Ricardo Santos

Whether I was able to conduct my research according to my plan:

While I was at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, I was able to fulfill all the goals in my research plan, while establishing great relationships within my lab. The experimental work I did produced positive outcomes, which included several practical demonstrations and one accepted conference paper that I will later present this year. This was possible due to the proximity and availableness of everyone that I worked with.

Accomplishments and experiences I would never have gotten unless I joined the Summer Program:

Regarding my research, I was able to use experimental wireless equipment related to my research that I don't have access to my home institution. Other than that, I travelled to different places in Japan and contemplated its beauty, often with other Summer Program fellows. My experience with my host family was so good that we have kept in touch since this program and I revisited them while I was still in Japan.

How do I make good use of this experience in my future research:

Most importantly, I will continue to work with my host research lab at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Although most of that work will be done remotely, later this year I will spend 4 weeks in Berlin working with some of the researchers I met in Tokyo. We will perform larger scale experiments with a bigger testbed. With that, I'm positive that we will be able to disseminate our joint work in further publications in the near future.

Message for future participants:

Please enjoy Japan as much as possible. Work is very important, but the fact that you are on the opposite side of the world having this unique life experience should also mean that you should make the best of it. Eat a lot, drink a lot, travel a lot, sing a lot and go on adventures while you’re there!