In our recent lunch meeting held last Nov. 8, 2016, we were fortunate to listen to a special talk from a successful professor and researcher, Prof. Roderick Smith of Imperial College London. Prof. Smith is a long-time proponent of high-speed rail in the UK. He is currently in Japan for university-related matters when he kindly granted us his time to talk about his background in research.
He talked not just about his life as a researcher but his personal life as well. The setting was casual enough that we could crack about other topics such as hobbies, football, and books! Not only the students but the staff who joined the lunch meeting were inspired by his charm and outlook on research.
He emphasized that it is always good to diversify our knowledge after focusing to one specific subject. The society needs engineers who can solve the global issues, hence those who have multidisciplinary skills will be able to contribute more.
Below are photos taken during the meeting:
Background of Prof. Roderick Smith:
Professor Roderick Smith, ScD, FREng., is currently Royal Academy of Engineering Network Rail Research Professor of Railway Engineering, Imperial College and Chair of the Future Railway Research Centre. He is an Honorary Visiting Professor at Central Queensland University, Australia, and of the Academy of Railway Science of China and York and City universities in the UK. Formerly, he was Chief Scientific Advisor Department for Transport, and the President Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the UK. (for more detail click this).
Written by Alvin CG Varquez and Farid Triawan