System Software Team x CTO roundtable pt. 2
“It's good to have teams doing what they love, but they have to justify what they’re doing.”
TIER IV founder Shinpei Kato and the System Software Team talked about the company's approach to development and formal verification of operating systems in the first half of this roundtable. In the second half, the focus switched to what it takes to thrive at a startup revolutionizing autonomous driving technology.
System Software Team leader Yuuki Takano joined TIER IV in April 2022. He also serves as a guest associate professor at Osaka University and is the author of “Zero Kara Manabu Rust (Learning Rust from zero)” (Kodansha, 2022) and “Heiko Programming Nyumon (Introduction to parallel programming)” (O'Reilly Japan, 2021). He gave a tutorial on sel4 at TIER IV’s Computing System Workshop in 2023.
Takahiro Ishikawa joined TIER IV in April 2022. A specialist in operating systems and real-time systems, he’s in charge of lower-layer software related to the real-time performance of Autoware. A doctoral student at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Takahiro gave a presentation titled “Quantification of Resource Conflicts in Autoware” at the Computing Workshop.
Ryuta Kambe joined the System Software Team in 2023 as a new graduate, working on formal verification, OS development, and performance improvement. He gave a presentation titled “Formal Verification of Autoware by UPPAAL” at the Computing Workshop.
The architect of Autoware, the world’s first open-source software for autonomous driving technology, Shinpei Kato has served as a project associate professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Information Science and Technology and an associate professor at Nagoya University’s Graduate School of Information Science.
Shinpei: Many of the team members who hail from Nagoya University have backgrounds in robotics or autonomous driving, and their expertise forged the foundations of Autoware. Following my move to the University of Tokyo, we had an influx of computer science specialists. I was especially happy when Prof. Takano got on board.
Takahiro: If we didn't have someone like Prof. Takano coordinating things, we’d be lost (laughs).
— In terms of recruitment, who would be a good fit for your team?
Yuuki: We welcome people with professional expertise. At TIER IV, even newcomers have the freedom to pursue things they’re passionate about. Individuals who are more inclined to wait for work to come their way might find it challenging. We like meeting candidates who are eager to draw upon their existing knowledge.
For example, Ryuta is working hard on formal verification, which is something that could become a cornerstone of the business in the future. It might seem like an aimless pursuit now, but our aim is to make operating systems and formal verification marketable, so moving forward, we need experts in various fields.
Shinpei: It's good to have teams doing what they love, but they have to justify what they’re doing. I’m happiest when I hear: "What we’re doing is essential here because..." Execute what you believe is necessary and ensure you have the endorsement of the people around you. Simply doing what you love might invite criticism, so the rationale is key.
Takahiro: Of course, technological expertise is also crucial.
Yuuki: Writing skills are important, too. Our team does quite a bit of writing.
Ryuta: That probably applies across the company, rather than just in our team.
Takahiro: Documents comprise a large part of communications in our team, so good writing skills are necessary. In other words, without strong writing skills, work might not progress smoothly.
Shinpei: We speak to candidates across the board, from vocational college students and university undergraduates to graduate students and experienced professionals. Can vocational college students apply to join your team?
Ryuta: Actually, our team already has someone who studied at a vocational college.
Yuuki: One of our student engineers is exceptionally talented. About 10% of the progress made in Autoware is due to him.
Takahiro: We also need people who will take on tasks that others can't complete.
Shinpei: Do student engineers have enough knowledge of operating systems and computer architecture to handle things?
Yuuki: Student engineers don’t necessarily know everything. But Takahiro and Ryuta compile comprehensive documentation. So even if there are things that might not be clear initially, they can learn by reading the documentation and conducting research.
Shinpei: So, it’s not necessary to have a background in all the lower-layer elements of computer science, but you need to be able to work on the system programming experiments we’re doing at TIER IV.
Ryuta: We’d like experts in specific computer science fields, such as security.
Yuuki: Agreed. We’d welcome someone who’s had a paper on cybersecurity published in a journal, for example.
Shinpei: A person who knows security even at the hardware level. Going forward, we should clarify what kind of people we want for lower-layer development at TIER IV.
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Check out our latest tech blog to learn about the system software team's work on task scheduling to meet the real-time constraints of autonomous driving systems.
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TIER IV is always on the lookout for passionate individuals to join our journey. If you share our vision of making autonomous driving accessible to all, get in touch.
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