Graduates in their 30s who made career advancements
Mr. AOKI Michiru
PROFILE
Freelance
*Planning to launch a new company in the current or next fiscal year
Graduated from International Christian University
Completed the Master Program of Information Systems Architecture in 2015
New work areas expanding beyond achievement of purpose when enrolling
Systems and conveniences easy for working students to utilize
At the consulting firm I was working for when I first enrolled, I was in charge of a new web-based human resources-related project. My decision to enroll in AIIT was based on my desire to deepen my understanding of IT for the launch.
I had always been involved with IT in my consulting work. My main job was to introduce the necessary systems to clients and educate them in the operation of such systems on site. However, because system development was outsourced, the point of “creation” was missing from the series of steps. Therefore, one of my objectives was to strengthen my knowledge of how to create IT systems, such as learning how to code.
It was honestly difficult to keep up with the dense classes while working at the same time, but since AIIT streams videos of the classes, I was able to compensate for not being able to attend by watching them during my commute. As a result, I was able to complete the entire course in three years, even though I took a half-year break in between. Since there are quite a few working students like myself, I feel that the school is very considerate to those who study while working, such as streaming classes, and setting up long-term study systems and satellite campuses.
Classmates taught importance of learning while working
I focused on script-based programs to acquire the programming skills I wanted when I enrolled. I gained the ability to create small-scale applications on my own, and can accurately review programs written by other people.
In addition, the greater interaction with more people I had hoped for was beyond my expectations. Students at AIIT have different backgrounds, including those who have started their own businesses and freelancers. The industries they work in are also diverse, with some being academic while others are more hands-on. While I tended to focus on achieving results within the time constraints and my work ethic in the project-based learning, one member suggested the importance of delving in and identifying the essence of the issue. That stance gave me the opportunity to rethink the origin and significance of learning as a working adult who dared to attend graduate school. In addition to the encouragement from these students, I now advise junior students as a visiting researcher in order to repay the favor I received for being able to join such a rich network that extends from the top to bottom, with professors at its core.
Breadth as consultant broadened through studying at AIIT
I left the company I was working at when I first enrolled, and am currently working as a freelance consultant. In addition to my company going public, the new business getting off to a good start, and things settling down, I had always been interested in the field of medicine, which I worked on in the project-based learning, and I wanted to demonstrate my abilities in the field.
My future goal is to contribute to achieving medical care that reduces the mental and social burden on patients and allows them to focus on their treatment by taking advantage of the absolutely broadened range of consulting skills I learned at AIIT.
Ms. ORUI Yuko
PROFILE
ASICS Japan Corporation
Graduated from the Graduate School of Osaka University
Completed the Master Program of Information Systems Architecture in 2010
The value of PBL rediscovered after completion
The system scale expanded to require broad knowledge in IT.
Ten years after getting my first job, I began thinking about organizing my knowledge of IT learned through work and set it in place systematically. I was engaged in the introduction of ERP and web systems and gained experience as a project manager. As I built my career, the scale of the system I was responsible for became larger. This made me recognize more than ever the need to have new learning opportunities to acquire a different perspective over the world of IT and broader knowledge.
In addition, finishing a major project lured me to change my work environment, so I changed jobs four times. To settle down for the time being, my plan was to go to graduate school, thinking I would not quit my job while in school. I chose a public university, AIIT, as a place to study and achieve my goals with less of a financial burden if at all possible.
I recorded my daily life as a professional student in a blog,
so I could manage a busy schedule to continue learning.
Going to school while working full time was much harder than I thought. One reason was the number of business trips that suddenly increased once I enrolled at AIIT. There was a time when I was away on business for 20 days in a month. Even so, I was able to complete the course in two years thanks to the support system of AIIT for professional students to continue their education. When I could attend class, I went to the campus even to spend 30 minutes in class.
Another thing that helped me continue studying was the blog I started when I enrolled at AIIT. I started this blog for the private purpose of making myself aware as a professional enrolled in a course of study. Even so, I eventually started receiving messages seeking my advice from people who were not sure about going to back school while working. I also met a student who enrolled at AIIT after reading my blog.
