The Doors of Reality- Industrial Placement in Japan
Donovan Anani – MChem (UG – Chemical Science)
"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom; The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction; One law for the lion and ox is oppression" William Blake 1757-1827
The illustrious lure of an advanced nation, the serene landscapes, the kitty-cute novelty items are all ostensible motives for living in this peculiar Catfish Island known as Japan, or commonly referred to more traditional names such as Nippon or the land of the rising sun. I experienced a reverential feeling for the wonders of the Far East- the mere antiquity of their elaborate religions, their monumental achievements and the formidable complexities led my curiosity to forego a whole year at a placement in Japan.
My interest in the sciences has been an inexplicable and innate desire since childhood. The ability to rationalize, measure and convey taught in the pure sciences yields intangible skills in immense areas of life. Meticulous analytical skills in Chemistry has allowed me to measure any real-world situation, biology has provided me inspiration to study living organisms and physics has taught me to observe the phenomena of nature. All the sciences go hand in hand; it was my decision to pursue one field in the professional world – Chemistry. Personally, chemical discoveries always seemed to be the most profound and most credible advances in science. I wouldn’t want to take away the merits of the great Physicists such as Heisenberg or Einstein, or the controversial theories of Darwin. However, just the simple deductive techniques employed by the eccentric fictional character Sherlock Holmes and vast chemical knowledge used to cause revolutions in science and medicine has always been somewhat appealing.
I am an advocate of all disciplines, both science and art. One without the other is tasteless. My recent knowledge of Bushido (Samurai) ethics has shed light on the lifestyles on the samurai warrior, which heavily incorporates the arts into their routine. This has proved to me the significance of encompassing other disciplines and experiences and demonstrates how each can complement and harmonize one another. Therefore, with a rich sense of the arts provided by my Japanese violin teacher as a child, and my accomplished ballroom dancing skills readily gave rise to a furtive interest in a new realm of arts and lifestyles.
Thus with this vague lurking attraction of mine, I undertook the challenge of a placement at one of the leading chemical companies in Japan. I am indebted to my tutors, both Dr Ian Hamerton and Professor Neil Ward for arranging and facilitating this unique opportunity at Hitachi Chemicals. It took a while buttering my application up, with a tarnished reputation from repeated belated and brazen swaggering into the lecture theatre- Professor Ward was justly quite the sceptic towards my ambitions. With more to prove than merely a qualification, I was determined to show others that I was capable of such a feat.
Past experience of traveling could not prepare one for a wholly different lifestyle. Despite having lived in the Middle East and being born in London, which allowed me to explore the diverse countenances of other creeds and races in depth. I landed in Japan struck with awe and fascination- marveling at the staggering uniqueness. Comparing, absorbing plundering the streets while using the rudiments of Japanese I picked up beforehand. I was promptly chaperoned around the company on my arrival, having to deal with endless formalities while intoxicated in a jet-lagged, home-sick stupor.
I was speedily, drilled with agreements, dressed, orientated as well as ‘orientalized’, disciplined, taught and made to produce results at my fingertips. The　towering scale of the chemical plant made me seem like an insignificant and diminutive figure among the working machines. They work differently, the work is taken very seriously and the professionalism is concrete set centuries ago. Adaptation was imperative, and my giddy feelings had to be suppressed to make a positive impression. The work is based in the research and development building, although the lab is situated at quite a distance, which means a lot of shoe removing and fork lift dodging everyday.
The work seemed challenging but the surroundings seemed dreary in rural Japan, and I tried my utmost to keep my mind occupied. The time away from western civilization and the silence provided plentiful opportunities for reflection and wishful thinking. Spare time was eagerly consumed by Japanese-learning and quests for some refreshing past-times including swimming which was incredibly therapeutic in the intolerable sticky-summer heat. As the only foreigner in the company, it was important to keep my mind and body ticking like clockwork, to avoid a distressing despondency I became accustomed to quite frequently. The food I learned to really enjoy, although dormitory food was an obligation, I soon felt slight infringements on my civil liberties among other things as I felt increasingly institutionalized.
As my tutors are fully aware, I made a number of pleas for a transfer to another placement, due to despair and alienation I experienced over the months. In retrospect, having completed almost half the placement, despite being embattled with the masters distance learning coursework, I am pleased I was so adamant about continuing the same placement in Japan. Having overcome the work so far, and making unprecedented progress in the fuel cell team, it was becoming ever more rewarding working in the forefront of fuel cell technology. With the overwhelming concern for climate change recently in the press, making significant progress in the field of producing clean energy had become an honour as well as being quite a socially redeemable achievement to present to Mr. Al Gore – if I ever meet him.
