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We often talk about our approach to research at Ricoh Innovations as swimming on the surface, skimming the waters from above, identifying a point of interest below the surface, then diving deep to harvest something of deep technical nature. |
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| Search for problems... |
| Working for an industrial research lab is certainly different from conducting research as a Postdoc or a Professor at a University. From a Ricoh Innovations' perspective, the most important part of our work is to identify the right problems, where right is defined as being the right fit for Ricoh Innovations and for Ricoh. Therefore, it can happen that we give up on the chance of getting a bit better performance out of a compression system which would result in a good conference paper, but rather acknowledge that the industry's demand for compression technology has been satisfied and marginal improvement is of no relevant value anymore. |
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| Listen and understand each other... |
| I particularly enjoy the cross-discipline and cross-cultural interactions between colleagues. Having myself had to learn to navigate in the engineering field after having received a rather theoretical degree in Mathematics makes me more and more aware of the importance of accepting other disciplines as well aa recognizing and working around cross-cultural barriers. |
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| Model problem astractly... |
| Refreshing equations - that is what is expected of me if I give an internal Ricoh presentation. I like to model problems in a abstract way to get a good top-level view. Once an abstract model is built it is easier for me to look for a solution since many different paths for that search open up when you look form a top view. |
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| Make solution practical... |
| Theoretical solutions have to be made practical. That is the chance of embracing cross-discipline collaboration and combining theoretical with practical engineering skills. I seek advice when I need it and am not afraid of deviating a bit from the theoretial solution if that is what it takes to make it practical. |
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| Communicate results... |
| I spend a lot of time communicating results, since it is important to seed an idea in various parts of the company. That requires tailoring a presentation to a new audience each time. The questions to answer for myself for each presentation are: Who is in the audience? What is their interest? What do they know already about the idea? What language and media do I use to communicate findings? Since I am very fond of learning languages, I think speaking a bit of Japanese helps. |
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| Any questions? Please contact me. |
