​Keizo Ishii (Representative Director of Quint Co., Ltd.), who was invited as a lecturer at the career path seminar “Creating Markets: Software Development in Unexplored Areas” held on October 11, 2019, gave a lecture on mathematics. We asked students and faculty members who majored in

Continuation of (2)​

日本のものづくりに必要な数学研究者

From here, I would like to tell you what I would like to tell you. Currently, CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) software, which is essential for manufacturing in Japan, that is, software that performs numerical analysis using computers, is now used in all kinds of products, including nuclear equipment, automobiles, home appliances, and smartphones. I can't make things without it) -- but there is almost no CAE software made in Japan. The only exception is the electromagnetic field software JMAG, which was produced by my first company, which has the top share in Japan and ranks second in the world. That's it.

In fact, China, South Korea, and European countries are the same as Japan, and the CAE software market is dominated by the United States, France, and some made in Germany.

It would be a big mistake to think that this is just a story about software, and it would certainly be wrong to think about how Japanese manufacturing will be 10 or 20 years from now. As I mentioned at the beginning, there are many Ph.D.s in mathematics and physics at CAE software sites overseas. I was previously involved in a discussion at BMW in Munich. We were discussing collision phenomena, but when questions arose, I always went back to the starting point and started writing basic equations on the whiteboard. It is a sight that cannot be seen in Japan.

Ultimately, it's the basics that matter. Mathematics is especially important in engineering. I would like you to enter the path of physics by all means if you can do mathematics. The reason is that if you can do these two things, you can handle almost anything. It will be a very rare talent in Japan.

For a small country like Japan to compete with the rest of the world, it definitely needs people who have studied mathematics.

This is the cry of my heart, so please listen seriously. Without the cooperation of people in mathematics and physics, Japan would become a vassal state of the United States without further growth and development.

ウィーンの夜、思いがけない方から…

It would be boring if it was all about serious stories, so I will introduce some interesting episodes.

It happened in 2002 when I attended the International Conference on Computational Mechanics (WCCM5) in Vienna. After a week of meetings, I had a full day before the flight I booked to go home. I looked around.

夜9時にウィーンに帰ってくると、インペリアルホテルに日の丸が飾ってある。「誰か来るのかな」と思っていたら、そのうち白バイに先導されたベンツのリムジンが3台止まり、真ん中のベンツから当時の天皇陛下、今の上皇陛下が出てこられました。そのとき近くにいた私に、陛下が寄ってこられて「日本の方ですか？」と聞かれたので「そうでございます」と最敬礼でお答えしました。

「ウィーンには何をしに来られましたか？」

「計算力学の国際会議に出席するために参りました」。

「計算力学ってなんですか？」

「……」

I was at a loss for an explanation because it was so sudden, but His Majesty said, "Thank you for your hard work." It's a memory.

「社長に内緒で」秘書の決断に奮起

The world is riskier than you can imagine, and there are always challenges. I have a stupid personality, so I founded the company in 1985, and four years later, in 1989, the debt I made exceeded the order of 100 million.

The interest rate at that time was 9.25%. I have borrowed more than 100 million yen, collected the little money I have every month and returned 1 million yen to the bank, but the principal has not decreased by even 1 yen. I thought it was finally over.

At that time, the secretary, who is also a founding member of the company, brought a piece of paper and said, "I secretly signed up for the president's life insurance policy." Even if you return 1 million yen to the bank, it will only be interest payment, so you paid 250,000 yen a month and bought a 200 million yen life insurance policy.

「これがあれば社長に何かあっても社員に退職金を払えるし、大きな借金も全額返せます。だから雑念を捨てて、目標に向かって一心不乱でやってください」とハッパをかけられました。

これを聞いて正直カチンときましたが、すぐに自分が恥ずかしくなりました。秘書である彼女がこんなに心配して大胆な決断をしたのに自分は一体何をやっているんだと。そこから自分のソフトがどうやったら利用者に「良かった」と思われるのか、そこだけに集中して（死ぬ思いで）働き、5年間かけて借金を全額返済することが出来ました。まさに奇跡が起こりました。（本当は菊池先生の多大な協力がありました。）

この一連の経験から、神様は全ての人に試練を与えるけれど、己を反省して真摯に向き合い信念を貫けば必ず手を差し伸べてくださる、人への感謝の気持ちを持ち続けることが周りの人の心をも豊かにするということを学びました。きっかけを与えてくれた秘書に心から感謝しています（彼女は現在専務取締役で、経営を担っています）。

「礼」を尽くして未来の稲穂に

The final message I would like to convey to all of you is to "be courteous to others" at all times. When you are doing mathematics, there may be times when you think, ``That guy is a bit slow to learn,'' but he always has his strengths and strengths that are different from yours. Remember to be respectful to your partner.

それと2019年にノーベル化学賞を受賞された吉野章先生も同じことをおっしゃっていましたが、「実るほど頭を垂れる稲穂かな」。この言葉の意味を正しく理解して、世のため人のために胸を張って仕事をしてください。数学、絶対に役に立ちますから。

Since the activities of the world are carried out between people, if everyone does their best, Japan will become brighter and better. We hope that you will challenge the world with your own strength. Thank you very much.

