Lab for Innovative Infrastructure Systems

Hi, I am Mega, a B4 student from our lab. I visited Okinawa last weekend.

In order to experience the tourist traffic congestion that I am going to address in my bachelor thesis, I participated in the Ocean Expo Fireworks Festival, which is said to be the busiest event in the Motobu area. I am deeply grateful to Mr. Uechi, a D1 student from Ryukyu University, who has a connection with the Fukuda Laboratory. Thank you for your assistance and for getting us caught up in the traffic congestion.

Moreover, we had a social gathering, and I had the opportunity to hear Prof. Kamiya’s passionate talk. I will use this experience as a basis for my research! Thank you everyone in the Okinawa!

[Mega]

[3-4 June, 2023]

Mr. Krittnai presented his research at the Spring Conference of the JSCE Committee of Infrastructure Planning and Management, which was held at Fukuoka University on 3rd (Saturday) and 4th (Sunday) June. The title of his presentation was as follows:

“How Does Price Affect the Utilization of Ridesourcing Services: Evidence from Uber Japan’s Experiments (Sriwongphanawes Krittanai and Daisuke Fukuda)”

We received valuable comments regarding Mr. Krittanai’s presentation from many professors and participants. Thus, we would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude.

Moreover, we also participated in the conference as audiences. Over these two days, presentations from various fields were held. We had the chance to know some interesting research conducted by students from other universities with whom we have been involved in previous research activities, especially during the poster session! This experience provided us with great inspiration for our future master’s research. We are grateful to participate in this conference!

[Hasegawa]

On May 19th, our lab had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Ali-gul Qureshi and Dr. Jose Escribano-Macias. Dr. Ali-gul Qureshi is an associate professor at Kyoto University with a research focus on urban logistics studies, while Dr. Jose Escribano-Macias is a research associate at Imperial College London, specializing in autonomous vehicles, urban logistics, and resilience studies.

During their visit, we engaged in fruitful discussions on various topics, including urban transportation network modeling, e-hailing services, urban resilience, and disaster reconstruction. The exchange of viewpoints provided valuable insights and opened up possibilities for future cooperation opportunities.We extend our gratitude to Dr. Ali-gul Qureshi and Dr. Jose Escribano-Macias for their visit and look forward to exploring some cooperation opportunities with them in the near future.

[Chee Yung]

Recently, we held the first seminar of the 2023 academic year in our lab! We’re pleased to welcome three new B4 students, Mr. Uemachi, Mr. Kawasaki, and Mr. Mega, to our laboratory. After three M2 students graduated last year, we were worried about the decrease in the number of lab members. However, we will continue to operate with nine student members for now.

As in the previous year, we will have seminars once a week. In the first semester, we will have a basic seminar and a research progress seminar, each for one hour. The basic seminar will focus on game theory. Last year’s basic seminar covered three topics, it was difficult to thoroughly understand each one as some of the details were skipped. Thus, we plan to focus on just one topic this year to ensure a better understanding of the material.

This year, I (Hasegawa) will primarily provide regular updates on laboratory life, and occasionally, some new members will also contribute. We appreciate your continued support in this academic year.

[Hasegawa]

[7-8 Febraury 2023]

On 7th (Tue.) and 8th (Wed.) Febraury, the face-to-face final defense of bachelor’s thesis was held at Hongo campus. Ms. Nakamura, a B4 student from our lab, made a presentation and passed the final defense.

The title of her presentation is as follows．

• A Model for Optimal Allocation Plan of Disaster Prevention Restoration Public Housing Considering the Built-Lifestyle

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the professors from various fields for their comments and questions.

Following the three master’s students last week, Ms. Nakamura (B4 student) submitted her bachelor’s thesis today! This was her first time to conduct research and write a thesis, and she must have had a hard time getting used to it, but I think she did her best throughout the process. The final defense for the bachelor’s thesis will be held next week, so please take a short break and do your best to present your research results over the last year!
[Hasegawa]

[30-31 January, 2023]

On 30th (Mon.) and 31st (Tue.) January, the face-to-face final defense of master’s thesis was held at Hongo campus. Mr. Arai, Mr. Tabata, and Ms. Hazama (M2 students) presented their theses and all of them had passed the final defense. Moreover, Mr. Arai had received the Furuichi Award.

The titles of each research topic are as follows.

• Mr. Arai: Analysis of Route Choice Behavior Considering Drivers’ Information Acquisition Process
• Mr. Tabata: Influence of Residents’ Cognitive Bias for Disaster Risk on Urban Spatial Structure
• Ms. Hazama: Detection of Niche Sightseeing Spots from Human Flow Big Data and Application to Excursion Management

Today, three M2 students submitted their master’s theses! They had been struggling to get better results until the last minute, but they all made it on time. Congratulations to them!

Although their theses are now completed, they still have to prepare slides and practice their final presentations, let’s wish them all the best in the final thesis presentation!

[Hasegawa]

Today was the last lab seminar for the Year 2022, so we cleaned the student’s room after the seminar. We all worked together to clean every corner of the room, including wiping our desks and organizing the bookshelve.
After the cleaning, we ate ice cream and enjoyed each other’s hard work.

Healthy research activity starts with a healthy environment! With a renewed environment, M2 and B4 students will be able to work even harder on their dissertations!

[Hasegawa]

[17-18 December, 2022]

On 17th (Sat.) and 18th (Sun.) December, the Applied Regional Science Conference held its annual conference at the Kofu Campus, University of Yamanashi, Kofu Campus. (M1 student) Mr. Hasegawa attended the conference as an auditor.

Over the two days, I was able to listen to some presentations of theoretical and empirical research on cities and regions using a variety of methods. In particular, I learned a lot from the presentations on my research field, “spatial economics,” which I have seen in papers and books.

Furthermore, a special session by Prof. Masahisa Fujita, an expert in spatial economics, and the Sakashita Prize-winning lecture by Prof. Fujishima of Hitotsubashi University, were held at this year’s conference. I was inspired that “spatial economics,” which I am currently working on, is one of the hottest fields in economics. It was a great opportunity for me to further my research! Thank you very much!

[Hasegawa]