One Year at The University of Tokyo

Dear Kawasaki Group,

Hi, it is Yi-Chia. It has been a year since I arrived at The University of Tokyo. Thank you all for helping me along the way. I really enjoyed the time in our group. In this article, I would like to share my impressions of learning in Japan with you, including two parts: on-campus and off-campus. 

On-campus

M2 B4送別会, March 2018

First of all, there are three main advantages making our lab distinguished.

1. Diversity 


More than half of our members are international students from various countries: Pakistan, Philippines, China, India, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan. It is a valuable experience for our group members to learn from people of different backgrounds and cultures. Such diversity may inspire us through communication to create more values.

2. International research 


Our group has the strong development of research in many countries; for instance, Myanmar, India, China, and Japan. One of the focused countries is Myanmar. Visiting Myanmar inspired me to find my commitment to make the developing countries more resilient to flood and climate change. Such international research experience will absolutely equip us with great vision and uniqueness.

3. Practical solutions 


Most of our researches aim to provide the practical solutions to real-world problems. The solutions usually require the cooperation with international development agencies, local government, and relevant stakeholders. I learned significantly by discussing with all communities, including JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), YTU professors and students, Myanmar government engineers, and Pasco Corporation.

Besides the research advantages, I am grateful for the farewell parties and the interesting gifts from our lab members and friends. Here are some photos of them.

学期末パーティと綺麗な扇子 

川崎グループ送別会

芳賀君の七億円扇子と浅草酒杯

武藤さんの今治タオル

面白いプレゼント

Maybe some of you have not read my master thesis, I post the part of acknowledgment that I wrote in my thesis here. 

“

    I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Akiyuki Kawasaki, my supervisor at The University of Tokyo. Dr. Kawasaki contributes professional opinions and significant support to this thesis. The visit to Bago River Basin helps me to better understand the real flood threats to the local residents. Dr. Koji Ikeuchi, Dr. Takeyoshi Chibana, and Dr. Satoshi Watanabe lead the fruitful discussion in River Environmental Engineering Laboratory. Dr. Ralph Acierto provided the dynamical downscaling and bias correction data, which is critical in this research. Mr. Tomoaki Itaya supported the development of CNN downscaling model. This research could not be accomplished without these kind helps.

    To River Environmental Engineering Laboratory Kawasaki Group members: Wei san, I always have the pleasure and constructive discussion with you. Good luck to your research in Harvard and anywhere! Seemanta san, thanks for your RRI model. Gouri san, good luck to your Ph.D. thesis and your future career! Moiz san, it is always fun to have lunch and heard your interesting stories. Good luck with your brilliant Ph.D. research! Yonehara san, although we stayed in the same lab only several months, I learned a lot from you, both in Bago research and in Japanese daily lives. Hope you enjoy the career in JR! Yuya san, thank you for lending me the guitar. Good luck to your work in CTI Engineering. Haga san, wish you the best to your master thesis! Liu san, good luck to your ancient China flood research! Yamagami san, Shimomura san, Okuda kun, Nishihara san, wish you all the best in your future work. I especially thank Muto san for being my tutor and supporting my primary stage of stay in Tokyo.

”

Off-campus 

I also got chances to visit many magnificent places and made life-long friends. Here is just a glimpse of several views.

仙娥滝（山梨県昇仙峡）

白川郷（岐阜県）

金沢市（石川県）

目黒川花見（東京都）

キツネ村（仙台市蔵王町）

江戸川区花火大会（東京都浅草）

赤レンガ倉庫（神奈川県横浜市）

足利フラワーパーク（栃木県）with my best friends

株式会社パスコのインターン

Hallstatt, Austria

Bago, Myanmar

東京大学本郷キャンパス工学部1号館 (my second home in Tokyo)

One year is short but long enough to make some changes. I completed my master thesis, gained the internship experience, traveled to many places, learned Japanese, and made great friends. It is definitely a fruitful, fun and solid journey in REEL and Kawasaki Group.

皆様 お世話になりました。

いい思い出日本の学生生活を過ごすことができました。

感謝の気持ちがいっぱいです。ありがとうございました。まだ東京で会いましょう。

台湾に来られる機会あれば、ぜひ 連絡ください。

Yi-Chia

Myanmar Maintenance Field Trip Diary 20180325-0330

20180325

By Liu Chang

Today is the first day traveling to Myanmar. Ralph-san, Sam-san, Haga-san and me come to Myanmar for the maintenance of weather station along Bago River. The flight take off at 11.25 am and arrive at Yangon at 16.00 pm.

Although the weather is really hot (37 °C), I’m still excited about the coming trip in an unacquainted country. After arriving, we take a taxi to YTU (Yangon Technical University). Here we make our acquaintance with Okazaki-san, Nakamura-san and Tin Aye from JICA. After printing the manual and preparing the equipment, we drive to our hotel.

Interior of SATERAPS office in YTU

Leaving for Aroma Rose Hotel

One more thing to mention is that the food in Myanmar is really delicious. Thanks to Nakamura-san’s recommendation, we enjoy a great dinner.

