[No. 186] Hiroki Fukagawa

In July 2018, I founded DeepFlow Inc., a CAE (Computer-Aided Engineering) vendor, where I serve as President and CEO. Our company's mission, "to dramatically enhance creativity," reflects a personal goal I set as a university student: "to create foundational technologies that accelerate research and development using mathematics and computers." Mathematics has the power of abstraction, while computers have the power of embodiment. By hierarchically combining abstract concepts (mathematics) in programs and concretely reproducing (embodying) phenomena on a computer, I hope to elucidate complex phenomena and contribute to the advancement of science and technology.

Developing physics simulators requires knowledge from a wide range of fields, including mathematics to discover the principles governing objects and structures, physics to model phenomena, information science for computer processing, and engineering for actual product creation. The Department of Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics is a place where one can learn these subjects in a well-balanced manner. My mentor, Professor Yohei Fujitani, kindly and thoroughly taught me theoretical physics from my undergraduate years until I obtained my doctorate. Some physical laws can be expressed as "the path of motion gives the extreme value of a certain function," which is known as the variational principle. For example, the path of light between two points can be said to be the one that minimizes the time required. My research topic was to formulate the motion of fluids using the variational principle. In addition to fluid dynamics, I was also interested in differential geometry, category theory, and quantum computers, and I actively participated in seminars and study groups. I was a member of the Keio Computer Society (KCS), which was formerly the Keio Electronic Computer Study Group. Many members were skilled programmers. Keio University has always been, and still is, a place where peers can enjoy learning and competing with one another.

After obtaining my doctorate, I developed high-speed parallel computing algorithms at a domestic CAE vendor. I then studied phase transition models in the Department of Mathematics at Pennsylvania State University in the United States, and supercritical carbon dioxide at the International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research at Kyushu University. Then, an opportunity to develop a simulator arose again. At the Tribology Laboratory of Kyushu University, I worked as a Project Assistant Professor for three and a half years, from August 2015 to March 2019, on the national project "Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) - Innovative Combustion Technology." I was involved in devising computational algorithms and developing a simulator for large-scale fluid-structure interaction analysis. Working with people from various fields taught me the importance of character and communication. It was a period of my greatest personal growth.

To commercialize university research, product-market fit (PMF) is necessary, which involves transforming research outcomes into "products that solve customer problems." The most appropriate and quickest way to achieve this is for researchers with specialized knowledge to start their own businesses. The aforementioned national project encouraged business creation, and on July 5, 2018, during the project period, I founded the CAE vendor DeepFlow Inc. The history of CAE simulation is long, with the first commercial CAE software appearing around 1970. Fifty years later, the computing environment has changed dramatically, with the ability to run multiple computers simultaneously using the cloud. However, there are still many technical challenges in parallel computing on the cloud. My dream is to solve these issues, make advanced CAE easily accessible, and dramatically enhance the creativity of designers around the world.

One of Keio University's philosophies is Kyoko Jissen (learning by doing), and I always want to be a man of action. Action involves failure, but by persisting, one becomes adept at overcoming difficulties, and one's observation, analysis, and reasoning become more accurate and thorough. I believe that by valuing relationships with others and honestly doing what needs to be done, one can gain cooperation from many people and achieve one's goals.