Oxford University Graduate Aims for Societally Impactful Research: 'I want to do research that makes more sense to society.'

Hello! This time, We’ve got a chance to interview Saad, an Oxford University graduate who joined Pretia after completing his internship.

Saad Rana
Studied Engineering Science at Oxford University. After interning at Pretia in 2021, he has joined the R&D team and is currently working on improving the UX of the Pretia AR cloud platform as an engineer.

After an unforgettable college experience, I stumbled upon an internship at Pretia.

What did you study at Oxford University?

ー I studied Engineering Science for four years. The school's curriculum was a little different, and in the first two years, I studied all areas of engineering, including things unrelated to my current work as an engineer, such as designing bridges and studying car engines. Anyway, it was an unforgettable four years (laughs).

I see that you studied a wide range of fields during your school years! How did you hear about Pretia?

ー I had many options for what career to pursue after completing my degree, but I was vaguely thinking about working in the field of computer vision*, and I happened to find information about Pretia on the university's career board. At the time, I was thinking of finding a job in Europe and had no idea that I would be working in Japan. That is, I was even vague about where Japan was, so much so that I had to look it up on Google (laughs). I asked my Chinese friends about the unique Japanese work ethic and culture, and since I had no particular concerns, I decided to try an internship anyway. In fact, I was thinking of quitting right away if there were any negative factors, but after four months of experience, I found nothing like that, and in fact, I found the company culture to be really wonderful. I am really glad I chose this company.

*Technology that incorporates image information into a computer, processes it, and retrieves the necessary image information.

I really enjoy working as an engineer who can make a big impact on society.

What are you doing now at Pretia?

ー Right now, I'm working on research and development to improve the user experience. Specifically, I am researching how to debug issues in mapping and relocalization. For example, when an error occurs in a scanner app, we are able to accurately and easily share the situation and the error so that the Pretia support team can help the user and understand what is going on.

At this point, I am working a bit away from R&D, but I plan to return to R&D once the user experience improvement work has been systematized. Specifically, I plan to focus on image segmentation and other areas, but I am very excited about the future of Pretia. I think it is very exciting to be involved in these projects as an engineer at such a young age.

I can see that you are enjoying your work as an engineer! What do you think is the attraction of an engineer's job in the first place?

ー I found it fascinating that even a single person could do something that would have a great impact on society and decided to become an engineer. I have actually really enjoyed being an engineer. If you are going to work from 9:00 to 17:00 every day, you might as well do something that you enjoy.

What have been some of the challenges in your work?

ー I had never used the Unity's language before I joined Pretia, but there are many projects using Unity in my work, so that is a tough job. I think it is a very tough job because you have to learn a lot in a very short period of time in order to meet a deadline. However, I also think that you should take time to learn while you are young, and the senior engineers at Pretia help me kindly, so I am able to improve my skills while having fun, even though it is hard work. I think I will be able to use Unity more comfortably in the near future.

It is wonderful to be able to work with ambition in an environment where you can take on challenges. 

What would you like to do or accomplish at Pretia in the future?

ー I would like to play a major role in promoting delivery*, which is my goal for 2023. I have also set this as a goal because of its important role in R&D. And if new engineers join the company in the future, I would like to put more effort into mentoring them. I myself have always been helped by the engineers around me, and I think it is wonderful that I can help others in the same way. I will be on the learning side for a while, but someday I would like to be able to help others.
(*) Process of delivering software to users

What is your impression of the Pretia?

ー The culture is just great. I especially respect the members of the R&D team I work with. I had a mentor when I was an intern, and I appreciate the fact that they are willing to teach me when I have any questions. I have seen scenes where senior engineers mentor junior staff on "something they can't do" and Pretians, members in Pretia, are happy to teach them and are willing to further help them grow if they find something useful for them, which I think is a very important organizational characteristic.
In addition, the field of AR often requires the ability to respond quickly to rapid real-time changes, such as the application of machine learning. Therefore, I believe there is a strong sense of trying to tackle and deal with problems quickly.

It's not research for research's sake. We want to do research to provide value.

While the culture has a spirit of mutual aid, it is also an organization that requires the ability to respond quickly. Specifically, what kind of person do you think would be a good match for Pretia?

ー I think we need a business mindset—a mindset of actually delivering the value we create through research to users. This is because most researchers don't really have the goal of providing value to someone else. Among them, I think people who can identify what is feasible early on through their research are very well suited for this job. I think you should be interested in the actual development of machine learning models, their provision to users, and the process of doing so.

The short answer is that it is crucial to find value in your research and not to do it for research's sake. If you are interested in providing value, the R&D team at Pretia is a great environment, and I think your supervisor will give you enough discretion to investigate your ideas.

In fact, I was so interested in the structure of the motion pipeline that I discussed it with my supervisor, who gave me permission to spend some time investigating it. At that time I just investigated the feasibility of the project, but it was still very exciting to gather data, explain it to others, and come up with new business ideas.

We are very happy to see Saad working at Pretia! Finally, any message for those who are thinking about working at Pretia?

ー If you are foreigners, don't worry about the corporate culture. No problem at all. Secondly, if you want to be part of the R&D team, you need to have a more business mindset, a mindset of delivering value. I think it is important that you are not doing research for research's sake.

Thank you!

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