FET Alumnus Shares Academic and Career Journey from MMU to Japan

The Faculty of Engineering and Technology (FET) Alumni Committee hosted an engaging sharing session in July 2025, featuring Mr. Tan Chi Jie, an alumnus of the Robotics and Automation (RE) programme. Held in a hybrid format, the session welcomed around 18 online participants, with the rest attending in person.

Mr. Tan graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Robotics and Automation from MMU in 2020, achieving an impressive CCPA of 3.96. He later pursued a Master of Computer Science and Systems Engineering in Creative Informatics at the Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan, graduating in 2023 with a CGPA of 3.86. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the same institution.

During the session, Mr. Tan shared memorable experiences from his time at MMU, including his roles as Secretary of the Japanese Language Society and Head of Publicity for the Japanese Cultural Festival. He highlighted the importance of learning Japanese—a journey he began just six months before moving to Japan—which greatly enhanced his cultural integration and experience abroad.

He also discussed the technical skills he gained at MMU, such as PCB design, Arduino programming, ROS, AutoCAD, and 3D design, which laid a strong foundation for his academic and professional development.

Before venturing into research, Mr. Tan worked as a Product and Test Engineer at Texas Instruments Malaysia. He is now conducting Ph.D. research on 3D Semantic Mapping using an RGB-D camera and a 16-channel LIDAR sensor in a beach environment. Mr. Tan also introduced the Kyushu Institute of Technology, shared insights on the MEXT Scholarship, and explained the application procedures. The session concluded with an interactive Q&A, where Mr. Tan offered valuable tips and advice to students aspiring to pursue postgraduate studies abroad.