Provide a brief intro of yourself?
I am currently working at Aomori University as a professor and director of ICT center. My current research work is focusing on a peer-to-peer communication network, ubiquitous network systems, HPC, HPDA and IoT systems. I am a founding member of PRAGMA and CENTRA. From Aug. 2023, I had been elected as the APAN chair.
Where do you work and what are you currently doing?
I am currently engaged in education at the Faculty of Software and Information Science at Aomori University. I am conducting a project where students can build their own campus network. In addition, I am currently exploring a smart city project in the Aomori region. On the other hand, in Osaka, I am involved in a smart city project construction and popularization of a data linkage infrastructure called ORDEN for local governments.
What is your history with APAN? How long have you been associated with APAN? What specific activities and work have you been involved in?
I have been participating in APAN as part of my network research since I was at Osaka University. I may have been active for more than 20 years.
In the heyday of GRID, I was engaged in international collaborative research activities such as TILED display on international high-speed networks and remote observation of high voltage electron microscopes. I also participated in an international joint research activity called Pragma in the United States, which further expanded into various international joint research.
After becoming the director of the JGN testbed center at NICT, I was able to support such international joint research, where APAN acted as a place to coordinate the interconnection of R&E networks.
Please share one or two interesting experiences you had with the APAN community.
In the Network Engineering workshop, it was useful to understand the development of networks in each country. It was a wonderful experience to witness the development of M-bit networks into Gigabit networks, which in turn evolved into 10G, 100G, and 400G. I think that the strength of the APAN community is that we can work in the same direction. Various activities to strengthen community bonds, such as the morning yoga session at APAN Sri Lanka, was also wonderful.
What value does APAN bring to you personally and to your work?
A network that transcends national boundaries supports large-scale international joint research. It requires subtle coordination of multiple networks, such as the Data Mover Challenge. The fact that you can do this all at once is the appeal of APAN. Without APAN, I would not have been able to get to know network researchers from so many countries, and the fact that I have been able to work with them for more than 10 years is also a strength as a researcher.
How do you think APAN should be improved and enhanced?
I think the R&E network in APAN or Asia Pacific has reached a major turning point. The network has contributed to the development of scientific research and education in the region. However, organizations have been required to provide not only interconnection, but also more professional and advanced services, such as fast and secure file transfers, authentication, data exchange, etc. I believe that APAN is required to provide information and roadmaps for the development of such R&E networks, and in some cases to coordinate them.
What do you like to do in your spare time, aside from work?
Movie, ski, onsen (hot spring)
Can you please suggest others in our community who you think should be interviewed? We will follow up with them. We may have more than one interview per newsletter.
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