In the product development evaluation, I verify whether the designed specifications are sufficient for the required specifications, such as performance and durability. Evaluation testing for verification needs simulating the operating conditions of a turbocharger that is assumed to be installed in an engine under development, which does not yet exist in the world. The evaluation test must be conducted on a stand-alone test bench. As the team leader, my current mission is to manage the project from studying the specification of the test bench to its introduction, practical application, maintenance and improvement through verification of operation and measurement capabilities, and to promote the application to actual tests. In addition, I am also responsible for ensuring the quality of daily tests and planning stable and medium- to long-term operation of the test bench.

"Supreme & Tough"
Vehicle turbochargers are used in harsh environments, from oceans (jet skiing) to mountains (snowmobiling) around the world, with high temperatures, vibration, and long life. Also, there are growing expectations for turbochargers to meet the requirements for low fuel consumption and environmental friendlines for vehicles, and IHI continues to meet these expectations. Furthermore, IHI have been providing the highest level of technology to use materials to the limit in pursuit of performance and reliability, ability to respond to customers' needs until they are realized as actual engines, and manufacturing technology and quality control that enable prototyping through mass production. Therefore, in development testing, operating conditions are tightened until the turbocharger is finally damaged in order to confirm the limits of its capabilities, it is not always easy to break down, so we sometimes have a hard time instead. By the way, my IHI turbocharger-equipped car I drove for more than 20 years was also in good shape until the end.

One of the representative technologies of IHI's turbocharger is high-speed rotation technology. Among rotating machines, turbochargers are able to achieve unparalleled high-speed rotation. But in the development of a new model in which the structure of the rotating body changes drastically, there is a hurdle to ensure stable rotation first. When we evaluated the initial design of a machine developed for a certain famous race, we were unable to reach the assumed design speed because it had a structure that we had never seen before, and even after we started testing it, there was too much vibration. As a result of continuous balancing as much as possible while measuring, we were able to identify the vibration characteristics and rotate the turbocharger to the expected speed. At this time, I was reminded of the difficulty of handling high-speed rotating device. There are high-speed motors that combine a turbocharger with an integrated mechanical and electrical system, but there are various machines that require high-speed rotation. I would like to work on new products that go beyond the framework of automobiles.