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Aiyu Tominaga Receives the L'ORÉAL-UNESCO Women Scientists Japan Encouragement Award
Ken Ebisawa, Professor, Department of Astronomy, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Based on the principle that "the world needs science and science needs women," Ms. Aiyu Tominaga, a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Astronomy, was awarded the 18th L'ORÉAL-UNESCO Japan Encouragement Award for Women Scientists for the year 2023.
Ms. Aiyu Tominaga
JAXA's LiteBIRD project is a precise observation of the cosmic microwave background radiation to verify the hypothesis that the universe was created through "inflation. Dr. Tominaga contributed to the realization of the project by studying the effects of cosmic ray noise on the observations and by proposing optimal onboard data processing and algorithms. He also made a significant contribution to JAXA's XRISM satellite, which can observe various cosmic phenomena with the highest X-ray energy resolution in history and track the diffusion of elements in space, by conducting detailed observation simulations, proposing an optimal observation plan, and actively participating in ground tests. He has also made significant contributions to the XRISM satellite by actively participating in ground tests. In addition, Dr. Tominaga analyzed a prominent object discovered by JAXA's all-sky X-ray monitoring instrument MAXI in January 2019 and revealed that it is a black hole binary with relatively large mass. We are also proposing novel observations with NASA's NICER instrument of a neutron star binary system known for its peculiar properties, in an attempt to unravel its true nature.
It is commendable that a graduate student has achieved such diverse results by the end of his second year of doctoral studies. The award was given in recognition of this achievement, under the theme of "Development and research of observation methods from the beginning of the universe through the diffusion process of elements to the final stage of matter. I wish him continued success in a variety of fields.
The Rigaku-bu News, November 2023