Le
ctures at GSEP are provided not only by GSEP faculty but also faculty of other departments. This article features Prof. Todd Tilma, who teaches Physics to GSEP students in his unique way.
*What do you think about GSEP?
I strongly support and believe in the work that the faculty, staff, and students of the Global Scientist and Engineering Program (GSEP) are engaged in. Science and Engineering are the new “lingua franca” of this century. Furthermore, all the professors, the researchers, the graduate students, your (future) seniors, even the GSEP staff understand the importance of globalization and the possibilities for a better world that it can bring to everyone. They work very hard to be successful in our inter-connected world, and the skills that they impart have paid off, time and time again, for each and every one of their juniors and students. You wouldn’t be wanting to join this program if it wasn’t for their hard work in communicating their ideas and beliefs across the world.
*Your role in GSEP program (About your teaching /subject)
I teach first-year physics; a required course for all incoming students to Tokyo Tech. My class is multilingual – English, Japanese, and MatLab. I have done this so that all students at Tokyo Tech can take my course. I believe that learning is about going beyond our “comfort zones” – linguistically or otherwise – and embracing new modes of thinking. If you want to be successful in this century, you must be able to communicate what you do in many languages and in multiple ways. I don’t expect my students to be fluent in Japanese, English, or maths for that matter; I do expect them to be able to do physics, and to communicate their results in a way that reaches the largest number of people. As such, my role is to make sure that every year my students are challenged to embrace a new language/culture/way of looking at the world.
*Your research
I am a mathematical physicist by trade. As my lab’s introduction states, “this is where 20th century physics meets 21st century visualization.” In collaboration with groups in Japan and in the United Kingdom, I use the phase space formalism of quantum mechanics to generate visualizable solutions to problems in quantum information theory. This includes developing computationally efficient representations of Lie groups, visualizations of entanglement in various collections of spin coherent states, as well as creating large-scale simulations of multi-qudit systems. All of my projects reflect my lab’s philosophy: “One picture is worth a thousand words – or at least a few complicated equations.”
*Your vision in your career
I have had a varied and vibrant career since graduating; at one time or another I’ve been a teacher, a researcher, a consultant, and a writer. I’ve even helped in the development of a start-up company or two. Having been a dual-tracked graduate student (physics and Japanese studies) my vision for my career is bifurcated (二又): There is more than one path that you can follow, the challenge is having the courage to do so, whatever age you are at.