20180326

By Liu Chang

Today is the first day for a real field trip. The plan is to go to Salu Dam for maintenance. Apart from the four of us, Chit Bo Bo Win, San Win Maung from YTU and Aung Myat Lin from IWUMD (Irrigation and Water Utility Management Department) also join to learn about the technique of maintenance.

Our group at the weather station

The weather is sunny and hot just like yesterday. We have to use umbrella to keep out the ultraviolet radiation. The maintenance procedure including downloading the data, updating program and software and changing the antenna.

Instruction of the maintenance by Ralph-san

After two-hours’ hard work, the maintenance is completed. But we still have to check if the data transfer between weather station and UTokyo & YTU server is working properly. Because of the data transferring occurs at the first ten minutes of every hour, we decide to have lunch first.

When we get to the resting place nearby, everyone is sweating heavily. But it worth the effort when you taste the delicacy. The goat soup is spicy and sour, the shrimp is sweet, all the cuisine plays a symphony on your tongue.

Delicacy at Salu Dam

The data transferring seems to be unsuccessful after checking. This made us really frustrated. But we have to double-check the updating and setting all over again. Even after that, the server still can’t get the data. We start to examine every detail setting including junction of cables. And luckily that’s where we find the problem. It turns out that one red cable has poor connect to relay. After reconnect that one everything works out fine~

After that, we went to another weather station which is at the downstream of Salu dam. This one is constructed with an old version of logger, so it’s more stable and doesn’t take too much time. We take this one more like a training course.

Discussion within the group

By the way, the landscape is also very fascinating, it reminds me of my hometown. And I would like to swim in the river if only I get my trunks.

20180327

By Liu Chang

Today is still a hard-working day. We went to Shwelaung Dam for maintenance. Everything seems to be fine except there being some insects in the sensor box. So, we have to take it out and clean it again.

Sensor Box with Excrement

But when we set the antenna, it turns out at the top of the steel pipe will the signal stronger. And it takes us a long time to DIY a holder for the antenna. And we have to go back to Salu Dam to enhance the antenna.

We discover some trouble of transferring data again in Salu Dam. When we at last tackled the problem, it was already at night.

Ralph working at night

antenna setted successfully

Thanks to the hard work of Ralph-san. All day hard-work is worth of a great dinner~

20180328

By Liu Chang

Today we go to Zaungdu Dam for maintenance. This is the last station and I kind of miss the day standing in the sunshine. The maintenance work turns out to be quite smooth, it takes shorter time than we expected. We had the lunch together, and I hope we can work together soon.

We by accident witness a beautiful blue bird, and it shall bring luck to all of us.

Model of the dam

Practice of Maintenance

Group Photo

Myanmar Field Trip Part 7: YTU & UTokyo

皆さん こんにちは イジャです。
今日は最後のミャンマー記事を書きます〜
Hello, I'm Yi-Chia. This is the last part of Myanmar Field Trip series!

During previous articles, you may wonder: "where has Kawasaki sensei been?" To be honest, I have no idea. But, I have some clues.
Actually, Kawasaki sensei was too busy to enjoy the field trip with us. The first news I got was this picture:

source: 東京大学工学系研究 トピックス
http://www.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/soe/topics/setnws_201802231444032534644842.html

 Yangon Technological University signed the memorandum of understanding with The University of Tokyo School of Engineering. It's said that UTokyo will have more frequent academic cooperation with YTU in the future.

Besides the ceremony, Kawasaki sensei also joined lots of meeting. For example, the meeting with YTU chief of academics:

source: 東京大学工学系研究 トピックス
http://www.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/soe/topics/setnws_201802261613474563952387.html

I finally met Kawasaki sensei again in YTU after few days. I guess you may already know, we met in the meeting. It was a meeting with YTU professors, JICA coordinators, UTokyo professors, and related stakeholders.

After countless meetings, Ralph sensei was still energetic to teach students how to perform precipitation data processing using GrADs.

The YTU student is eager to learn more flood-related research to improve Myanmar's disaster management.

Fun

In the last day of Myanmar field trip, Shelly and Hnin Thiri Myo showed us the beautiful pagoda near YTU. There is a huge Buddha sculpture made from one huge stone. Very impressive!

Yangon International Airport Departure

Saying goodbye to Myanmar is tough. It is a place full of culture and religion that may bring me peace and quiet. In addition, I made many great Myanmar friends!
Thanks to Kawasaki sensei's encouragement, I could have a chance to visit Myanmar and learned so much from the country both in science and culture.

Thanks, all readers finishing Myanmar Field Trip series. I appreciate your time and attention. Hope you enjoy it!




Fun facts: Many buses, trucks, and small vehicles in Myanmar have Japanese characters written on them.

Myanmar Field Trip Part 6: Get Your Hands Dirty

大家好，我是益嘉
Good morning, I am Yi-Chia.

