Masaharu Fujioka (M1), Assistant Professor Yusuke Hayashi, and Professor Hirokazu Sugiyama of Department of Chemical System Engineering received Technical Achievement Award

On 19th September 2024, Masaharu Fujioka (M1), Assistant Professor Yusuke Hayashi, and Professor Hirokazu Sugiyama of Department of Chemical System Engineering received the Technical Achievement Award of the Division of Systems, Information, and Simulation Technologies (SIS) at The Society of Chemical engineers.

From left to right: Assistant Professor Hayashi, Fujioka-san, Professor Sugiyama

Technical Achievement Award of the Division of Systems, Information, and Simulation Technologies (SIS) at The Society of Chemical engineers

This award is given to a presentation that has made a significant contribution to the development of science, technology, and industry, and that is worthy of commendation among general presentations on outstanding industrial applications of science and technology at sessions related to the SIS Division.

About awarded research

Title: Design space determination in the freezing processes of human iPS cell-derived spheroids using hybrid models

In the practical application of regenerative medicine using human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells, storage and transportation involving cell freezing are essential. Currently, many of the hiPS cell-derived products used in clinical applications are obtained through "spheroids," which are cell aggregates. However, with modern technology, there are challenges in freezing spheroids, and this is a major obstacle to product manufacturing, so establishing freezing processes is urgently needed. Although freezing process design models have been developed and optimized for single cells, it has been difficult to apply these models to the freezing process for spheroids. In this work, therefore, we constructed new hybrid models that predict the quality of spheroids after thawing, and determined the "design space," which indicates the feasible ranges of operation of the freezing process. The results of this research are expected to contribute to the realization of the design in the freezing process for human iPS cell-derived spheroids.

Your impression & future plan

It is our great pleasure to receive this award. We deeply appreciate the collaborators and all the members of Sugiyama-Badr Laboratory. We will continue to work on the topic for further developing the research and contributing to the development of the industrial world and, by extension, the real world.