My Internship at Tohoku University in Sendai

Rafal Kicinger

George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

International Internship 2005

I visited Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan from January 21 to February 28, 2005 as a participant of the International Internship Program. During my stay in Sendai I was working with Professor Shigeru Obayashi, one of the leading experts in evolutionary multiobjective optimization. I was also cooperating with several students from the Obayashi Laboratory in the Institue of Fluid Science.

My major research objective was to learn about evolutionary multiobjective algorithms and apply them to engineering design problems. During my stay in Sendai I studied several types of evolutionary multiobjective algorithms, including MOGA, NSGA, and SPEA. Based on the results of various experimental studies I have decided to implement SPEA in my Java-based evolutionary design support tool called Emergent Designer. At the end of my internship I have successfully completed the implementation of this algorithm and ran some preliminary design experiments. After coming back to George Mason University I'm planning to conduct extensive experimental studies and publish their results.

I have also studied adaptive-range MOGA, an algorithm developed in the Obayashi Laboratory and used in the design experiments in aeronautical engineering. I'm planning to implement this algorithm in my system in a nearby future.

One of the challenges I frequently faced with in my research is an enormous amount of scientific data to analyze. Traditional methods of analysis of patterns in the data are usually not satisfactory. Thus, during my stay at Tohoku University I also studied modern data mining and high-dimensional visualization methods. Specifically, I worked with Professor Obayashi and several students from his lab on self-organizing maps (SOM) and multi-dimensional scaling.

I have had a chance to present my own research on several occassions while in Japan. First, I visited Doshisha University in Kyoto together with Dr. Kazuhisa Chiba and discussed my ideas about morphogenesis and engineering design. At the end of my interniship, I have also had 2 presentations at Tohoku University, one in the 21st Century COE of Flow Dynamics and the second one in the Institue of Fluid Science.

This was my first visit to Japan and I tried as much as I could to learn about the country, its culture, and traditions. The students from the Obayashi Lab were very helpful and friendly and did their best to show me Japan. Particularly Ms. Lim Jin Ne and Mr. Toshihiro Tsuga showed me the real taste of Japan (quite different from western cuisine) and and travelled with me to several places around Sendai and Tokyo. I also spent several wonderful days in Kyoto with Dr. Chiba who kindly showed me this beautiful city and old capital of Japan. I have created a special website with a gallery of all my photos from Japan. It can be accessed here.

During my stay in Sendai I met many wonderful people and made some friends among faculty and students in the Obayashi Lab. I also think that the internship contributed significantly to my professional growth and improved the cooperation between our institutions. I'm indebted to many people who made it possible, particularly to Professor Shigeru Obayashi, Ms. Nao Konohara, and the entire 21st Century COE of Flow Dynamics that generously sponsored my internship at Tohoku University.