Fueled by the inspiration from a wide range of learning and experiences, I continue to passionately explore new possibilities.

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Graduate of Ikuta High School, Kanagawa Prefecture

He devoted himself to competitive radio-controlled (RC) car racing, which he started at the age of nine, and his admiration for engineers led him to pursue a path in science and engineering. In his studies, he absorbed knowledge from various fields and became engrossed in *monozukuri*—the art of making things by thinking and creating on his own. He has taken on the challenge of developing an unprecedented metal 3D printer. Amid a busy schedule of traveling both within Japan and overseas, he has poured all his energy into his research and RC cars. He spoke to us about the driving force behind his serious approach to every challenge and the path he plans to take in the future.

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

My high school had a culture that valued a spirit of freedom and discipline, and I was passionately devoted to competitive radio-controlled (RC) car racing, which I started at the age of nine. Influenced by my father, whose hobby was RC cars, I developed a love for cars and began assembling my own RC cars to compete in races. On weekdays, I would do maintenance and preparations after coming home from school, and on weekends, I was actively racing outside my prefecture and even overseas. In my second year of high school, I won the All-Japan Championships and went on to place in the top 20 at the World Championships.

As for entrance exam studies, I started increasing my study time in the winter of my second year of high school to focus on the exams. There were many opportunities to use English in overseas races, and I thought it would be cool to be able to speak it, so I had been studying English for a long time. I would translate the lyrics of my favorite Western songs and try using words I learned at school when I was abroad. The ability to speak English without hesitation is still useful to me today.

I had always liked science subjects like *monozukuri* (craftsmanship) and experiments, including RC cars, and I admired the engineering profession, so I wanted to study engineering. What made me choose Keio University was seeing the vibrant students at the open campus and the Yagami Festival and thinking I wanted to spend my four years in this environment. I had an image of the Faculty of Science and Technology as being a bit subdued, but I was impressed and inspired when I experienced firsthand their active participation and sparkling atmosphere at the Yagami Festival. I was also attracted by how beautiful the buildings were.

Before enrolling, I thought there would be little interaction between faculties, but it was an environment where I could interact with a much more diverse range of people than I had imagined. In the first and second years, students from many faculties attend the Hiyoshi Campus[*1], and club activities are very lively, so I made many friends not only in science but also in the humanities. I was inspired by meeting people from different faculties—someone who achieved great results in windsurfing competitions, someone building a single-seater airplane, an exceptionally skilled dancer—and learning about worlds I never knew existed. Although university is a place for studying, I think the people you meet are also important.

[*1] At Keio University, out of the 10 faculties, first-year students from the Faculty of Letters, School of Medicine, and Faculty of Pharmacy, and first- and second-year students from the Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Business and Commerce, and Faculty of Science and Technology attend the Hiyoshi Campus. On the other hand, the Yagami Campus, attended by third- and fourth-year undergraduates of the Faculty of Science and Technology and graduate students of the Graduate School of Science and Technology, is a campus exclusive to the Faculty of Science and Technology, located on a hill across a valley from the Hiyoshi Campus.

The Department of System Design Engineering is a department where you can study a complex range of fields in a cross-disciplinary manner—from manufacturing technology to information, architecture, and control—rather than delving into just one. You learn to view things from various angles and develop the ability to create new value by applying a wide range of knowledge.

Also, because it's a field where research is closely linked to societal needs, many faculty members are researching technologies used in the real world, and students can engage with cutting-edge technology from their second year. There are also classes where people from various companies give lectures, providing a wealth of external information, which made me feel like I was learning practical things. Students begin full-scale research in their fourth year, and in my laboratory, there is strong support not only from the professor but also from graduate students, and industry-academia collaborative research with companies is also active.

Before enrolling, I couldn't imagine what kind of research I wanted to do, but the Department of System Design Engineering is a place where you can discover your hidden potential and what you truly want to do. This is also true of the *Gakumon* system[*2], and it's a major advantage to be able to search for the path you want to take after you enroll.

[*2] The *Gakumon* system is a unique system at the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology where students choose one of five *Gakumon* (academic fields) at the time of the entrance examination. After enrolling, they gradually narrow down the fields they want to study according to their interests and concerns, and decide on their department when they advance to their second year.

