- Q: Could you explain your current research topic in an easy-to-understand way?
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My research theme is combinatorial optimization. Many problems in the world can be expressed as problems that require things like placement, order, and allocation, known as combinatorial optimization, such as arranging packages to maximize the packing rate when loading them onto a truck, or the order in which couriers should visit customers and deliver packages. I am conducting research to develop optimization methods for such models.
- Q: What motivated you to start your research?
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- I've loved mathematics since I was a student, but I was more interested in engineering, which applies mathematics to create things that are useful to society. When I went on to university, a new department called the Department of Informatics was created, combining the Department of Mathematical Engineering and the Department of Information Engineering. I decided to go there because I thought it suited my interests and the current trends. I joined a laboratory researching combinatorial optimization, and the topic of my graduation thesis was delivery planning problems. From there, I continued to research combinatorial optimization and delivery planning problems, and have continued to do so to this day.
- Q: What are the challenges of your research, and what is interesting and rewarding about it?
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The hard part is debugging the programming. It's fine if it works properly, but if it doesn't, you have to look at each line in order to find out what's wrong. If the program has 10,000 lines, you have to look at each line in order.
Even if the program works properly, we still have to do a lot of experiments afterwards. It's difficult to create a perfect method, so the difficult part is comparing the experimental results obtained using various methods and large amounts of numerical data to determine whether they are good or bad.
The interesting thing about it is that you can turn your ideas into programs and get them working right away. All you need is a computer, so you don't need anyone to help you or to collect data; once you know how to program, you can get it working right away. It's fun to see it working, and it's satisfying when you get the results you expected, and it can even be useful to society. I think that's what makes it so rewarding.
- Q: Tell us about the future of this research.
: Short-term (1-2 years from now) and long-term (up to 10 years from now)
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Real-world problems are described in mathematical models, and solutions are designed for those models, but as real-world conditions change, the problem settings change as well.Recently, it has become easy to obtain a variety of data using sensors, etc., so it has become possible to create mathematical models that use that data.
I think that in the future, as autonomous driving evolves, the way problems are posed will change even further. Also, for example, if a declining birthrate and depopulation progress, elementary schools will become unnecessary and nursing homes for the elderly will be needed instead, new optimization problems will arise, such as which schools to close and where to build new nursing homes. I think we will need to consider such newly arising problems. - Q: Which SDGs can your research contribute to?
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Goal 9: Build infrastructure, promote industry, and innovate
I believe that the design of optimization methods for mathematical models that represent real-world problems contributes to basic research into optimization problems in real-world industrial settings. - Q: What are the advantages of doing research at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology?
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The Department of Logistics and Information Engineering has specialists who conduct research focusing on logistics.
I believe that there are many issues in logistics that can be optimized, such as delivery planning problems and allocation problems. I believe that conducting research among a group of logistics researchers is a good environment for researching logistics optimization. - Q: What are your priorities and policies when conducting research?
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- I aim to design mathematical models and develop optimization methods that will be useful to society. I also carefully verify the validity of mathematical proofs, algorithm designs, and programming. Even if I think I'm doing something right, there's a chance I'm wrong, so I try to move forward while carefully verifying each step to avoid this.
- Q: How do you refresh yourself when you are tired from your research?
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- I drink coffee. I also go for walks and eat out. I used to swim, but I haven't been swimming at all recently.
- Q: What message would you give to people who want to become researchers?
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I think what you study is the most important thing.
I believe that if you can find research that is socially needed and that you personally enjoy working on, you will be able to lead a happy life as a researcher.
