Nursuhana binti Alauddin (Suhana)

Country of origin: Malaysia

I enter this lab in 2019 as a Ph.D. candidate. I reside in the Tsunashima neighbourhood, a single station away from Hiyoshi Station, which is situated in front of Keio University. I either take the train or my bicycle to get to the Yagami campus. I like being a student under Professor Yamada's direction. He always makes an effort to learn about us and values the diversity of the cultures of his students. I also like hanging out with other students in the lab, and we always speak both English and Japanese. Even though I live by myself in Japan, I feel like this is a second family that cares about my well-being and is interested in how my life is going. We always get together for dinners whenever there is an important occasion, such as the completion of the graduation thesis presentation or the admission of new students. Due to my religious beliefs, I cannot take non-halal meat. Most of the time, they will pick a restaurant with a seafood menu so that I can enjoy my meal as well. The annual occasion of summer camp in the middle of September is what I enjoy the most. We participate in sports, play card games, eat nagashi soumen, and watch fireworks. During this camp, I start playing the Jinrou (werewolf) game, and surprisingly, I end up becoming addicted to it! It is so much fun to watch other players act out their parts and makeup stories when we play this game. I truly hope that our paths will cross again in the future because I shall miss this lab member and the professor very much.

Entrance ceremony in 2019 at Exhibition Hall of Pacifico Yokohama.

With Professor Shu Yamada at JSQC Conference at Tokyo, 2019 (Awarded as Excellent Presenter during this event)

Jinrou (werewolf) game

Badminton time during Summer Camp

Nagashi soumen during Summer Camp

Attended IPCIEEM Conference at Langkawi, Malaysia in 2019 (Awarded the Best Presenter during this event)

With other lab members at Keio Techno Mall 2019

Rodrigo Garcia Sainz (Rodri)

Country of origin: Spain

Hi everyone! I am a student in the second year of the master's program at the Graduate School of Science and Technology, as part of the Keio program for a Double Degree with my University back home, Polytechnic University of Madrid. I am fortunate to be part of the laboratory group of professor Shu Yamada. From the very first moment, I felt welcome as another member of the lab. Despite my limited level of Japanese, I have not had any problem to be able to develop my research work since it can be done completely in English. The professor is always interested and available to help me with any problem I may encounter. If at any time I have been stuck and needed advice or help, the teacher has always been available to have one on one meetings whenever I needed it.

In addition, on a weekly basis, we have meetings with all the lab members, each week featuring different students, to share our research progress, to learn from each other, and to get advice and guidance on our research development. It is also an opportunity to practice and improve my Japanese with the other lab members and make new friends.

More specifically, in the first year of research, I focused more on acquiring the general knowledge related to my research topic and the tools that can be useful to me when developing my own thesis. In this second year of research, I focused more on defining concretely the question I want to answer in my research to be able to contribute something new to society and put it into action to obtain the results.

There are different topics that the laboratory is investigating, from the development of new mathematical and statistical methods to data analysis in social networks, fruit, and vegetable plantations, quality standards, and education. My research is related to quality in the educational environment by applying data analysis. For this, we are working with a group of international schools with whom we have regular contact and from whom we have access to data and their advice in order to solve problems and improve quality in educational institutions. We have meetings in English and visits to the schools to keep in touch with the management.

Finally, some of the perks of our laboratory, we get our own desktop station with access to it at any time of the day. There are also frequent celebrations and dinners with all the members of the lab getting together to try out the food and become closer. Not to mention the short trips that are held each semester.

In conclusion, for any student who is motivated and interested in the research topics being done in this lab, it really is a good place to learn and have a great experience.

GIIS Tokyo Campus visit 2022 (Keio GIIS Team and GIIS Management)

Professor Yamada Team Laboratory 2022

Dinner graduate ceremony 2023

Zhe Cheng

Country of origin: China

To whoever is reading this, greetings! I have finished my master’s degree as a member of Yamada Lab in 2022. I am glad this is part of my life experience and would like to share some thoughts with you.

Studying experience in Yamada Lab was quite different from my expectation but in a good way. Different from some of the master schools I have heard of, Professor Yamada does not give out orders of research direction. Instead, discovering your own field of interest is fundamental. Support will be given once you have set your goal. I joined the lab with a research plan related to social media, yet I was able to talk with Professor Yamada during my studies and reassigned a new research direction, eSports, with full assistance from him. Professor Yamada helped me build the necessary skills I needed to finish the thesis while also expanding my knowledge by letting me participate in reading/studying sessions held weekly for about one semester. If you get the will to study, there`s always some help for you to get the knowledge you want.

Speaking of help, besides Professor Yamada, other members of the laboratory also played significant roles in my experience in this lab. During the weekly meetings, members are required to make reports on their research progress. This is a great chance for all of us to exchange opinions and receive advice. Professor Yamada will give out his suggestions and expectations. What`s also important is other students, regardless of what years they are, will give out their opinions on our presentations. Vis versa, we are also going to give our comments in return. This exchange of ideas and knowledge leads to the personal development and development of all. The biggest problem we could have will be language. I came to Japan with a Japanese N2 certificate and still found it hard to catch up with Japanese-speaking students` presentations. However, Professor Yamada himself is really good at English and will have the students explain the contents in English to those who are not familiar with Japanese. The meeting is also a good chance to make friends, practice Japanese, or even simply hang out afterward.

We have talked about the beautiful parts of studying at this University, and lastly, I want to talk about the hard part from my personal experience. Studying is full of joy; the process of gaining knowledge is fulfilling and satisfying. Yet when comes to personal research, this is a path that is filled with loneliness and suffering. It is natural to feel sad or pain during the down times. However, as aforementioned, Professor Yamada and other lab members are always there to help. They will be your light amidst your deepest despair.

Now I would like to welcome anyone who is interested in joining in and maybe see some of your faces during our annual reunion parties.

Lin Zhuoyi (Lin)

Country of origin: China

Hi, there! I just finished my two years at Yamada Lab pursuing my master's degree and graduated in September 2022.

Actually, I am very unfortunate because the pandemic has taken up much of my time as a student at Keio, but I am the luckiest because I have entered Yamada Lab. Here are some real thoughts of mine. If you are still hesitating, this message should convince you that entering this lab is definitely the right decision.

Professor Yamada is a true supervisor. He always leads us to find out which part of our research has problems, which helps us proceed with our research accurately and logically. Besides, he is very kind and humorous. Always be considerate to us, for example, he would like to chat with us and cares about our lives in Japan or on campus. We also usually be amused by his sense of humor, both in seminars and courses. Yamada-sensei is a charming professor.

Life at Yamada Lab is unforgettable. Yamada Laboratory has the best scene across the Yagami campus I think—not too low, not too high, covering the brightly lit Sky Tree. Studying in the lab is quite relaxing.

There are many activities in Yamada Lab: laboratory dinner, summer camp, the alumni party, etc. Although some of them were put off during the most serious time of the pandemic, everything restarted from the post-Covid period. Through these activities, we have become a close and loving family. Students in Yamada Lab are always willing to help and get along with each other.

If you can enter Yamada Laboratory, do your research with joyful life here. I very much hope that I can see the professors and old friends as well as encounter new faces like you at the future alumni party!

View through the window of the lab with my terrible photographic skill and terrible camera

Selfie with Professor Yamada