I continued my competitive RC car racing activities, joined a corporate team, and aimed to win the World Championships. During my time at university, I won the All-Japan Championships a total of seven times and participated in the World Championships four times as a representative of Japan. In 2019, I narrowly missed winning the World Championship but was able to secure third place in the world. I also served on the executive committee for the Yagami Festival[*3], where I was in charge of planning an RC car event in my area of expertise, designing the course and maintaining the cars to ensure the children would have fun.

There were times when I wasn't in the lab much, like when I returned from an aerospace conference in the US only to go back two days later for a two-week race, but my experience with RC cars often proves useful in my research. RC car racing is a sport that strengthens your mentality, so when giving speeches in English at academic conferences, instead of thinking, "This might not go well," I was able to get through it by believing in myself and thinking, "I'll be fine."

[*3] The Yagami Festival is a school festival held in early October each year at the Yagami Campus, which is attended by third- and fourth-year undergraduates of the Faculty of Science and Technology and graduate students of the Graduate School of Science and Technology. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held online in 2020.

The "Project in System Design Engineering," a required course for third-year students. It's a class where you choose a topic of interest and work on a project. I chose to build an autonomous vehicle, formed a team, and handled the mechanical design, circuit design, and programming. Although the theme was given, we had the freedom to decide what to make, including the size of the vehicle body and the number of motors. I feel that this experience of *monozukuri*—thinking for myself and building something myself—has become the starting point for my current research.

I am researching metal 3D printers, which are gaining attention as a next-generation product manufacturing method. 3D printing is a technology that creates objects by melting and solidifying powder or filament and building it up in layers. Since there is no need to create molds or cut away material, it is possible to create complex shapes and achieve high-mix, low-volume production. Among these, metal 3D printers that can form metal materials are being adopted in the aerospace and automotive industries, but their widespread use is limited due to issues with precision and strength.

Therefore, I developed a new metal 3D printer itself that can achieve both high precision and high strength. With 3D printers, it is theoretically possible to create high-precision objects with fine layers by using fine powder, but when the powder is too fine, the gravitational force acting on it is weak, and it doesn't form layers properly. I took on the challenge of developing a device with a new mechanism that could solve these problems.

It was quite a difficult research project because it involved creating something that doesn't exist in the world today. I'm building the device at the Manufacturing Center[*4] on the Yagami Campus, but when I first brought in the drawings, the technician told me, "You can't make something like this" (laughs). But by consulting with them and saying, "I really want to make it!" I was able to build it through trial and error. I have a competitive personality and can't stand doing things halfway, so I want to pursue my research without any regrets until I graduate. I think it would be wonderful if I could pass on my results to my juniors and if they eventually reach the public someday.

In the future, we can expect applications such as making parts with delicate structures even in the resource-limited environment of space, or flawlessly producing parts that require high reliability, like gears for car engines.

[*4] The Manufacturing Center is a machine shop based on the first floor of Building 34 on the Yagami Campus, equipped with various machine tools mainly for processing metal materials. It supports experiments and practical training for the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of System Design Engineering, as well as the production of experimental equipment and test pieces required for graduation and master's thesis research within the Faculty of Science and Technology. The factory's facilities are available to anyone from the fourth year of the Faculty of Science and Technology and above.

I became interested in machine tool technology and joined the Kakinuma Laboratory after visiting it. I was also attracted by the state-of-the-art equipment, including a huge metal 3D printer, but the deciding factor was the professor's philosophy of taking both research and sports seriously. When I consulted him about my concerns about balancing research and RC cars, he encouraged me, saying, "That's a wonderful thing, so do your best at both. You can do it."

The laboratory has a very bright atmosphere, with many opportunities to have discussions with students and international students who have diverse knowledge. Everyone's research content is different—some work on AI, others on cutting processes—but it's interesting and insightful to get opinions from different perspectives. I think the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology is a blessed environment with excellent people and facilities, where you can learn under specialist professors.

I plan to use the experience I gained in my research life to work as a product development engineer. During my research, I was able to learn about a wide range of technologies, including mechanisms, circuits, and programming, while designing equipment, so I decided I want to create new things, even on a small scale, where I can be involved in every aspect. Rather than becoming a specialist by mastering a single technology, I want to grow as an engineer who can design systems with a bird's-eye view of the whole, including society and the environment, while engaging with various products and people.