From Sri Lanka
- Name
MANAWADU, Udara Eshan - Country/ Region of Citizenship
Sri Lanka - Graduated from
University of Moratuwa (Sri Lanka) - Department
Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering（Master’s）
Japanese Government(MEXT) Scholarship (University Recommendation) Honor
Did you have any worries before coming to Japan?
I’ve visited Japan two years ago and stayed for two months with my cousin during my vacation. I really love this country. I have visited many places in my previous stay: Hiroshima, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Yokohama, Nikko, everywhere! I was bit worried about my Japanese language ability at that time, so after returning back to Sri Lanka, I studied Japanese’. It was quite helpful for my current stay here in Japan, and now I’m confident with my ability to do things. As for Japanese foods, I have no problem, I like them.
Why did you know about WASEDA?
The graduation time in Sri Lankan universities is not fixed, it varies, which is different from other countries. I graduated in March 2013, so I did not have enough time to apply for universities where I could enroll in the same year. One of my professors in Sri Lanka recommended Waseda University to me because, although it is a private university, it is known to be prestigious and excellent in Japan. Everybody around me was looking for national universities, but I went through the Waseda website and found this nice program with a scholarship. I was excited! The process went smoothly and all of the staff members at the Waseda admissions office were kind and friendly. Yes, I need to mention in my interview that I really appreciate all of the things that they have done for me.
Actually, I have studied mechanical engineering in my country, especially in Robotics and Automotive. Japan is very famous among these two industries, there are many interesting researches. This was why I have wanted to study these fields in Japan since many years ago.
How is your life in Japan and WASEDA? What are you doing on your free time?
I really enjoy life in Waseda. Every day is a new experience for me. I make many friends. I think I currently have friends from five continents in the world! I am very happy to meet so many people and get to know each other in places such as the Japanese classes at CJL (Center for Japanese Education, Waseda university) or during the orientation period. At the orientations I was able to meet many undergraduate students, too. There is still the difficulty of language barrier, but apart from that, everything is O.K. for me. Yes, I quite enjoy my life in Japan.I belong to the Sri Lanka Students Association in Japan, and we have a music band. We get together and practice on weekends. We have many events every year. And I also like to travel around Tokyo.
About your research and laboratory; the relationship with your supervisor, with members at labs.
Professor Sugano; he is very helpful, and gives me appropriate advise. Assistant professor always assists me when I have problems. Both of them speak English fluently so, there is no problem in our communication. Even when I ask them in Japanese, they reply to me in English. Recently I was involved in a project related to Autonomous cars, which I was interested in. Professors gave me flexibility to choose the group. Then I decided to join the group which focused on Autonomous cars, and I studied there for 3-4 weeks. It was a good experience.
We have quite an international atmosphere in the lab; students and researchers come from many different countries such as Austria, Mexico, Nepal, China and Malaysia.
What is your career goal after your degree completion?
Right now, I opt to go up to PhD program because I am very impressed by this research field, Autonomous cars. In the near future, Japan and many other countries will produce Autonomous. Therefore I am very interested in pursuing a career in this field.
I think I should stay in Japan to continue my research for some years, but after that, I will go back to my country.
Short message to the prospective students.
in English
Hello Everyone! I’m a Masters student at Sugano Laboratory.
Waseda University has provided me a nice atmosphere to learn, research and also to make new friends. Here we have students from many countries around the globe, offering a truly international university experience. I am proud to be a part of this prestigious university. Waseda University will be an excellent choice for you too.
in Sinhala
ආයුබෝවන්!මම “වසෙදා” විශ්වද්යාලයේ මහාචාර්ය සුගනෝ යටතේ දැනට ඉගෙනුම ලබනවා. පර්යේෂණ කිරීමටත්, ඉගෙනීමටත් වගේම අලුත් මිතුරු මිතුරියන් හඳුනාගැනීමටත් මෙම විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය ඉතා හොඳ වටපිටාවක් සපයනවා. ලෝකයේ බොහෝ රටවලින් පැමිණ මෙහි අධ්‍යාපනය ලබන සිසු සිසුවියන් රැසක් සිටින නිසා සැබවින්ම ජාත්‍යන්තර විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයක අත්දැකීමක් ලැබෙනවා. ජපානයේ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ ඉතිහාසයක් හිමි කීර්තිමත් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයක් වන “වසෙදා” හි අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබීම මා ලැබූ ගෞරවයක් ලෙස සලකනවා. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඔබටත් මේ අත්දැකීම ලබාගන්නට ආරාධනා කරනවා!
