methods such as life cycle assessment (LCA) with systems design approaches, the lab supports analysis and decision-making that look ahead to future society.
The lab has no experimental facilities. Instead, it emphasizes analytical thinking skills, such as mathematical modeling, data analysis, and the design of evaluation indicators.
Key terms
- Life Cycle Assessment
- A method of numerically evaluating the environmental impact of a product across its entire life, from raw materials to manufacturing, use, and disposal
- Distributed Energy Systems
- A system in which energy is produced and used through small local facilities in each region, rather than relying on large power plants
- Scenario Analysis
- An analysis that builds and compares possible future storylines, such as "what happens if we continue as we are?" or "what is needed to reach a target?"
NewsLab news
Updated recruitment information for those considering joining the lab
The lab exhibited at the 76th Komaba Festival
A master's student won a Poster Award at EcoBalance 2024
A master's student won the Best Student Award at the 89th Annual Meeting of the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies systems engineering for sustainability, based on scenario analysis of future societies. It simulates process systems that combine multiple technologies and evaluates the value of those technologies within social systems.
*Illustrative imageModeling Technological Systems
The lab turns individual technologies into mathematical models so that the performance of their combinations can be evaluated quantitatively. It is developing models that examine, across the entire life cycle of a product, whether technologies such as plant factories truly reduce environmental impact.
*Illustrative imageEnergy Simulation
The lab simulates a wide range of subjects, from analysis of a nation's overall energy use to the design of regional distributed energy systems. It works on regional system design for the large-scale introduction of renewable resources.
*Illustrative imageMultifaceted Evaluation of Technology
Technologies have many aspects: not only efficiency, profitability, and environmental impact, but also safety and value within society and the economy. By combining methods such as life cycle assessment, the lab develops new evaluation methodologies.
*Illustrative imageImplementing Technology in Society
Introducing a technology into society also requires building relationships with the values of the communities that receive it, the people who will carry it forward, institutions, and history and culture. The lab conducts field research in Japan and abroad, and feeds its findings back to the people involved in design and implementation.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Kikuchi Lab consist of faculty, doctoral and master's students, and research students.As of 2026
- ProfessorYasunori KikuchiPublications ↗
- Project ProfessorSatoshi Ohara
- Project Associate ProfessorShoma FujiiPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
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RelatedLabs similar to Kikuchi Lab
Sugiyama-Badr LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical System EngineeringProcess systems engineering
Kansha LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical System EngineeringProcess systems design for a sustainable energy society
Takanabe-Obata-Kishimoto LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical System EngineeringCatalytic chemistry
Ogura LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical System EngineeringEnvironmental catalytic chemistryThe 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: “Aasen agrivoltaics solar plant with walls of vertical bifacial modules near Donaueschingen Germany 7” Tobi Kellner / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Modeling Technological Systems: “Pasona Urban Farm ( )” Masashige MOTOE / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Energy Simulation: “Greenleaf Power Station” Dicklyon / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Multifaceted Evaluation of Technology: “Bales of PET bottles stacked” Grendelkhan / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Implementing Technology in Society: “Sugarcane field(MIyakojima Is.) - panoramio” Kaz Ish / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Sugiyama-Badr Lab): “Aminwäsche” Philip1307 / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Kansha Lab): “Wesseling Germany LyondellBasell-01” CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Takanabe-Obata-Kishimoto Lab): “Heterrogenous catalysis across scales” Edvin Fako / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ogura Lab): “Framework structure of the FAU-type zeolite” Nao1958 / CC0 (cropped)
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