RailTEC Visiting Scholar

Chris Barkan (L) and visiting scholar Hiroto Sunahara (R) from Central Japan Railway Company.

March 2018: RailTEC is honored to have Hiroto Sunahara, an employee of Central Japan Railway Company (JRC), as a visiting scholar for the 2017 – 2018 academic year. Mr. Sunahara is an Assistant Manager with the Construction Department, Civil Engineering Section, in their Tokyo office. JRC has a plan to construct a new HSR line between Tokyo and Osaka, and to introduce a superconducting maglev system as a passenger line. In an effort to reduce construction and operation costs, JRC is developing a new method of maintaining this huge infrastructure while still securing soundness and boosting efficiency. While in the United States, Hiroto is researching ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and IoT (Internet of Things) for potential use of this technology at JRC.