Aiming to Pioneer Interdisciplinary Fields

2020/06/18

"I want you to be pioneers." These are the words I received from my mentor when I was enrolled in the Doctoral Programs in graduate school. My current field of specialization is regenerative medical engineering and tissue engineering, which belong to the interdisciplinary field between engineering and medical sciences.

Now in my 40s as an educator and researcher at a university, looking back on my path, I feel that my start as a researcher specializing in this interdisciplinary field was precisely due to meeting this mentor. At the time, I was in the first year of my Master's program in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, researching the fatigue properties and strength of stainless steel used in power plants—something completely different from what I do now. I never imagined for a moment that I, someone who gets faint at the sight of blood, would be involved in the medical field. However, it happened. It was in March, just as I was finishing my first year of the Master's program, a time I will never forget. My academic advisor at the time suddenly informed me that they were transferring to a certain national Research Centers and Institutes, and therefore, the laboratory would be closing. Two paths were presented to us students who were about to enter our second year of the Master's program in April: one was to transfer to a laboratory in the same research field where we could continue similar research themes, and the other was to transfer to the laboratory of a newly arriving professor. The incoming professor, while based in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was conducting research in an interdisciplinary field called medical engineering—a fusion with medical sciences that was unfamiliar and even something I thought I was bad at. It is still surprising to me, as someone who had always been stability-oriented and conservative in my career choices, but I chose the mentor's laboratory specializing in the unknown field of regenerative medical engineering simply because it seemed interesting. I even ended up going on to the Doctoral Programs. Truly, meeting my mentor at that time and the choice I made for my career path were the turning points that led to who I am today.

Perhaps reflecting the unstable social conditions, I feel that today's youth tend to seek stability in their career paths. I would be happy if this short piece could convey even a part of the "pioneer" spirit—the idea that moments of simply following curiosity or a sense of adventure, thinking "this looks interesting" or "this is exciting," can lead to carving out one's own life. Of course, I myself intend to push forward with my educational and research activities with this "pioneer" spirit in my heart. Aiming to pioneer new interdisciplinary fields.