The rarity and effectiveness of PBL experience in working on business improvement for other companies
Despite hard times, it was worth continuing my education at AIIT. I experienced two presentations in an academic conference as a student at AIIT. One of the presentations was about the results of PBL.
At PBL, I prepared guidelines for privacy impact assessments in compliance with the laws of Japan, which I applied to a system introduced in a partner company. Working on a joint project with people from different generations and backgrounds was full of challenges. One time, I thought it was more reasonable to write the paper myself. Even so, the value of such experiences increases after completing the course. Particularly, when I helped junior students in their PBL as a person from a corporation, which gave me an opportunity to be involved in a PBL project from a distance, I realized the rarity and effectiveness of experiencing other company's business improvements face-to-face while sharing different values.
I worked at the company I was with when enrolling in the course for eight years, which were the longest. Because I was transferred from the IT department to a different department, I changed my job seeking a position in new system development. Today, as a leader of e-commerce promotion, I plan and execute strategies to spread the company brand at a daily cultural level. Although I became a person who uses a system from a system developer, the rock-solid foundation of IT gained at AIIT supports my current job.
Mr. KOSUGI Akihiro
PROFILE
IBM Japan, Ltd.
Graduated from the Tokyo University of Science.
Completed the Master Program of Innovation for Design and Engineering in 2015.
The strength of integrating software and hardware
Ways of accessing information are changing.
After graduating from university, I built my career as a software engineer and worked in a position responsible for development projects. Although I was confident in developing software, the work environment changed dramatically after being transferred to a research department. I was surrounded by research personnel who had completed doctoral or master's degree programs at graduate school. This made me realize the need to obtain a master's degree. That is why I decided to study at AIIT.
I enrolled in the Master Program of Innovation for Design and Engineering to acquire knowledge about design and hardware that I had not studied in the past.
Around that time, the new technologies of IoT, VR, and AR started to attract attention, which was bringing changes to the ways that people accessed information. While I worked in the development of technology that allowed the elderly and people with disabilities to access information more conveniently, I felt the limitations of developing software and hardware separately. I wanted to study design that facilitates operations and user-friendly hardware at AIIT. I thought this would give me greater strength as a researcher and open a new domain by merging this knowledge with my skills in software development.
The more I gained in knowledge, the more I was able to think freely.
The knowledge I acquired in the three years of using a long-term completion system helped expand my world view of IT. For example, a knowledge of hardware encourages me to pay attention to the appeal of shape, while I tend to focus on the mechanism. The classes also covered the process of finding the ideal shape. I used to think that software always works correctly as long as it is coded correctly according to the design, which was the standard for me. However, I now understand that having leeway is necessary, which my classmates who are hardware engineers taught me. I also understand monozukuri without being restricted to designs. After learning of the background and reasons for using design to determine color and shape, I finally understood the questions about screen display as determined by user design engineers in previous software development projects.
As a compilation of the knowledge acquired, I developed a digital camera that releases the shutter by identifying brain waves in the PBL class in the second year. I made some improvements to the camera for use as a dash cam in my car.
At work, I developed a telepresence robot that operates remotely according to the facial movements without the hand operations. In the project, I completed the entire process from the creation of videoconference services to the production of the robot with a camera by myself. I am involved in a collaborative study with a university to make this patented technology available to healthcare and health services for the elderly living in secluded areas and remote locations.
In addition to software, my strengths extended across hardware and design. This helped me acquire the necessary and broader knowledge as a researcher and brought free and unbound ideas.
Ms. MATSUI Noriko
PROFILE
An audio equipment manufacturer
Graduated from Hosei University.
Completed the Master Program of Innovation for Design and Engineering in 2014.
My desire to design music experiences
Is the design element unnecessary for products designed for professionals?
My graduation research at university was about automated score creation technology. I was a member of an afterschool music club and got a job at an audio equipment maker. My dream of working with music as an engineer came true after graduating from university.