Installation

After Ralph’s step by step instruction of weather station installation, it is time for YTU students to lead the whole installation process! YTU members include Prof. Win Win Zin, Prof. Zin Marlar Tin San and Ph.D. students Shelly Win, San Win Mng and Hnin Thiri Myo. Also, two IWUMD representative engineers joined the installation assistance.

The empty site before installation

Everybody starts installing weather station!

Enabling modem for data transfer

First, we installed the solar panel and navigate sunlight direction to gain maximum solar power. Then, the weather sensor was installed.

Secondly, the weather box was installed. To finish the installation of weather box, it’s necessary to match all cables to specific slots to connect weather sensor to the data logger. It is especially essential to activate data logger, sensors, solar panel and wireless modem in weather box.

Lastly, data logger and modem are required to connect a computer to enable data transfer. This step is mostly software manipulation and it ensures that automatic data transfer is successful.

Upper: weather sensor
Lower: solar panel 

Finally, after one hour straight under 35-degree celsius sunlight at noon, we successfully installed Tarwa automatic weather station and data started transferring after one hour. Hopefully, with more weather data from Bago river basin, it will be helpful to conduct more scientific research and solve flood/drought problems.

During the lunch, I asked Shelly about her feeling building weather station from scratch by themselves. “I felt exhausted! My hands and body are burned so much by sunlight. But, I felt excited to finish weather station installation!”

Visit new water level station

After taking a break, we headed to nearby water level station to check data logger and condition of station. It was just built beside Tarwa river last week.

New water level station, shot with Phantom 4 Pro

During the installation process, I took high resolution land use map by using drone. Here is the video showing beauty of Bago.

I discussed with YTU Prof. Win Win Zin and Ph.D. student Ms. Hnin Thiri Myo about research interest and challenges in conducting future climate simulation. Ms. Hnin Thiri Myo loves to share knowledge of climate change and flood assessment. Therefore, her long-term goal is to be a professor in Myanmar. Ms. Hnin Thiri Myo has the strong interest in river runoff inundation model (RRI) to conduct flood assessment under future climate change. She also introduced the high-resolution Global Circulation Model (GCM), which has the 20km resolution. (normally GCM has the roughly 100km resolution).

Currently, Ms. Hnin Thiri Myo is doing bias correction and data processing for future hydrological simulation. Prof. Win Win Zin also showed strong interest in RRI and WEB-DHM application in Bago river basin and this may promote further cooperation between The University of Tokyo and Yangon Technological University. The specific challenges for Dr. Win Win Zin to use WEB-DHM were mostly input of high-resolution DEM to hydrological model. Those challenges may be further discussed with Kawasaki group research members. I also briefly introduced my research about the application of deep learning and downscaling methods. They also give me some feedback and encouragement to build the downscaling model.

Fun

When we were roasted under the sunlight during installation, what could be more relieving than a bowl of watermelon! It’s said that Bago river basin largely produces watermelons. It makes Bago have the abundant low price and good quality watermelon. Indeed, those watermelon slices are sweet. Everybody enjoyed eating watermelon and continued the work of installation!

美味しそう

楽しかった

Fun facts: In Myanmar, buses' doors are always open even vehicles are moving. When it's too crowded in the bus, somebody is half out of the bus with one hand grabbing the door handrail.

Myanmar Field Trip Part 5: Reunion

皆さんこんにちは イジャです。
Today's goal is the maintenance of automatic weather station in Zaung Tu area. We drove around 40 min from Aroma hotel to Zaung Tu. We met Prof. Win Win Zin, Prof. Zin Marlar Tin San. Also, Shelly, Hnin Thiri Myo, and San Win Mng after our arrival.

The discussion of server and data update system with Dr. Ralph, Prof. Win Win Zin, Prof. Zin Marlar Tin San, Mr. Okasaki and Dr. Aung Than Do

Long time no see Shelly! Shelly visited UTokyo River Environmental Engineering Lab as a short-term researcher in January 2018. It is especially a jubilant experience to meet REEL member again!

Ralph san started the installation of grounding cables for lightning protection

It’s especially impressive that all professors and students participate in all the processes of installation and maintenance. (It’s around 40 degree Celsius in the field)

Ralph san introduced detailed of the weather station

The green cable is the newly installed lightning cable

The cable is connected to the ground to protect weather station

After successful maintenance of weather station, we arrived ITC (Irrigation Technology Center) to hold training session of weather station installation. ITC is a beautiful research center for water-related research.

Ralph explained the comprehensive processes of weather station installation

After Ralph san's lecture, it's time for YTU Ph.D. students to practice on their own!

The hands-on experience for everyone to build weather station from scratch

Finally successful!

It's a great beginning of the training session! Tomorrow, all members will visit Tarwa, where we will build another weather station, and YTU students will build a real one station by themselves! Hopefully, YTU students could teach more locals to install and maintain weather stations in the future. Then, Myanmar could increase human capitals in water-related researches.

Fun fact: The popular sports (or street game) in Myanmar is called “Chinlone”. It's played by kicking a small ball