A full house assembled to hear from the expert panel gathered to talk about the collaboration between Japan and Washington State companies and universities in space and in innovative materials for airplanes and other vehicles.

First, our moderator, Douglas King, gave us a brief reminder of the history of man taking flight.  He noted that aviation technology has only been developed within the last two centuries, as the Wright Brothers made the first successful airplane in 1903.  We often take our achievement in flight for granted when we are impatiently waiting to board a plane or when the Wifi has problems on our flight.

Our first guest speaker, Professor Tomonaga Okabe from the Department of Aerospace at Tohoku University, gave us insights on how he and his team are addressing problems in the mechanics of composite materials used in aviation technology.  They are working on these problems by taking it to a molecular level and solving it atom by atom.

Next, our second guest speaker, Professor Saadia Pekkanen from Jackson School of International Studies in the University of Washington, took the conversation to outer space, informing us of the strength of Japan’s military in space. She gave us many things to think about in regards to the future of our social development in space.  She brought up were the questions of developing international space laws and how to cope with an increased need for more viable source of energy.

The last speaker was John Thornquist, the Director of the Office of Aerospace in the Washington State Department of Commerce.  He spoke about business between Washington State and Japan, elaborating on the imports and exports between the two markets.

We’d like to thank our sponsors for helping us hold this event and we look forward to seeing you all again at our next event!

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