Engaging with numbers serves society. Becoming an engineer who broadens their horizons to tackle real-world problems.

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From Chiba Prefecture, a graduate of Chiba Prefectural High School

I've always been interested in numbers and sports. In particular, I had my own way of enjoying ekiden (long-distance relay races) by calculating times and courses while watching, which is how I engaged with numbers in my childhood. It's no coincidence that when I became a high school student, I was drawn to industrial and systems engineering, which connects the theories of mathematics and statistics to society. Currently, I spend my days in the Yamada Lab learning statistical methods related to quality control, but in between my research, I also enjoy taking a break by visiting the track and field club. He, who said, "I didn't know what I wanted to do in the future" when he enrolled, is now a first-year master's student. What is the vision he now holds?

[*] Academic year at the time of the interview (July 2019).

Until I retired in May of my third year of high school, my life revolved around club activities. I was in the track and field club, focusing on middle-distance running, mainly the 800m and 1500m. I had been going to a Juku once a week since my second year, but I wasn't really thinking about entrance exams back then. My high school had a liberal atmosphere, so we weren't pushed hard about exams. I spent my days happily, chatting with my lively classmates during breaks and putting all my energy into events like the cultural festival and sports day.

I started thinking seriously about my future path around the summer of my third year of high school, after retiring from my club. I hadn't been studying seriously for the exams until then, so I was suddenly faced with the reality that "there's a surprising amount of stuff I have to do. This is bad..." and I started to panic. From then on, I focused on studying for exams on weekday evenings and on weekends. Looking back now, I honestly regret not starting to study for exams around my second year of high school (laughs).

To be honest, I didn't have a lofty ambition like "I want to go into science and do something specific in the future!" One reason was a process of elimination, as I wasn't good at Japanese or English. Another reason was that I had liked arithmetic since I was a child. In particular, I was the kind of kid who enjoyed watching sports while calculating players' times or thinking about things in terms of numbers. When I was young, my father took me to the Hakone Ekiden, and I was captivated by how interesting it was. Since then, whenever I watch the Hakone Ekiden, I buy the guidebook beforehand and watch while making predictions based on calculations using the data in it, like each runner's course times, weak points, and strengths. I watch a wide range of other sports like track and field and baseball, but I still enjoy watching them in connection with numbers.

I liked dealing with numbers, but I felt that a mathematics department would involve too much theory and philosophy, which didn't suit me. I also had little interest in experiments, so science-related departments didn't appeal to me either... "Besides those options, what would be a good choice in the science field?" I asked my parents, who are both teachers. They told me that there are various fields within science, saying, "There are fields like this, too." As I researched on my own, I became interested in industrial and systems engineering and management engineering. I took the entrance exams for schools with departments in these fields and was accepted into Keio University. I felt it was too early to decide on a department or major upon entering university, so I was also attracted to the "Gakumon System [*]," which allows students to choose their department in their second year.

[*] Gakumon System: A unique system at the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology where students select one of five "Gakumon" (academic fields) at the time of admission. After enrolling, they gradually narrow down their desired field of study based on their interests and concerns, and decide on their department when advancing to their second year.

Seeing the glamorous Keio students featured on TV and the dazzling female announcers who graduated from Keio, I thought before enrolling that I wouldn't fit into the Keio atmosphere. Also, since I enjoy watching baseball, my impression of Keio was also linked to the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League and the fact that its affiliated high school is a powerhouse. After actually enrolling, that image changed quite a bit. The Faculty of Science and Technology, in particular, had many students with a calm demeanor who were serious about their studies and activities. I met students with various ways of thinking in my faculty and clubs, and although I was a bit bewildered at first, I think it was because I came to Keio that I realized there are students with such diverse ways of thinking and values.

I belong to the "Track and Field Athletics Club." Normally, you get "kicked out" (laughs) by the younger members when you graduate in your fourth year, but even now as a graduate student, I still show up at the club and exercise with the younger members and my graduate school peers. It's not just for people who are serious about competing; many people just run or exercise for fun, and a key feature is that we're all close, regardless of our academic year. On holidays, I go out with graduated seniors and current junior members, or get advice from seniors about my studies and job hunting. It's an important community for me, allowing for vertical connections across academic years. Every year, interested members of the Track and Field Athletics Club get together to participate in the Mt. Fuji Marathon in Kawaguchiko, held in November.

We're often told we're "not like a typical science department." While the underlying theories are mathematical, I think our work is often more practical in society compared to other departments in the Faculty of Science and Technology. Another major characteristic is that the scope of research is wide-ranging, including "statistics," "urban engineering," "financial engineering," "ergonomics," and "artificial intelligence." It might be a bit close to what you'd study in the humanities. The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering brings together students interested in these various things. It's also interesting to talk with friends from the same department about our different areas of interest. People tend to imagine science students as meticulously planning and conducting experiments, but my impression is that many of our students are more adept at efficiently handling assignments.

In developing technologies and products, quality control is about finding the optimal quality conditions, asking questions like, "What settings for materials and experimental environments will create a good product?" and "How much data do we need to collect and experiment with to achieve that?" I belong to a lab that studies the statistical methods involved in that quality control. My research theme is "A Study on the Application of Inverse Estimation by Gaussian Process Regression to Computer Experiments." In recent years, experiments for quality control are increasingly being conducted not as physical experiments but as computer simulations. I am researching methods for collecting sample data and statistical analysis techniques to apply to these computer experiments. When deciding on my research theme in my fourth year of undergrad, I became interested in simulators for things like baseball pitching machines. The topic was how to set the roller placement and motor frequency to achieve a target trajectory. This led me from operating that simulator to my current research theme.

Ever since entering university, I was very interested in statistics as a field where mathematics is applied. I chose the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering because I had a vague desire to study statistics. When it came time to choose a lab, I was also planning to select one from the field of applied statistics. In the fall semester of my third year, I took Professor Hide Yamada's lecture on the "Design of Experiments." I was deeply impressed by the methods for collecting sample data using statistical techniques and the analysis methods for identifying factors that significantly affect quality. The fact that his explanations in the lecture were very easy to understand was also a major reason I chose this lab.

The practice assignments and group presentations during my third year in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, where I worked on topics related to my hobby, baseball. For a multivariate analysis assignment, I used a smartphone game I was playing at the time, which involved collecting professional baseball players to form a team, as my subject. I used statistical software to analyze the players' ability scores as variables. For a group presentation, I presented on optimizing the batting order using transition probabilities based on the performance of players from the Chiba Lotte Marines, the team I support. Since I was able to work on a theme I love, both the analysis and the results were really interesting.

For five days each month from October to March of my fourth year, I had the opportunity to participate as a student scribe in a quality control seminar for working professionals, hosted by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers. The group discussions, where professionals discussed the quality control challenges they brought from their workplaces, were particularly memorable. At university, you inevitably only learn the theory of quality control, so it was a meaningful experience to get a firsthand sense of the actual problems and challenges in the field. Also, students studying industrial engineering from other universities were participating as scribes, and being able to talk with them about our respective research was a valuable experience.

As I prepare for job hunting, I'm right in the middle of figuring out what to do. For now, I'm thinking of pursuing a career as a data scientist or systems integrator in the IT industry, and I hope to make use of the knowledge of statistics I gained in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, even if just a little. I plan to participate in summer and fall internships to further narrow down my career preferences. Also, although it's a bit different from my research area, I'm also interested in "machine learning," which is a hot topic, so I want to continue studying fields that interest me even after I start working.