SOSE students intern in Japanese graduate university

Six students from the School of Science and Engineering participated in the Nara Institute of Science and Technology Project for Interns (NAPI) 2024 in Nara, Japan from January 14-31, 2024.

The students were assigned to different laboratories where they worked on related research projects with a final presentation on the final day of the internship.

Christell Doria (BS AMF 2024) was assigned to the Computational Behavioral Neuroscience laboratory where she worked on neurodivergence in relation to gaming behaviors in “Exploring the Link Between ADHD and Flappy Bird Gaming Performance via Eye-Tracking Metrics” using the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) scores tested using ANOVA and regression analyses.

Kendra Go (BS CS 2023, 5 MS CS) worked in the Robot Learning laboratory, focusing on “Enhancing Robotic Manipulation through Imitation Learning” where she developed and implemented imitation learning algorithms which enable image-based robotic manipulators to autonomously perform object pickup tasks in IsaacSim, a robotics simulation software.

Richell Isaiah Flores (BS AMDSc 2023, M DSc 2024) and Jimson Paulo Layacan (BS MA 2023, BS CS 2024) were placed in the Social Computing laboratory. Flores, in collaboration with Gamar Azuaje, a NAIST doctoral student, presented “Towards a creation of a JLPT Sentence Generator”, a large-language model-based graded sentence generator geared for a more targeted Japanese language learning in preparing for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT).

Layacan researched on an “XLMR-GPT hybrid approach to Social Media Adverse Drug Event Detection,” a two-step approach for detecting adverse drug events (ADEs) from user-generated content on social media, first classifying tweets as ADE or nonADE, and then using GPT to predict specific symptoms in the identified ADE tweets.

Theresa Denise Magsajo (BS AMDSc 2023, M DSc 2024) and Mark Kevin Ong Yiu (BS AMDSc 2023, M DSc 2024) were mentored in the Mathematical Informatics laboratory. Magsajo’s work, “Exploring CEBRA in Image Anomaly Detection,” verified that applying compression algorithms such as CEBRA dimensionality reduction techniques on image data also preserves the representability of the data, especially in terms of whether they contain potential anomalies.

Ong Yiu dug deep into source codes of statistical packages in “Regularization in Dynamic Factor Models” where he explored the effect of using L1 and L2 regularization on the correctness of dynamic factor models (DFMs), measured by its performance in predicting hidden factors as well as nowcasting GDP.

Between laboratory work, they were given a tour to cultural spots in Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. They also met with the vibrant Filipino community in NAIST.

“NAIST was a short but sweet experience, especially for someone who wants to pursue a career in research,” shares Layacan on his NAPI experience. “It gave me a taste of what it's like to be a researcher. The labs, particularly the Social Computing Lab, were excellent. Surrounded by brilliant peers, engaged in regular research discussions, and getting regular feedback from professors and classmates, I’d say it was a great research experience.”

Organized by NAIST, NAPI “continues to strengthen the relationship between the [NAIST and the Ateneo] in terms of research and collaborations.”

Learn more about NAPI: napi-naist.jp/about

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Text and Photos: Richell Isaiah FloresPolaroids by: Dr Eiji Aramaki