A passion for creating new value through computing innovation

I majored in informatics at university and worked on research to optimize the performance of matrix calculations in the High Performance Computing (HPC) lab at graduate school. I became obsessed with improving calculation speed through repeated trial and error, such as coming up with new algorithms and tuning software. I was thrilled and delighted to see tangible results, such as calculations that used to take an hour but could be done in just 10 minutes! The experience of being able to produce results on my own gave me confidence, and this is what made me decide to pursue a career as a researcher. My next decision was to continue my research on HPC, and I applied to join Fujitsu, which focuses on R&D in that field.

Since joining the company, I have been working on software acceleration, and from 2022, I have been participating in a joint research project on drug discovery. In the beginning, I had difficulty understanding what the researchers at the collaborative research sites were talking about, because I lacked knowledge about chemistry and biology. However, through conversations and learning from the people involved, I absorbed knowledge and gradually became able to discuss issues and techniques with confidence. The development of a new drug takes time in units of 5 to 10 years. We believe that the use of computing can dramatically improve the efficiency of new drug development. By combining computing technology with AI, we aim to develop simulation technology that is useful for faster drug discovery. In our joint research with RIKEN, we are using supercomputer Fugaku to build a new IT drug discovery process with an eye toward middle and large-molecular drugs (*1). By widely disseminating this process to pharmaceutical and other companies, we aim to dramatically reduce the time and cost required for new drug development.

In weather forecasting, information such as past weather data, changes in atmospheric pressure, and the movement of rain clouds are collected and used to simulate and forecast the weather. For complex computational problems such as weather forecasting, it is important not only to enhance computational resources but also to advance simulation technology. On the other hand, the application of AI, as exemplified by ChatGPT, has recently been advancing rapidly. However, the development of AI models through machine learning, such as deep learning, and the processing of real-time data require the use of computing technology, which in turn requires the enhancement of computing resources to perform enormous calculations. Although computing technology will be an important factor in solving social issues, it is necessary to consider a comprehensive approach by combining multiple technologies, not just individual ones.

Titles, numerical values, and proper nouns in this document are those reported when this interview was made.