The Future Sports Revolution: Pioneering AI Referees through IT Study Abroad in Silicon Valley

California, USA

3rd-year student in the Department of Control and Information Engineering：YAMANE Makoto
Study Abroad Period: August 17, 2024 – September 22, 2024
TOBITATE! Study Abroad Initiative

During this study abroad program, I was based in Monterey, California, USA, and mainly engaged in five activities.

The first activity was visiting Silicon Valley. Here, I visited IT companies such as Google, Apple, and Intel, learning about the latest technologies and company histories. Thanks to a local Japanese supporter whose child attends San Jose State University, I got a campus tour and had the chance to talk with Tetsuhiko Kodama, a Japanese engineer involved in the development of Cocoa and Alexa in Silicon Valley. The campus tour and my conversation with Mr. Kodama were the most inspiring parts of this trip.

Conversation with Mr. Kodama

Tour of San Jose State University

The second activity was attending Seaside High School and Monterey High School. Mainly, I attended Seaside High School for exploratory activities, taking classes in computer science, game design, and robotics taught by Ms. Chen, a former Boeing engineer. She was very knowledgeable and taught well, especially helping me with my object tracking code from scratch. Attending these computer-related classes sparked my interest in game development, app development, cybersecurity, and robotics, leading me to reconsider my future goals. I also visited Monterey High School during Seaside High School’s breaks, where I was amazed by their advanced robotics club supported by companies like Apple.

Ms. Chen, the instructor

The third activity was participating in practice with the rugby team at California State University. Unlike in Japan, the players’ sizes were on a whole different level, and during contact drills, I couldn’t keep up at all. However, many of the faster athletes played American football, so there were fewer fast players in rugby. Everyone was very friendly and even showed me around the California State University campus on our day off.

California State University Rugby Team

The fourth activity was volunteering at Loave and Fishes & Computers. There, I disassembled computers donated by various companies and universities and erased data from their memory modules. I also had an entertaining and insightful conversation with the staff about the idea that “chemistry is business.

The fifth activity was programming learning at Coding for Kids. Using Python and Scratch, I challenged myself to create a block-breaking game. The course was conducted online and lasted about three hours. I hadn’t used Scratch much before and thought it was only for beginners, but I was surprised to learn that even professionals working in Silicon Valley use it for research and development.

Finally, here are my impressions and plans for future activities. Through this study abroad experience, I interacted with various people and developed many new interests. My conversation with Mr. Kodama taught me the importance of networking and how to increase my added value. From now on, I plan to engage in projects such as AI development, game development, and app development, as well as participate in competitions like programming contests to continue growing myself.

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