質問タイム

After Mr. Ishii's lecture, the students actively asked questions. I will introduce an excerpt.

やったことがない分野には「やってみます」

――Please give me some advice on how to spend my graduate school days.

Ishii: I always think that since you are all paying tuition to study at a graduate school, please do your research thoroughly, especially if you are a doctoral student.

For example, I think there is a way to pick and eat a variety of books when reading specialized books, but after all, the experience of reading a book with a proper understanding from beginning to end is what makes a person a member of society. Therefore, the first step is to thoroughly pursue your own research theme.

If you can do that, you won't mind even if you go out into the world and say, "He only knows that." Research fields are constantly increasing with each era, so there is no one who knows all of them.

When you enter a company and are given a completely unknown theme, you can say, "I have never tried it, but I will try it." Even if you fail, your life will not be taken. If you fear failure, you will become small and you will not be able to take on challenges.

ソフトウェア作りはほぼ一週間で脱・初心者

――Even if you have knowledge of mathematics, you can't use software right away. The image is that someone with knowledge of software and someone with knowledge of mathematics work together to solve problems. I was listening to you.

Ishii: There are times when you say that, and if mathematics is allergic to software, I would like you to take on a challenge, even if it is just a little. Actually, if you study software for about a week, anyone can make it right away.

Even at our company, after training a new employee for a week, he or she has reached the level of a veteran who has already passed three years. It's just that how to make it is different depending on people, and the speed and precision are also different.

もう１つ言えば、ソフトウェアを作り始めた人は大体のめり込みます。最初は苦手意識があってもじきに楽しくなって、「いい加減やめて帰りなさい」と言っても「いや、もうちょっと」となる場合が多いです。

数学の学生にはもっと自信を持ってほしい

――Could you elaborate a little more on the need for mathematicians in manufacturing in engineering and the expectations that mathematics students will be interested in applied applications?

石井: 一般論で言うと、工学系の博士を持っている人でも数学の知識は割と乏しい方が多いです。例えば、機械工学の博士に「この微分方程式を解いてみて」というと、「ソフトを使えばいいんじゃないですか？」と答える。「いや、そうじゃなくてちゃんと自分の頭で分解してみてよ」と言っても、工学系の人にとってはハードルが高い場合があるのです。

ですので、数学の方は、もっと自信を持っていいと思います。ダイバーシティという言葉があるように、いろんなタイプの人が融合したら必ず良いものが出来上がります。「自分は数式展開ができればそれで満足だ」と思われる人もいるかもしれませんが、数学を修めたら企業でもできることがいっぱいある。チャレンジ精神があれば、どんなことでもできると思います。

We don't currently have any mathematics experts, but I really want them to be honest. I want one, but I can't seem to find it.

原理原則に戻って考えるニッチの優位性

――What exactly is the “niche part” that you consider to be your strength?

Ishii: The field of CAE is endlessly wide, and we only cover a small portion of structural optimization. I don't want to lose to other companies there. We used to lead image-based CAE, but now it's a difficult situation with several companies from around the world entering the market...but it's still a niche.

In the manufacturing industry in general, there are many things that must be done, such as machine design, flow phenomena, heat, electromagnetic fields, and physical phenomena. Among them, we are proposing "lightening the mass" and "lightening the shape will improve the vibration characteristics". We are proud to say that our greatest strength is that we should return to our principles and think about them.

I am aware that this is a very narrow field, but I feel like I should try to compete in that field first, and once I can maintain a certain degree of superiority, I will try to challenge myself in another field.

-- I've never seen industrial software before, so I'm a little confused.

Ishii: For example, the software you study at university has limited boundary conditions, but industrial software requires consideration of all sorts of things, which is really tough. Boundary conditions are familiar to those who do mathematics, but real boundary conditions cannot be used unless the actual operation is simulated.

We sell the product as a standalone module, not rented out like a library. Of course, there is always competition with other companies, so it's tough, but if you do your best, you can manage somehow. The best reward is when a customer says "thank you".

何のため？誰のために？を問う日本のものづくり

――Hearing you talk, I got the impression that you are particular about Japan and Japanese manufacturing.

石井: こだわる理由を問われたら、私は日本人だからです。それから最近顕著になっている日本企業の成果主義に非常に危機感を覚えています。あるときテレビで赤字を出した大企業の社長が、海外の空港でインタビューされ、「社員が働かないから赤字になるんだ」と言っている姿を見てものすごく腹が立ちました。

I thought it would be different. At least it wasn't like that in Japan when I was growing up. I helped people around me more, and I was helped by others, and working is not just about making a lot of money. I want to take my company's technology to a higher level, and seeing the faces of people who actually use this software makes me want to do more.

I feel like that kind of thing has faded a lot lately, so I chose to use hiragana for the company name, and I want to reconfirm the many good things about Japan. In the world of mathematics, there were great teachers like Kunihiko Kodaira and Sadaharu Takagi. If I knew how hard they worked for Japan, I would like to do my best not to be ashamed of it. That is my personal obsession with Japan.