Masaharu Hirose
Japan
CAREER Enrolled in April 2013; Completed master’s degree in March 2015
Prior to joining KMD, I graduated from the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology with a bachelor’s degree in applied physics. As my research progressed, I began to realize that engineering problem-solving requires a multi-disciplinary approach, not just a single area of expertise. This realization led to my choice of KMD as I could study technology, design, management, and policy in well-balanced manner.
At KMD, I researched interaction design and virtual reality as a member of the “Reality Media Project”. I learned about both hardware and software, and designed and verified prototypes and systems as part of my studies. This choice required courage because I was jumping into a master’s course in a completely different field from that of my undergraduate study, but my research at KMD proved to be both stimulating and fruitful. Today, I work for a semiconductor company engineering Internet of Things (IoT) systems and embedded systems. Problem-solving in systems development is never straightforward, but the approach that I learned at KMD, to tackle problems from a wide range of perspectives and disciplines, is hugely beneficial to me in my current work.
(This article was written in March 2016.)