[No. 109] Yusuke Hioka

I am currently a university faculty member in Christchurch, New Zealand. I was at Keio University for a long period of 15 years, and I would like to introduce some of the events that have particularly led to where I am today.

The first thing I chose of my own volition after entering Keio University at the Chutobu Junior High School was club activities. At the Chutobu Junior High School, where both cultural and athletic club activities were encouraged, I chose the Mathematics Study Group and the Mountaineering Club. As I will explain later, this choice is actually closely linked to my current work and hobbies. While I enjoyed monthly day-trip mountain climbs, I also found mathematics enjoyable as I progressed through the grades, and from my junior high school days, I was strongly aware that I wanted to pursue a science track. On the other hand, I had the experience of living in London for a year when I was in the second year of junior high due to my father's job transfer. In an era before the internet, or even fax machines, were widespread, it was reluctant and sometimes painful to leave my friends and go to a foreign country, but there is no doubt that this experience, including my English skills, had a great impact on me later on. After advancing to Keio Shiki Senior High School, I became even more interested in science subjects, while in club activities, I joined the Mandolin Club and immersed myself in music.

The year I entered, 1996, was the year the Faculty of Science and Technology was reorganized, and as the first class under the new curriculum, there was an atmosphere of students and faculty working together to build the new departments. I had been interested in information and communications since high school, so I chose Gakumon 5 (Academic Category 5) upon admission. However, hearing that 21st-century engineers would need a broad knowledge of various engineering fields in addition to their specialty, I chose to advance to the Department of System Design Engineering (hereafter SD Engineering) when selecting my department, as it allowed for the interdisciplinary study of electricity, machinery, and information.

For extracurricular activities, I continued with the Mandolin Club, participating in various concerts, including several annual concerts organized by the club, an orchestra for young people sponsored by NHK, and outreach performances by small ensembles. Meanwhile, one of the great experiences I gained during my university years was coaching the mandolin clubs at several junior and senior high schools, including Keio University's affiliated schools, and mentoring younger students.

While my extracurricular life was all about music, the subject that particularly interested me in the SD Engineering department was signal processing. Signal processing is a technology that makes it possible to extract necessary information from data obtained in various fields of engineering, including sound and images, by using mathematics as a tool. For me, who had enjoyed solving everyday problems using mathematics since junior and senior high school and was immersed in the world of "sound" as a hobby, signal processing was the perfect field to specialize in. When choosing a laboratory in my fourth year, I selected the lab of Professor Hamada (now retired and a Professor Emeritus), who taught the signal processing course, and for my graduation research, I worked on the theme of sound separation.

Since I had wanted to become an engineer since my undergraduate years and had found a specialized field I wanted to study, I advanced to the master's program without hesitation. During the two years of my master's, I took my first steps as a researcher, presenting papers at international conferences and supervising the research of junior students. While I felt the excitement of creating new technologies through research, I also became interested in education through my experience as a TA (Teaching Assistant) for classes and experiments. While many of my classmates found jobs after completing their master's programs, I struggled a lot with my career path. However, I decided to advance to the Doctoral Programs out of a desire to have a solid field of expertise and to leave open the possibility of being involved in university education in the future. I consistently specialized in sound signal processing through my doctorate, gaining a wider range of experience necessary as a researcher compared to my master's years, including presentations at domestic and international academic conferences, serving as a TA for classes, and participating in on-campus research projects. I successfully passed my doctoral dissertation examination in three years. During the brief period before starting my job, I took a solo graduation trip to New Zealand, a few years behind my classmates, and at that time, I never imagined that I would later take up a teaching position there.

After completing my doctorate, many of my classmates aimed for teaching positions, but at the time, I didn't have the confidence to be called a teacher. I also wanted to do research that would create technologies used in the real world, so I joined NTT Research Centers and Institutes, which is top-level in Japan for acoustic signal processing. Surrounded by brilliant colleagues who had graduated from top universities, I sometimes felt frustrated by my own lack of ability. However, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work using my specialized knowledge of acoustic signal processing, learned many technologies, and had the valuable experience of implementing my own research results into products and bringing them to market.

Nearly seven years after starting my job, I began to feel that I wanted to give back with my experience and knowledge. By chance, I found my current position in New Zealand, a country I had had opportunities to visit and stay in various forms since my graduation trip, and that is where I am today. The decision to move to New Zealand was, of course, driven by the desire to challenge myself by working in an English-speaking environment where people from all over the world gather. However, it was also greatly influenced by the fact that it was a land suitable for my hobbies, with its rich natural environment where hiking is easily accessible. Many of you may remember Christchurch for the major earthquake in 2011, but reconstruction is gradually progressing, and a new city is being built. I hope to contribute to the education and technological development of this place by utilizing what I have learned so far.

This column is intended for junior and senior high school students considering applying to the Faculty of Science and Technology. My background, with experiences abroad and advancing to university from an affiliated school, may not necessarily apply to everyone's case. However, looking back now, nearly 10 years after graduating from Keio University, I feel that the things I was interested in and devoted my energy to from my teens to my early twenties have had a major impact on my subsequent career choices and have simultaneously become a powerful asset. As you consider your future paths, I hope that you will find it easier to find your answers by looking closely at who you are now. With that, I will conclude my thoughts.