Interview with Mr. Jiahao Syu—Winner of the Electronics 2023 Travel Award

We wish to congratulate Mr. Jiahao Syu on winning the Electronics 2023 Travel Award Mr. Syu is a Ph.D. student at the National Taiwan University, Taiwan. His research is focused on artificial intelligence, including machine learning and data mining in the fields of energy, healthcare, and finance.

The following is an interview with Mr. Jiahao Syu:

1. Can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a little bit about your fields of interest?
I am currently involved in a project focused on the energy grid of a small factory. The basic concept is related to the power consumption of robots and the conversion of energy to assist with the power charging arrangement or the task arrangement and scheduling. I will consider submitting a new article to an MDPI journal with the latest findings from my Ph.D. research.

2. Which research topics do you think will be of particular interest to the research community in the coming years?
I consider that AI technologies are developing rapidly, and researchers should pay more attention to privacy and security issues. Relative technology like federated learning or school learning has potential for future research in the field of artificial intelligence.

3. Have you had difficulties to overcome in your work? How did you approach those situations?
I consider that the most difficult part of my work is related to data availability and data collection. The limitation in my research work results from concerns related to data privacy and data security at the factory level. Also, the data from websites are not always enough for complex research. Receiving funding is also a problem for my research work, especially because I am a Ph.D. student. Thus, I need to apply for many projects at the same time to support my studies.

4. What qualities do you think young scientists need?
I think that one of the main qualities that a young researcher should have is self-motivation. Junior scientists need to figure out their path and direction at the beginning of their journey. Sometimes they do not receive external guidance for future actions. It is also really important to keep a balance between one’s personal life and work. This is why I applied last year for a student exchange program in Norway. I enjoyed this experience because I could learn from the scientists there and travel at the same time.

5. What’s the secret to a happy scientific life?
In my opinion, the key to a happy scientific life is to have a positive mindset. It is really important to be open-minded to deal with different challenges during one’s research career, even when you have conflicts with other colleagues from the same project. Patience and passion are also important.

6. What is your opinion of the open access model of publishing?
I think that open access is a good opportunity to spread information using online resources when institutions are not willing to pay for subscriptions to access different scientific papers. It can offer more visibility for researchers, as their work is accessible to a wider audience.

7. As the winner of this award, is there anything you would like to express?
I was excited to receive this travel award and used the grant to travel to a conference in the USA. I appreciate MDPI for supporting young researchers in their endeavor to attend international conferences and I encourage other scientists to apply for future awards.

We wish Mr. Jiahao Syu every success in his current work, and we look forward to his future contributions to the journal.