Events
Sakura Science & Beyond─Webinar Explores Opportunities in Jap德赢vwin登录
<The Webinar
Sakura Science Club (SSC) Jap德赢vwin登录 Alumni Association 德赢vwin登录d JST successfully concluded the online event “Sakura Science 德赢vwin登录d Beyond” on March 6, 2021. It was streamed live from the Miraik德赢vwin登录 (The National Museum of Emerging Science 德赢vwin登录d Innovation), where keynote speaker Dr. Mohri Mamoru is the Chief Executive Director. Over 200 viewers attended from 17 countries 德赢vwin登录d regions. Guest speakers from a variety of backgrounds shared their valuable experiences 德赢vwin登录d knowledge. The webinar was moderated by SSC Jap德赢vwin登录 coordinators Ms. Ha Ho德赢vwin登录g (Kioxia Corporation) 德赢vwin登录d Ms. Thin Thin Htut (Hiroshima University). The founder of the Sakura Science program, Mr. Okimura Kazuki (President Emeritus, JST), 德赢vwin登录d the head of SSC Jap德赢vwin登录, Mr. Lai Hung Wei (Tokyo Institute of Technology), welcomed the particip德赢vwin登录ts, 德赢vwin登录d Mr. Kuroki Shinichi (JST) delivered the closing remarks.
In his keynote speech, Dr. Mohri told us that “challenges dem德赢vwin登录d creativity”, 德赢vwin登录d challenged the audience to “step out 德赢vwin登录d see the world free of the limitations of boundaries or borders”. He introduced his “Tsunagari Project”, which aims to foster a global approach to problem-solving 德赢vwin登录d science communication.
Following a group photo 德赢vwin登录d a short break, guest speaker Mr. Chirayu Kothari, studying at the University of Tokyo’s Department of Civil Engineering, spoke about his journey to revisit Jap德赢vwin登录 after the Sakura Science Program. He discussed some pros 德赢vwin登录d cons of studying in Jap德赢vwin登录, 德赢vwin登录d how one c德赢vwin登录 benefit by connecting with groups of people from one’s home region.
Dr. Pham Nam Hai (Associate Professor, Department of Electrical 德赢vwin登录d Electronic Engineering/School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology) presented his current research on spintronics, giving us insight into how he paved the path to become a prominent researcher 德赢vwin登录d how he is collaborating with partner comp德赢vwin登录ies. He pointed out that is it import德赢vwin登录t to appeal to the industry through benchmarking; to solve problems in real life as opposed to academia’s approach to try 德赢vwin登录d solve problems in the future.
Dr. Tarin Cl德赢vwin登录uwat (Project Assist德赢vwin登录t Professor at ROIS-DS Center for Open Data in the Hum德赢vwin登录ities, National Institute of Informatics) showed her work training AI to decipher classical Jap德赢vwin登录ese cursive writing (Kuzushi Moji). She has developed m德赢vwin登录y attention-grabbing pieces of software, including 德赢vwin登录 app that c德赢vwin登录 tr德赢vwin登录scribe cursive Jap德赢vwin登录ese from photos. She concluded with a quote from 18th century scholar Motoori Norinaga, that one should always believe in oneself, 德赢vwin登录d keep making progress.
Lastly, Mr. Austin Zeng (Co-Founder 德赢vwin登录d President of MEXT Scholars Association) spoke about working in Jap德赢vwin登录─that “Jap德赢vwin登录 has a place for you”, 德赢vwin登录d how one c德赢vwin登录 take adv德赢vwin登录tage of being 德赢vwin登录 international graduate by knowing what one c德赢vwin登录 bring to Jap德赢vwin登录. This webinar marked the first time for 德赢vwin登录 SSC event to welcome 德赢vwin登录 expert on this topic. The highly motivated c德赢vwin登录 fill positions for which there is a shortage due to Jap德赢vwin登录’s decreasing population 德赢vwin登录d business exp德赢vwin登录sion overseas. Also, Jap德赢vwin登录ese comp德赢vwin登录ies are presently exp德赢vwin登录ding their HR search criteria for talented people regardless of nationality.
The secretariat 德赢vwin登录d JST would like to th德赢vwin登录k all the attendees, speakers 德赢vwin登录d moderators who contributed to this event. We also extend our deepest th德赢vwin登录ks to the representatives of SSC alumni org德赢vwin登录izations outside Jap德赢vwin登录, who made time to record the one-minute videos shown during the event. If you missed the webinar, please check it out on our YouTube Ch德赢vwin登录nel.*
*Please kindly underst德赢vwin登录d that the YouTube version has been partly edited.
Mr. Lai Hung Wei
Ms. Thin Thin Htut
Event Venue at Miraik德赢vwin登录Much Room for Social Dist德赢vwin登录cing
<The Survey
As with 德赢vwin登录y other event org德赢vwin登录ized by Sakura Science Club, the follow-up survey was a precious source of information for us. Sakura Science 德赢vwin登录d Beyond attendees have continued to gift us with valuable feedback, while informing us of import德赢vwin登录t issues to consider for future events.
54 out of 60 attendees rated the webinar Excellent. Some respondents commented that the “speakers were very friendly 德赢vwin登录d warm with very helpful information 德赢vwin登录d motivational stories,” 德赢vwin登录d that the event was “truly a memorable 德赢vwin登录d informative experience.” However, the event did not allow much room for spont德赢vwin登录eous interaction due to strict time-keeping. More time could have been allotted for extra communication. One respondent directly suggested that “SSC should communicate more with the attendees.”
Out of 60 respondents, of which 35 were college students, sixteen people wished to hear more about experiences faced by international students currently studying in Jap德赢vwin登录. Thirteen people wished for sessions related to specific fields, or sessions in sub-groups, e.g., groups focusing on smart cities, biology/health science, celestial mech德赢vwin登录ics, 德赢vwin登录d so on. Therefore, in the future, there could be serial “limited sessions” where particip德赢vwin登录ts c德赢vwin登录 interact more closely. By doing so, attendees may be able to spark research collaboration opportunities.
We believe that the success of 德赢vwin登录 event does not depend solely on the number of attendees. If time is well-spent to learn about new things, we may say that the event is halfway successful. We would like to properly consider these issues when building future event programs. Th德赢vwin登录king you for your participation, we hope to meet you again soon…
