Yasuaki Monnai
Associate Professor, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo, Japan
E-mail: monnai(at)star.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Address: 3-512 Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology Building 3, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904 Japan
Research Topics
We are exploring wireless cybernetic front-end that surrounds people between the physical world and the information world. In measurement and communication, electromagnetic waves are used in the air (outside the body), while ultrasound is used in water (inside the body), resulting in a separation between the two physical layers. To bridge this gap, we are developing novel wireless technologies, particularly utilizing the terahertz waves that exist at the boundary of light and radio waves.
Specifically, we are working on non-contact ultrasound generation inside the body via terahertz wave irradiation and beam-tracking technology enabling terabit-class communication with moving individuals and devices. These advancements aim to revolutionize biological measurement and human-computer interaction. Furthermore, we are expanding these technologies for non-destructive testing applications, ranging from modern industrial products to historical artifacts dating back a thousand years.
Instead of relying on specific know-how, we encourage questioning the assumptions of existing knowledge while ideating, analyzing and designing them using distributed constant system theory and computers, and implementing and experimenting with them by moving our hands and feet. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us.
We frequently receive inquiries about the relationship between “information somatics” and “terahertz technology”, which we are working on in the Inami/Monnai Laboratory. Thus, we explain the concept more in detail here.
CV
- Assoc. Prof., Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo (2021-)
- Assoc. Prof., Dept. Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics, Keio University (2020-2021)
- Assist. Prof., Dept. Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics, Keio University (2015-2020)
- Project Assist. Prof., Dept. Complexity Science and Engineering, University of Tokyo (2013-2015)
- Project Assist. Prof., Dept. Creative Informatics, University of Tokyo (2013)
- Ph.D. in Information Science and Technology, University of Tokyo (2013)
- Guest Researcher, Philipps University of Marburg, Germany (2012)
- Guest Scientist, University of Kassel, Germany (2010 – 2011)
- Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (2010 – 2013)
- Master of Information Science and Technology, University of Tokyo (2010)
- Bachelor of Engineering, University of Tokyo (2008)