[No. 172] Shun Kawakubo

Ever since I was in kindergarten, I loved playing in nature and getting covered in mud. By the time I was in elementary school, I had developed an interest in home gardening and started growing tomatoes, eggplants, bell peppers, and spinach in my family's garden. I witnessed firsthand how overwatering could cause root rot, while underwatering would cause the plants to wither. I was amazed and fascinated to realize that nature and our immediate environment are built on an exquisite balance. This was around the time when discussions about how to balance human socioeconomic activities with global environmental conservation were gaining momentum, and I began to hope that I could one day have a profession that would allow me to contribute to solving various societal issues, starting with environmental problems. That's when I became conscious of a research career.

After graduating from local public elementary and junior high schools, I entered Keio Senior High School. I really loved the liberal atmosphere of this high school. Some students were completely devoted to club activities or hobbies without studying, while others were studying furiously every day to go abroad. I had a fun high school life surrounded by friends with diverse personalities. What I personally appreciated was the integrated high school and university education system, which allowed me to take university lectures in advance. I remember being very stimulated by experiencing a part of the university lectures.

After entering university, I enrolled in the Department of System Design Engineering (SD), where I could acquire knowledge in a wide range of fields. The Department of System Design Engineering (SD) had an atmosphere that encouraged taking on new challenges at the frontier. Research was being conducted on everything from the micro-scale, focusing on the inside of the human body, to the macro-scale, targeting the universe, and this diversity was also very attractive to me.

The curriculum was also very systematically structured, allowing me to learn the fundamentals of various fields such as mechanics, electricity, control, and information in a cross-disciplinary manner. At the time, I was impressed when I was taught that the knowledge I learned in electromagnetism could be applied to the field of thermodynamics (the analogy between electrical circuits and thermal circuits). I'm sure you all learned how to solve electrical circuit problems using Ohm's law and other principles, but you can apply that same thinking to solve problems related to heat transfer.

In fact, I still use the fundamental knowledge I learned at that time in my own research to simulate the thermal environment inside buildings. I never imagined that the day would come when I could apply the knowledge of electrical circuits I had learned in my junior high science and high school physics classes to my own life and work. I learned the joy of modeling, analyzing, and integrally designing systems.

I remember that not only the lectures but also the exercises and experiments were very fulfilling. In the fall semester of my third year, there was a course called "System Design Engineering Project," which required us to fully mobilize all the knowledge we had learned up to that point. At that time, my friends and I built an autonomous vehicle. We did everything from designing the vehicle body to creating the driving program and actually running it. I learned the real pleasure of a team coming together, pooling our wisdom to tackle a challenge.

For my research lab, I chose the Toshiharu Ikaga Laboratory, which pursues the ideal form of sustainable architecture and cities. I strongly resonated with its policy of seeking architectural and urban spaces where people can live comfortable, healthy, and affluent lives without negatively impacting the global environment. Professor Ikaga, so busy that I wondered when he ever slept, took time out of his schedule to guide me, sometimes gently, sometimes strictly.

Research was truly enjoyable, and I spent my days conducting field measurements, experiments, statistical surveys, and simulations to understand the structure and function of architectural/urban systems. I even bought a simple folding bed and brought it to the lab so I could spend more time at the university by cutting down on my commute, much to the exasperation of those around me. That's how fulfilling my life in the lab was. I wouldn't be who I am today without that experience.

Currently, I am engaged in research and educational activities as a faculty member at the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Hosei University. In recent years, I have been focusing on research related to the "Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," which are expected to be a catalyst for integrally solving economic, social, and environmental problems. I intend to continue pursuing the ideal vision for the next generation of architecture and cities, leveraging the knowledge I gained during my university and graduate school years.

I was enrolled at Keio University for 12 years, from entering Senior High School to completing my Ph.D. program, and I had a very enjoyable and fulfilling life as a Keio student. Looking back, I think it was an ideal environment for self-improvement, providing opportunities to challenge new things and a place for diverse individuals to gather and discuss. The above is my personal experience, but I hope it can serve as an opportunity for you to imagine the real pleasure of academics and research, and the life of science and engineering undergraduate/graduate students.