In recognition of his outstanding contribution and services to tribology, especially in the field of ceramic tribology.
Professor Koji Kato was born in 1943. He received his Bachelor degree in 1966, his Masters degree in 1968 and his PhD in 1974, all at the Faculty of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, in which university he has spent most of his professional life.
After working as a Research Associate of Mechanical Engineering Department between 1971 to 1980, he became in 1980 Associate Professor and in 1987 Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Tribology, a position which he held until his retirement in 2007. He is now Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Nihon University.
Professor Kato’s work and activities encompassed many parts of the science and technology of tribology.
He was instrumental in the now famous tribology laboratory at Tohoku University, of which he was Chairman from 1987 to 2007.
His successful work has covered many different areas in the field of tribology. Outstanding of these was the fundamental work covering abrasive wear mechanism of metals; the development of friction and wear mode maps of metals and ceramics under a variety of sliding conditions; deposition and tribological characterisation of different types of low-friction coatings; fundamental work on the formation of different types of surface film formed during tribological contact, and how these tribofilms influenced wear and friction characteristics of the tribo system and fundamental work of the head-disk tribological contact in hard disk drives.
Jointly with colleagues, he invented a novel technique to apply solid lubricants during operation, caused by the detection of an increased coefficient of friction, thus increasing service reliability, also the service life of space tribo-elements. His Tribo-Assisted Coating was invented in 1990 on applications in space systems, this project having received active support from NASA.
Professor Kato is known internationally as one of the leading researchers in microtribology, hard coatings, contact mechanics, head-disk interface tribology, as well as surface engineering and ceramics.
However, best known is his work in the field of ceramics, where his work was outstanding. He enhanced the understanding of ceramic tribology/wear maps and of the mechanism of wear/macro and micro. He was responsible for the early successful application of AFM to tribology and importance to sliding systems without mineral oil lubricants. His influence on science and technology was to a large extent the assessment of wear mechanisms of ceramic materials and indeed, his influence in industry and the economy with the assessment of potential ceramic materials and coatings for sliding contacts. Professor Kato invented a novel technique to polish ceramic balls by means of magnetic fluid, which drastically decreased the surface roughness of the balls, a technique which has since found wide application.
Professor Kato’s work was not limited to his scientific researches. He was actively and passionately involved in the education of the next generation of tribologists and was active in the promotion of many Ph.Ds and guided students through research projects involving some of Japan’s largest companies.
Professor Kato has received many honours, amongst which are Distinction Honoris Causa de l’Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France; Foreign Member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences, the International Award of The Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), USA and the Mayo D. Hersey Award of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Japan Academy Award.
His outstanding achievements and their international recognition, make Professor Kato a worthy recipient of Tribology’s Highest Award for 2007, the Tribology Gold Medal.