The joy of expanding curiosity and delving deeper into research. I want to support society and people through the engineering knowledge I've learned.

Profile

Graduated from Novi High School, USA

He lived abroad from the third grade of elementary school until his high school graduation, returning to Japan upon entering university. He decided to enroll in the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology to further his studies in air traffic control, a field he had been interested in since childhood. As a member of the Keio University Athletic Association Aviation Club, he obtained his pilot's license. His experience piloting and controlling gliders has also proven useful for his research. What did this student, who had been studious since his high school days, gain from his university education?

[*] His academic year at the time of the interview (November 2020).

Due to my father's work, I spent ten years in the United States, from the third grade of elementary school until I graduated from high school. In high school, I didn't join any clubs and was a student who focused on studying. The American high school system is a bit different from Japan's; like in college, you can create your own schedule with the classes you want to take. I chose advanced courses for science and math subjects like mathematics, physics, and chemistry, so my studies were sometimes challenging. After school, I also attended a Juku for Japanese students nearby to prepare for university entrance exams, so balancing both was busy. When I wanted a change of pace, I would ride my bike, which is a hobby of mine, to places with a lot of nature, like parks and forests. Also, I had the opportunity to meet an air traffic controller when I was in elementary school, and since then, I've been interested in aviation, especially air traffic control. I also enjoyed going to the airport to take pictures of airplanes and attending airshows.

When I thought about my future career path, I realized that if I went on to an American university and then looked for a job, I would likely spend most of my life living abroad... The catalyst was my desire to return to Japan once, experience a different world, and then think about what to do next. American schools start their new academic year in September, so if I had graduated normally and then returned to Japan, I would have been a year behind. To avoid that, I skipped a grade and graduated from high school a year early. Actually, when I temporarily returned to Japan in my third year of junior high, I even visited the Keio University open campus, though I still wasn't sure about my future path (laughs). Overseas, it was common for many students, not just Japanese, to study and do volunteer work with an eye toward university and employment, so I think that influenced me to start preparing for exams early.

The entrance exam had a first and second screening. For the first screening, I submitted my scores from the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test), which is like the American version of the Common Test for University Admissions, and the TOEFL® iBT, as well as my high school transcript and a statement of purpose. In addition to the SAT, there were also subject-specific tests called "SAT Subject Tests." These are offered several times a year, and you can take up to three tests out of 20 subjects in five fields in a single sitting. I took mathematics, physics, and chemistry. At the time, I was very determined to get good grades on the tests (laughs), so I had prepared good scores. I was also required to submit letters of recommendation, so I asked two teachers who knew me well. I recall that the second screening included a reference essay and an oral examination.

In American high schools, there's no division between liberal arts and sciences, and until then, I didn't have any particularly strong subjects, so I was very unsure which path to take. I chose the science track because of my math teacher at the Juku I attended in my third year of junior high. He carefully explained the proofs and application examples of formulas from the textbook, and I found joy in understanding the essence of theories and their applications, which I couldn't grasp just by solving practice problems. I thought I wanted to do something with mathematics in university and was looking up information on math-related departments at various universities. By chance, I saw the page for the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology and thought, "This is it!" I realized that what I wanted to do was use my knowledge of engineering, including mathematics, to contribute to society and my favorite field, aviation. Also, within aviation, I was particularly interested in air traffic control, where humans are central. I wanted to go to the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering because I felt it had the strongest connection between its academic disciplines—which deal with people, things, information, and money—and the real world.

The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering has a small number of students per year, so it's characteristic that everyone gets along well, teaching and helping each other. There are also many resourceful people who manage their time by creating detailed schedules to achieve their goals with full effort, not just in research but also in their studies, part-time jobs, and personal lives. Everyone seems busy, but I think it's because they all want to complete everything without cutting corners. Perhaps because of this, I also have the impression that many people are very knowledgeable. The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering deals not only with science fields like mathematics and statistics but also sometimes with liberal arts fields like psychology and economics, or even completely different fields outside of both. So, the knowledge that I and those around me have in different fields can sometimes be useful. Such seemingly unrelated information can surprisingly become hints for each other's research.

As an undergraduate, I was a member of the Keio University Athletic Association Aviation Club. In this club, all members act as pilots, flying aircraft called gliders, which have no engine and fly solely on the power of air currents. Of course, a license is required, so I first practiced with something like a provisional license and obtained my pilot's license in the fall of my second year. Also, since students basically handle all aspects of glider operation, from maintenance to control, I was able to gain experience in everything. In my fourth year, instead of acting as a pilot or competitor, I was on the operations side, communicating takeoff and landing information to the gliders via radio from the ground. Since I was originally interested in air traffic control, this was the most enjoyable time for me. I felt joy in supporting safe flights while monitoring various conditions like the state of the runway, the weather, and the wind, and I believe this experience is connected to my current research.

I am conducting research to propose a safer and more efficient air traffic control system through human-centered design, by analyzing air traffic control operations from the perspective of human factors (human behavioral characteristics). I was originally interested in how humans and machines can assist each other and coexist effectively as a system in air traffic control, and this is based on what I felt through my club activities. Unlike typical passenger aircraft, gliders are controlled entirely by humans, from maintenance and control to piloting. Therefore, pilots, operators, and maintenance staff all make flexible decisions on the fly, using their skills and ingenuity to achieve safety and efficiency. However, the starting point of my research was the idea that if we simply automate these processes with a sole focus on efficiency, the flexible behaviors we have relied on might be lost. In the future, I believe this could be applied not only to air traffic control but also to a wide range of fields such as medicine and railways.

In my third year, there was a class (Experiments and Exercises in Industrial and Systems Engineering I) that involved using an HMD (head-mounted display), where we conducted experiments and measurements using glasses-type wearable devices. When you put on the goggles, pictures and text would appear, and it was very interesting to experiment with such a futuristic device. The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering is well-equipped with unique devices; you can measure brain activity with a device attached to your forehead or perform eye-tracking with a device that follows a person's gaze. The laboratory also has a full-fledged flight simulator for small aircraft, and it was a great appeal that lab students could use it anytime. Also, because I often went to talk with Professor Nakanishi before joining the lab, he once took me on a tour of Haneda Airport. We toured the entire airport, including restricted areas you can't normally enter, like the control tower and the apron, and I was able to hear from people working on-site. It was an incredibly valuable experience.

Of course, professions where I can utilize my expertise and knowledge are appealing, but what I'm currently considering are the infrastructure, manufacturing, and IT industries. Ultimately, I want to find a job where I can support society and people through services or research and development. As an undergraduate, I wasn't particularly interested in research or technical positions, but I became interested as I advanced my own research, interacted with various people at academic conferences, and participated in R&D-related internships. This year, due to the impact of COVID-19, there were some disappointments, such as my planned presentation at an international conference in the U.S. moving online and the lack of internship opportunities at airlines. On the other hand, it was also a year of positive experiences; my online presentation was highly evaluated, and I was able to experience an internship at a railway company that was dealing with issues similar to my research theme.