留学生達の思い/ Mr. Faurdoir from Burundi

Ndimumahoro Faurdoir is a doctoral student from Burundi in the department of Computer and Network Engineering. He works on Cell-Free Massive Multiple Inputs and Multiple Outputs (CF-mMIMO) in the lab led by Dr. Koji Ishibashi. He is a MEXT Japanese-Government-Scholarship student in the framework of the MICH/AiQuSci Special Program at UEC.

 

  I was born and raised in Burundi. The school was always the center of my education from a young age despite the war condition that prevailed in my country at that time. The sad memory kept from that hard time is that, before I finish the first year of primary school, I was obliged to flee my native city to the capital city where I spent almost the rest of my childhood with my father far from my siblings.

  Late admitted student, and devasted by the situation, I faced some difficulties to recover my potential and abilities as all other pupils. With the help of my teachers at that time, the year after marked a new beginning of my educational journey. The school became my second home. Every class represented a joyful time especially the ones in Physics, Mathematics, and Biology. Those were my most preferred subjects.

  Full of passion for electrical-electronics and radio communication, after high school, I joined the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) department in the Faculty of Engineering Sciences at the National University of Burundi where I graduated as a Telecommunication Engineer. While at the University, I was supported and mentored by three lecturers who had recently graduated from Moroccan, French, and Russian Universities.

  In a country with a high rate of unemployment, I have been among those lucky ones as I was enrolled as Network Engineer a few days after graduation. Full of ambition, the period of professional life has exposed me to different challenges that helped me to mature my social and technical skills. Perhaps, it brought in me the eagerness to contribute to the advancement and knowledge of tomorrow.

  After nearly two years of experience as a Telecom engineer, I decided to pursue higher education, therefore I applied for a master’s degree at Moscow Technical University of Communication and informatics. In 2019, I was admitted for a master’s program which was scheduled for 3 years. In the first year, I did an induction preparatory course devoted to learning the Russian language at Moscow State Technical University “STANKIN”. Russia opened up new doors/opportunities and helped me to understand and contextualize different cultural aspects and societies’ behavior. 

  While finishing the last semester of my master’s degree, an opportunity to pursue a Ph.D. degree appeared. With all the consideration I have had since my childhood, matured by the quality of the various publications consulted during the master thesis compilation, I thought it was time to live in Japan for quality research but also a live experience of the country.

  Now I have been here for already almost three months. Since my first day in Japan, I was positively impacted by my “sensei” the supervisor’s simplicity and humbleness, my labmates’ hospitality in particular, and more general by Japanese people. Now the lights are green, a new chapter has started. With this positive impact and the appropriate environmental research that Japan offers, it is with big hope and expectation that I start this journey with the goal to strengthen scientific research, both in the academic and industrial fields.