Tsubasa Nakamura: Flying Cars and Keio University

2019/02/27

As the representative of the volunteer group CARTIVATOR, I am developing a flying car with over 100 volunteer members, aiming to realize a demonstration of lighting the cauldron at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony. This activity began with the desire to "create a car for the next generation," and the support of the Juku has always been in the background.

The catalyst for my activities was my childhood ambition to become an automotive engineer. To achieve this, I encountered an activity called "Student Formula" during my time as a student in the Faculty of Science and Technology. We built one racing car a year to compete, participating as a university club. Thanks to the support of club alumni and Juku alumni at sponsor companies, we were able to participate every year and improve our ranking.

Afterward, I took a design position at Toyota Motor Corporation. Although my dream of becoming an engineer came true, there weren't many opportunities to engage in hands-on manufacturing, and planning an ideal car requires a long period of apprenticeship. Unable to suppress my desire to do it myself, I started CARTIVATOR outside of work. While gathering teammates and refining new concepts, we arrived at the idea of a flying car and began developing a scale model out of our own pockets.

The turning point came in 2017, three years after we started. Efforts such as speaking to company executives through the Mita-kai bore fruit, and as a result of receiving 45 million yen in sponsorship from the Toyota Group, we completed a full-scale prototype and conducted flight tests. Furthermore, to allow me to work on this during business hours, it was decided that joint research on the commercialization of flying cars would be conducted with Keio. However, while visiting the United States, the heart of aviation, I felt that we could not compete as we were, and I left the company in April 2018. I immediately started a business in the US, and while participating in aviation-related academic conferences, I witnessed that both aircraft development and air traffic control were quite advanced in the US. I returned to Japan at the end of June and decided to devise a strategy while continuing as a researcher at Keio.

Recently, with movements such as the public-private council for flying cars being held in Japan, I launched a venture aiming for autonomous flight last December. Utilizing the knowledge gained through research, I am finally ready to take on the challenge. I hope to continue receiving support from my seniors at the Juku while also becoming someone who can support my juniors.