A contest during his undergraduate years sparked his immersion in the world of computers. He continues his cutting-edge research with the goal of one day commercializing a chip.

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Graduated from Setagaya Gakuen High School, a private school in Tokyo

Although he improved his grades by consciously balancing his on and off time for studying, he entered Keio University without being able to narrow down what he wanted to do. However, a computer performance contest in a class during his second year of undergraduate studies ignited his competitive spirit, and he became immersed in that world. The laboratory he chose in his fourth year of undergraduate studies was for developing computer chips, an extension of his interests. He belongs to the "Amano Lab," where he aims to make chips for IoT devices smaller and more power-efficient. He is determined to complete his cutting-edge research and pursue a career as an engineer in the future.

[*] Academic year at the time of the interview (November 2017).

I was in the soft tennis club, and my days revolved around club activities. However, I made sure to maintain a clear balance, enjoying my hobby of karaoke on my days off. This continued even after I retired from the club and my life became centered on Juku and studying. Hanging out with friends, reading manga, and playing games were important ways for me to relieve stress. I believe that creating a balance between times to work hard and times to rest led to the positive outcome of being accepted into university.

My grades at school were good, but I started thinking about entrance exams after taking a mock Center Test in the winter of my first year of high school. My score was terrible, so I grew anxious and started attending an English Juku. This paid off, and English later became one of my strongest subjects. I started studying seriously for the exams during the summer vacation of my second year of high school, after retiring from my club. Since I started late, I studied hard to make up for the delay. I worked hard to improve my grades, focusing on math, which I was already good at, and English, which I worked on at Juku.

Actually, I hadn't decided at all. I was conscious of the exams, but what I wanted to do beyond that was still undecided. I considered fields like management or economics, and since I was also interested in computers, I thought information science might be good, too. While I was deliberating, I learned about the Gakumon system, which allows you to enter the university without choosing a department first. You can learn the fundamentals and make a decision after gaining some understanding. Clinging to the idea of such a system, I decided to apply to Keio.

I narrowed it down to the Department of Information and Computer Science because I enjoyed looking at parts in electronics stores in Akihabara and thought it would be good to know how to program. In my second year of undergraduate studies, I took a class with Professor Amano, who is now my research supervisor. It involved a contest where we competed on the performance of an architecture called MIPS. When it's a competition, you get fired up, right? That's when my interest in hardware suddenly surged. After actually entering the Department of Information and Computer Science, I was able to experience the joy of improving performance with my own designs and found a research theme I wanted to tackle, so I think it was a good choice.

I love to travel, so I went to various places during long vacations. Recently, I've had many opportunities to go to different places in Japan and abroad for academic conferences, and even then, I find free time to eat local cuisine or visit hot springs. Kanazawa, Toyama, and Fukuoka were memorable for their delicious food. A previous trip to Switzerland was also a very good experience, despite some troubles like getting lost at the airport and not knowing how to buy a ticket. I think broadening my horizons through travel often has benefits for me as a researcher as well.

I had already decided to go to graduate school, but my mindset changed as I prepared to enter. This is because I made many friends in the humanities during my undergraduate years, and most of them were going to work instead of going to graduate school. This means they would accumulate two more years of experience as working adults. Since I was going to graduate school, I felt I had to gain something that wouldn't be overshadowed by their experience. I had to gain something. With that determination, I entered graduate school.

That's right. I am researching how to improve the performance of small chips installed in IoT (Internet of Things) devices, which connect and control various objects via the internet. Specifically, the process involves first creating a layout for the chip to be embedded in a computer, and then running simulations based on that layout. If it operates correctly, we submit it to a company to have the chip manufactured. We then test and evaluate the delivered chip to identify areas for future improvement. It's a broad field of research, covering everything from layouts, which are closer to electronic engineering, to the programming required to build simulation and testing environments.

IoT devices are a global trend. I believe the demand for wearable devices will increase in the future, requiring further miniaturization and power saving. The challenge, and also the fun, lies in aiming for a satisfactory outcome in both directions: miniaturization and high performance. I believe this is cutting-edge, world-class research that meets the needs of the times, and it is just as rewarding.

One thing is that since it was an industry-academia collaborative research project with a company, I was also able to learn professional etiquette, such as greetings and how to write emails. I think this is a valuable outcome for the future. Another benefit was being able to attend many academic conferences. I wasn't originally very good at public speaking, but being forced by necessity, I've gotten quite used to it. Research only has meaning once it is communicated to others. I'm sure the communication skills I've developed here will be useful after I enter the workforce.

I'll be working in a research position at a manufacturer, in a role closely related to my current research. My primary goal is to perform my job well, but my future dream is to release something I've made as a product into the world. Since it's a product for businesses, I'll rarely see it directly, but if I ever saw a product at a client's office that contained a component I developed, I'm sure I'd be so happy I'd break into a grin.