Namiko SAITO -Robotics & AI

Research Associate, in School of Informatics, the University of Edinburgh and Alan Turing Institute, the U.K.

Working in the Statistical Machine Learning and Motor Control Group (SLMC) in the Institute of Perception, Action & Behaviour (IPAB)


Visiting Researcher, in Future Robotics Organization, Waseda University, Japan.

Shigeki Sugano lab & Tetsuya Ogata lab


Email: namiko.saito[at]ed.ac.uk 

Email2: n_saito[at]sugano.mech.waseda.ac.jp

Google scholar: Link 

LinkedIn: Link 

Researchgate: Link 

Facebook: Link 

Career

(April 2023 - June 2024)

Research Associate in the University of Edinburgh,

Affiliated to the Alan Turing Institute

Supervised by Prof. Sethu Vijayakumar

(April 2023 - March 2024)

Visiting Researcher in Furure Robotics Organization, Waseda University

次世代ロボット研究機構 客員次席研究員

Supervised by Prof. Shigeki Sugano

October 2022 - March 2023

Postdoctoral Researcher in Waseda University,

Supervised by Prof. Shigeki Sugano

October 2022 - March 2023

Visiting Researcher in National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

産業技術総合研究所 外来研究員

April 2022 - September 2022

Visiting Research Fellow in the University of Edinburgh

Supervised by Prof. Sethu Vijayakumar

September 2021 - March 2022

Internship in SONY AI, gastronomy team

April 2020 - March 2022

Teacher Assistant in Waseda University

(in some mechanical engineering and informatics classes)


April 2019 - July 2019

Visiting Researcher, Italian Institute of Technology

Supervised by Prof. Giorgio Metta Visiting report URL 

August 2018 - September 2018

Internship in Hitachi, Ltd.

April 2015 - March 2018

Teacher in Science Club Co., Ltd. サイエンス倶楽部

(Teach science and robotics to elementary/ junior high/ high school students)

Education 

April 2020 - September 2022

Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering, Waseda University

Supervised by Prof. Shigeki Sugano and Prof. Tetsuya Ogata


April 2018 - March 2020

M.Sc in Mechanical Engineering, Waseda University

Supervised by Prof. Shigeki Sugano and Prof. Tetsuya Ogata


April 2018 - September 2022

Graduate Program for Embodiment Informatics, Waseda University Program for Leading Graduate Schools

Advised by Prof. Sethu Vijayakumar, The University of Edinburgh


April 2014 - March 2018

B.Sc in Mechanical Engineering, Waseda University

Supervised by Prof. Shigeki Sugano and Prof. Tetsuya Ogata


April 2011 - March 2014

Toshimagaoka girl's high school 豊島岡女子学園高等学校

Research Topic

Tool-use by Robots

The aim is to make robots acquire tool-object-action relationships. I construct multi-modal deep learning models which allow robots to recognize intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics of target objects with their cameras, tactile sensors and force sensors. Then the robots select proper tools even if they are untrained and operate the target objects automatically.


Housework Tasks

I am interested in online motion generation with real robots. So far, I realized robots to pour liquids, wipe objects, transfer ingredients, cut pizza, cook scrambled eggs and so on.


- Keywords: Multimodal learning, Representation learning, Recurrent neural networks, Imitation learning, Learning from demonstration, Active perception, Tactile sensor, Force sensor, Robot vision


Honors and Awards

Jully 2023

 Frontiers of Science Awards (USD25,000) in The first International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS)  , Link 

May 2022

  Travel Award in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2022

March 2022

Student Research Award in the  84th  National  Convention  of  Information Processing Society of Japan, 2022

June 2021

BEST Paper Award of Cognitive Robotics in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2021 [[video]]

March 2020

Azusa Ono Memorial Award in Waseda University

March 2020

Student Research Award in the  82nd  National  Convention  of  Information Processing Society of Japan, 2020

July 2019

Selected as Google’s Women Techmakers 2019 scholar

September 2015

Top 8 prize in ABU Asia-Pacific robot contest 2015

June 2015

First prize in NHK students ROBOCON 2015 (One of the largest robot contests in Japan)


Scholarship & Fellowship

April 2022 - Mar 2023

Early bird program in Waseda University


September 2022 - Mar 2023

Research Fellowship for Young Scientists PD, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science（JSPS）日本学術振興会特別研究員PD


April 2020 - September 2022

Research Fellowship for Young Scientists DC1, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science（JSPS）日本学術振興会特別研究員DC1 


April 2020 - September 2022

  DC採用者支援奨学金, Waseda University

April 2018 - March 2021

Graduate Program for Embodiment Informatics, Waseda University Program for Leading Graduate Schools 文部科学省リーディング大学院 実体情報学博士プログラム


September 2018

Scholarships for young doctoral students, Waseda University 


July 2018

Azusa Ono Memorial Scholarship, Waseda University


April 2016 - March 2017

Nittetsu Mining Scholarship 日鉄鉱業奨学会奨学金

July 2015

Azusa Ono Memorial Scholarship, Waseda University

Research Fund

April 2024 - March 2029

  Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science（JSPS）科研費若手研究: 1100K JPY in 2024 and 600K JPY in 2025~2028.


September 2023 - August 2025

Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up (Start-up KAKENHI), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science（JSPS）研究活動スタート支援: 1430K JPY each year


April 2022 - March 2023

Early bird program in Waseda University: 800K JPY


April 2020 - March 2022

Research Fellowship for Young Scientists DC1&PD, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science（JSPS）日本学術振興会特別研究員DC1&PD: 1200K, 1100K, 1000K JPY each year

Technical Skills

Python, C, C++,PyTorch, ROS

Robot control, Deep learning, Object recognition

Electronics, Machine Designing, CAD

Japanese(native), English(moderate, TOEIC 875, 英検準一級)

Others

Volunteer

Research organization

Review