Placement in industry offers life-long skills and experiences, which is enhanced with the ongoing interaction with the academic staff. As an intern, the experience is quite intense when living abroad since the cultural as well as professional customs must be acquired in a short period of time. Interns receive continual feedback from both industrial and academic supervisors, and therefore, I find myself in a disposition to learning more effectively and independently- with the forces of motivation bombarding my every front. With no obligation to stay more than a year, the company continually expends their resources to teach and train, this ultimately makes the trainee the primary beneficiary in this arrangement. The industrial skills I’ve acquired have been invaluable and diverse, from handling large quantities of data, to giving presentationsand merely the everyday contact with strangers was enough to spark up the innovation everyday.
Fortunately, I quickly realized that the atmosphere was not as sinister as it seemed, and my team was extremely friendly. I still cannot succumb to the sheer devotion of my colleagues, their long hours, their cooperation, their loyalty, with two of my team having been in the same position for over 40 years – I was still a budding new-born among the Veterans of the Chemical Industry. They witnessed and they produced from the sweat of their brow the foundations of the company. Since it was established in 1962 the only product was electrical varnish, until then Hitachi Chemicals has become a hugely diverse chemical company making things from heated toilet seats to motor engines for Nissan.
Aware of the history of the prestigious company in this distant land made conforming to all their expectations quite daunting. I soon started to fit into the career like an oversized cloak, but some formalities and the work ethic remained rather irksome for a legal alien like me. The combination of a bell in the mornings and in the afternoons with the company canteen was akin to my boarding school days; the rules were inflexible and rigid, which was unusual for a company based on innovation. But the company and employees are prosperous; therefore, there is something admirable in the contradicting compound known as a Japanese company. I just can’t put my finger on it. Perhaps it’s the deep-seated reverence for samurai culture which stresses obedience at all costs, or some sense of alienation after the World Wars or their ornate creed, which has its deities in nature. Whatever the social fuel, it must be bottled and exported to every nation- I’m still trying to unravel the magic in Japan.
Despite the grueling bureaucracy, learning to work here can be far more rewarding than any other company. I am working on a fuel cell project, where the prospective prototypes are becoming imminent in our lives. Some of the first fuel cells were used to power appliances on the Apollo and Gemini shuttles to space in the 1960’s owing to their lower emissions and longer life. The ideas are not obsolete and are absolutely worth exploring back on Earth. The area has become increasingly competitive, with many major companies having already developed a commercially feasible direct methanol fuel cell. The role I’m employed in is to research the technical difficulties and performance of our own direct methanol fuel cells at Hitachi. This has allowed me to acquire an encyclopedic amount of knowledge concerning this technology and has enabled me to improve my dexterity to the level of a clumsy dentist- since I have botched up the stack structure a couple of times- I’m only human.
Depending on a multitude of factors, the market penetration of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC’s), which utilize methanol, as fuel is highly variable. It’s likely that they may become ubiquitous in all our portable devices and it’s equally likely that they may not be successful. But our concern in the R&D department is just to produce the technology and not to market it, which allows us to concentrate on the science rather than the other `science` known as business. The focus of the research is on the production of the polymer membrane within the cell, which separates the two electrodes within the cell, namely the cathode and the anode. The oxidation of methanol occurs at the anode producing protons, electrons and water, and therefore the subsequent products must travel to the other electrode. The cathode contains Platinum which catalyses a reaction between these protons forming our harmless product – water. This simplified system is obviously a lot more challenging when conducting the experiment with real-life cells. Vast arrays of difficulties are faced when constructing the cell, and even when you reach success, optimization is mandatory to remain receptive to competitors and the latest science breakthroughs. The pressing problems in this cell are the loss of fuel, since membranes are permeable to methanol. Other barriers to commercialization include the catalysis, proton conductivity of the membranes, durability, arrangement of the stack structure, gas diffusion, temperature and waste products are just some of the concerns with this newfound technology. The results are just another awaited cue to get our hands dirty again and handle huge amounts of data, which are perpetually spat out by the machines for us scientists to digest.
Living in solitude is the ultimate contrast to twenty-four-seven-hustle-bustle of University life. There were times when I thought I was mad, chewing over my life in quiet trains, labs and offices, at times swallowed by gloom and melancholy. Well, Man is artificer of his own happiness a noble man once said- although I can’t remember which one. I had to lift my spirits independently- well not entirely; my girlfriend in Florida did give me immense emotional support over the phone. But anyhow, I soon found solace in this little retreat. And from time to time, I’d embark on an adventure as quick as spontaneous combustion. My travels led me to the Golden Temple in Kyoto where I experienced its splendour and its ancient glow warming my face. I ducked and dived through the torii gates dotted around the mountainous country. I climbed the hills of Nikko and breathed the arctic air which awakened my senses; saw the sunrise like an apparition from the mist as spectrum of hope. I envisioned feudal Japan; the clang of swords and the ever-present valour of the Samarai resonated through the hills. I scaled Mount Fuji ill prepared for the foreboding tempest and had to scuttle down the volcanic ash like a demented goat accursed for his foolishness. I try to relish in the good memories and they came intermittently like buckets of ecstasy from a storm. But one must sacrifice to experience anything worthwhile these days.
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