April 12, 2023
My third interview was with Professor Robin Bing-yu Chen, a professor in National Taiwan University’s Information Management Department. Along with his position as a professor, Professor Chen is currently also the Dean of the School of Design and Innovation (D-School) and Director of the Creativity and Entrepreneurship Program, both at NTU as well. He graduated with his bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science and information engineering from NTU and later on completed his PhD in Information Science at The University of Tokyo. After graduating, he joined NTU’s faculty in 2003.
To begin our conversation, I asked Prof. Chen about how he started becoming interested in computer science. Prof. Chen said that he had started studying computer science in 1991 and in high school, he didn’t even know it was a department in the university. Back then, computers and technology weren’t particularly present in everyone’s daily lives and his main interactions with computers were to play games. However, as he was deciding on what major to choose before entering college, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to study and instead, used what he didn’t want to do to narrow down his options. Taiwan’s education system required high schoolers to pick a concentration as well, so Prof. Chen had chosen to study sciences. This meant that his continued studies would have to be within the sciences, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, earth sciences etc. He told me that he wasn’t confident in his physics or chemistry, so he got rid of all the options that would require those. By this point, there weren’t many options, leaving mathematics, information engineering, and information management. After confiding in some upperclassmen, he filled in his form with mathematics and information engineering, ultimately leading to him studying computer science at NTU.
Throughout his studies, Prof. Chen largely stayed at NTU, but for his PhD, he completed it abroad in Japan. I was curious to ask him about his experience as a student abroad and how he felt it was different from his educational experience in Taiwan. Originally, after his master’s, he didn’t plan to study further and was interested in entering industry work. But, before he could work, he would have had to enter mandatory military service in Taiwan (back then it was 2 years of service). Entering the military was something that made him feel nervous and unsure and would lead to breaking up with his girlfriend at the time as well as losing freedom to choose what he wanted to do. This gave him the idea to pursue a PhD since it would allow him to delay his military service, and he was interested in continuing his research from his master’s. Prof. Chen thought about it and consulted his professors, who suggested to him to first finish his military service and broaden his experiences since he had already been at NTU studying for the past 6 years. After hearing this, Prof. Chen decided to enter the military and during his time as a soldier, he began to really consider his options for his future. He could remain in Taiwan for his PhD, study abroad for his PhD, or enter the workforce. While considering, he realized that there wasn’t anything holding him back from seeing more of the world and studying abroad, so he decided to go for it once he finished his service.
When describing the differences between his experience abroad vs. in Taiwan, Prof. Chen emphasized that there are many differences, some good and some bad. On the negative side, communication was difficult sometimes because of the language barrier, especially in Japan since English could only help to a certain degree. Something that was both positive and negative was the independence and responsibilities that he had to take on when leaving to another country, as while in Taiwan, he had lived at home and only needed to focus on his studies and research. Being abroad allowed him to grow, but also gave him more responsibilities to take on. In his experience with research, Prof. Chen explained that his supervising professor in Japan was more strict than his professor in Taiwan, so more was expected from him. Students from both sides differed in their ways of doing things as well as their attitude and thought. All these differences together did influence him as he began growing accustomed to life abroad. As for his plans after graduating, Prof. Chen said he considered both working in Japan and Taiwan, but ultimately returned to Taiwan because of NTU’s job offer coming sooner. It was also an opportunity for him to try out returning to Taiwan, particularly since he had already experienced being abroad for a few years.
Between a job in industry or academic research, Prof. Chen highlighted to me that research allowed him more flexibility and freedom. While in industry work there are limitations, academic research allowed him the option to investigate topics that might not be able to earn anyone money or no one else is interested in. As an academic and researcher, he stated to me that he could live a life that he wanted, allowing him to do things such as this interview.
With the rise of computer science in academia and economy, many view it as a very technical field. However, I was curious how Prof. Chen viewed CS and whether he saw it as a place for creativity as well. In response, he told me that CS wasn’t actually such an extremely technical field as others might suppose. CS, in his view, is something that is very much associated with everyone’s daily lives. Oftentimes, although often associated with engineering, Prof. Chen said CS as a field can be many things, such as centering on computing or information. Even as it is a discipline itself, it is very interdisciplinary. He often tells his students that they shouldn’t limit themselves to just being a programmer. If they do, it would make the value of this study too weak. Instead, it’s important for them to have the knowledge of what the user thinks and what the world needs. To bring more creativity, doing more project-based work will give students more opportunities to collaborate with others from different disciplines to solve problems.
Because of Prof. Chen’s background as director of the entrepreneurship program here at NTU, I wanted to ask him his perspectives on entrepreneurship in CS, especially since many companies grow as startups first. He started by saying that CS is a great field for entrepreneurs, particularly since it’s not like engineering, which needs a certain amount of space and equipment. A person only needs ideas and maybe a computer to start working. But the main point is to see if what you make can solve something, which Prof. Chen feels traditional CS teaching often lacks. How do you investigate the user? Find the pinpoint? How do you solve everyone’s problems? These type of questions are still not asked enough, but Prof. Chen finds that there are many opportunities to create something in CS.
In his own career and research, Prof. Chen shared with me that there are many challenges as well as rewarding aspects. One of the major challenges is just the fact that CS is constantly changing, so what he learned as a student is virtually useless in the present. What he taught before is also vastly different from what he teaches now. This showed him that it’s a constant process of learning. As a professor at NTU for so many years, Prof. Chen said that he’s been lucky to have the chance to teach in the CS department, business school, and design school. Each department’s culture is different, a totally different experience and approach. When he first shifted from teaching in CS to the business school, he felt a little unsure of what to do. Even just the type of keywords people used was different. More recently when moving into the design school, he experienced the same thing. But, he felt like as he was slowly growing accustomed to each place and their language, it allowed him to reap a lot and grow. His advice to younger people is to not be afraid to confront challenges and just try it. After trying, you might see a new world and have a new way of thinking. This might change your approach when you execute something in the future. When you meet a challenge, take it as a chance to learn and keep learning.
Lastly, Prof. Chen shared with me one of the main highlights of his work. He told me that his students and their accomplishments are one of the things he is most proud of. Watching them do research and grow in the process is something he feels happy for and as his students move on to good jobs and good research results, it is fulfilling for him. In the future, he wants to continue having fun in his research and teaching, finding out something interesting with others, both students and teachers.
Talking with Prof. Chen was enlightening and allowed me to learn more about what it is to be an academic and researcher and the challenges and rewards throughout it. It was interesting to hear his opinions, especially now as I start my work as a student researcher in Prof. Chen’s lab. My final interview is with Yuan Yao Su, a product designer and manager with SysJust. I’m excited to share what I learned from someone who works in the industry as a designer, especially since I’m hoping to one day enter industry work as well. Look forward to my very last interview!