The Ph.D. conferral for Mr. Yuki Shimoji, a former student of Prof. Kume’s laboratory who currently works as a cram school instructor, took place at the end of August. It is wonderful news. Congratulations.

After Assoc. Prof. Kume retired, I was designated as the faculty member in charge of his supervision. My connection with Mr. Shimoji goes back to when I was teaching Educational Technology to upper-level undergraduates; he was a student in my class. It was back when we were still at the Hakozaki campus. That brings back memories. He always seemed to be studying quietly on his own. Even in the Scratch session, he was quickly building math games by himself (which is surprisingly difficult for university students if they aren’t used to it). It seems my class inspired him to pursue graduate studies, and he reached out to me to ask if I would take him on.

That said, Prof. Kume had already provided almost all of the guidance, and it felt like we were just waiting for the final review and the public hearing before moving to the Ph.D. conferral deliberation. So, all I really did was handle the arrangements leading up to the final review, check his doctoral dissertation, and assist with the public hearing (laughs).

For the public hearing, we were required to invite one external expert. Given Mr. Shimoji’s research theme, there is really only one expert in Japan who could evaluate it in the field of Educational Technology. So, we asked Prof. Ryohei Ikejiri (Hiroshima University) to serve in that role. I mentioned these details in the announcement for the public hearing earlier.

To be precise, he is not a graduate of the Yamada Lab, but as the faculty member who was present for the final stage of Mr. Shimoji’s Ph.D. conferral, I wanted to share this report here to express my joy and my expectations for his future. It really is a great feeling when a new Ph.D. is earned.

After the public hearing, we went to Restaurant ITOSHIMA for a party to celebrate Mr. Shimoji’s hard work and to express our deep gratitude to Prof. Ikejiri. It has been a favorite of mine lately. It is an Italian-based restaurant that uses ingredients from Itoshima. Meals after a major event are always delicious. I really wanted to have a drink (laughs).