I was involved in the design of microphones for professionals at work. While I sought highly sophisticated, delicate specifications, I always had doubts and problems with shape design. I gradually began having doubts that the products designed for professionals did not need a design element. I wanted to incorporate design elements into the product developments and to see monozukuri from a broader view, apart from looking for becoming a designer.
The reason I chose AIIT as a place to study was that I wanted to learn about the position of design and its value in overall monozukuri. I also thought that I could learn about other companies' monozukuri through instructors who had hands-on experience and professional students.
Understanding the mutual interaction of sensibility and function
Studying at AIIT broadened the concept of design. In addition, it was a significant achievement that the design of microphones is not complete simply by creating the product. I became aware that it operates as part of delivering the intangible work called music to many people and offering the experience of music, including the thrill and pleasure for listeners. I also started to understand the mutual interaction of the sensibility elements, which were chaotic in the past, and the functions expressed in the specifications. It made me comfortable as an engineer knowing a statistical method of quantifying atypical forms of sensibility.
Awareness of monozukuri, which is viable in marketing
Just when I completed the program and thought that I could approach design in refreshed spirits, I was transferred from product design to the planning division responsible for marketing. Despite this, it was only in the beginning that I thought I could not use what I had learned at AIIT. Rather, the position of connecting users to products involved the reality of the perspective of work, which is the design of the experience of music. In my current job, I can make use of the knowledge I acquired from service engineering, which handles intangible objects as the music. I no longer have the consciousness that I could not deny in the past, which is the value of high-spec products that should be understood by only the people who understand the value. By studying design, I can draw pictures on the spot when it is difficult to convey the idea using words and numbers. Compared to the design I sought with only specifications, the matters I have to pay attention to became more diversified and complex. Even so, I can see better because I have clear judgment about what is more important.
Mr. WATANABE Shintaro
PROFILE
Jupiter Telecommunications Co., Ltd.
Graduated from Hitotsubashi University
Completed the Master Program of Information Systems Architecture in 2013.
I have taken pride as a professional.
I aimed to develop expertise after making a change in direction while studying at AIIT.
Prior to enrolling in the program at AIIT, I was in charge of IT at a manufacturer with about 200 employees. I constructed infrastructures and developed applications there. Although I had experience in development and operation since I was a student, I could not help but realize my lack of completeness in basic IT skills because I originally majored in mathematical statistics. To organize my experience, I decided to enroll at AIIT. However, after taking a new job at a telecommunications carrier while studying at AIIT, my sense of purpose changed. To increase market value in the industry, I not only must acquire basic knowledge but also a high level of expertise. In consideration of the area of my specialty and market trends, I narrowed my options to data analysis and information security. In the end, after being impressed by the words of a professor who mentioned the public nature of studies at a PBL briefing session, I decided to aim for the acquisition of expertise in the latter field.
I chose information security to write a joint paper with a professor.
Through PBL in the second year, I developed a risk assessment method to incorporate privacy protection from the phase of system planning and design to improvements in the technical and systemic aspects. In addition, I offer consulting services to client companies using the same method.
From these experiences, I learned the importance of the non-technical elements. The laws and management organization theory, for instance, turned out great after the lectures in information law in the first year. Also, it was around this time that I started reading business books, which was something I was never interested in before.
The achievements from PBL were published at an academic conference with a professor and team members to put together a paper.
Mastering the code of conduct through experience backed up by expertise
Later, I participated in the launch of a cybersecurity department at work. Today, I oversee all group companies. I also acquired the international qualifications of CISA and CISSP after completing the program. The basis of my accomplishments was obtained at AIIT.
I continue to connect with AIIT even today. I sometimes review the PBL of current students and listen to classes as a non-degree student as the need arises. I also had an opportunity to work with AIIT graduates from other companies. While the information security job requires a realistic stance, it is important to develop a sense of balance and not lose your principles at all times. In addition, it is essential to maintain appropriate communication depending on the other's position and abilities. What I gained the most from AIIT was that I mastered the code of conduct as a professional through PBL.
In recent years, an increasing number of security incidents have occurred in today's society. Amid such great turmoil, I would like to plan and promote measures to protect customers consistently.