On February 16 and 17, 2026, Hirata and Zhang visited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, USA. During this visit, they met with the research groups of Jeehwan Kim, Tian Tian, and Xuanhe Zhao, where they engaged in discussions on cutting-edge research topics.

Each group is actively pursuing research on nanomaterial synthesis processes, device applications, and the mechanisms underlying material functionality. Through these discussions, we gained valuable insights across a broad range of topics. In particular, recent advances in atomic-scale structural control and scalable fabrication processes were highly relevant to our own research, providing meaningful perspectives for future developments.