From September 20 to 25, Yuki Hirata and Zhang from our laboratory participated in the 8th World Tribology Congress (WTC 2026) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they gave oral presentations.

The WTC is one of the leading international conferences in the field of tribology and is held every four years in different locations around the world. WTC 2026 brought together 2,330 participants from 51 countries. During the conference, we had opportunities for research presentations and discussions with researchers from the Tokoroyama Group at Nagoya University, the Adachi and Kuriyagawa Groups at Tohoku University, the Mihara Group at Tokyo City University, the Materials Technology Division of the Railway Technical Research Institute, the Surface Functionalization and Tribology Research Group at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Research & Innovation Center.

During the conference, Prof. Umehara, former principal investigator of the Tokoroyama Group, with whom our laboratory collaborates, delivered a Plenary Lecture. We also had the pleasure of meeting Prof. Muthukumar Mariappan of Acharya Institutes again, approximately nine years after our previous meeting in 2017, when he was working as a postdoctoral researcher in Japan.

Before and after the conference, we also participated in excursions and visited some of Rio de Janeiro’s most iconic landmarks, including the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado Hill, Rio de Janeiro Cathedral, the Selarón Steps, and Sugarloaf Mountain. It was a valuable opportunity to experience the vibrant atmosphere of Rio de Janeiro, where the spirit of samba is deeply rooted, as well as the vast natural beauty and rich culture of Brazil.