g-RIPS Sendai was a valuable experience for me to implement my mathematical knowledge on an industrially motivated problem. Importantly, though the problem was posed by our corporate sponsor we were afforded the freedom to refine our problem statement and propose our own solutions. The problem was complex and provided an excellent opportunity to apply various techniques from engineering and mathematics.
Addressing our problem required a diversity of thinking. I appreciate that our team consisted of engineers, mathematicians, and those not from traditional STEM fields. We all worked to understand the technical details of each other's approaches and were able to produce a satisfying solution to the problem given the limited 2 months we had.
On a more personal note, living in Sendai for two months was pleasant. The city is surrounded with beautiful landscapes, and the public transportation allowed our group to easily go on weekend excursions. Having these opportunities made our experience here
enjoyable.
The g-RIPS-Sendai program was such a wonderful and valuable experience and great opportunity to work an industrial research project (Toyota) in Japan. Every team member has different disciplines and this is my first time working the research project with people who do not have strong background of mathematics, but it is very interesting to collaborate with them because we have very different perspectives of the project and it helped us to see the bigger pictures. Overall, this research program helped me to grow as a better researcher and connected with a lot of people.
I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of g-RIPS-Sendai 2018. Through the program I was able to collaborate with research faculty and graduate students with diverse backgrounds on a challenging industrial project. The program has helped me develop into a better team member, improved my ability to research independently and with limited direct supervision, has encouraged me to think outside of my traditional "mathematical thinking", and has seamlessly allowed me to experience working and living in a foreign country. I'm am confident g-RIPS has and will have a positive impact on my life and academic career.
This project was an amazing opportunity to not only do research but also build professional connections in Japan and experience Japan’s rich culture. I had a blast working with my teammates during the week and exploring Sendai together on the evenings and weekends.
I was very impressed with our team for this project; g-RIPS showed me that it really can work well with a team if there’s a good choice of members. We were able to work effectively and use our specialties to help the other members. I thought the project descriptions conveyed the overall topic of the projects, but the specific goals and the techniques needed were less clear.