Akira Kawaguchi

Akira Kawaguchi is a professor of Computer Science and a director of Master's program in Information Systems (MIS). He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Administration Engineering from Keio University in Yokohama Japan, and M.S., M.Phil, and Ph.D degrees in Computer Science from Columbia University. Prior to his academic career, Professor Kawaguchi worked for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd as an assistant manager in its Tokyo presidential office. He then acquired Mitsubishi's two-year fellowship for his graduate studies in the U.S. He left Japan with one-way ticket, devoted to the forefront of database research, and developed lifelong collaborations with researchers in Columbia, Bell Labs, IBM Research, and various Japanese industries. Since September 1997, he has been a faculty member of the Department of Computer Science at the City College of New York and the CUNY Graduate Center. Professor Kawaguchi has been recognized as one of a small and invaluable class of scholars with the ability to build an intellectual bridge between the U.S. and Far East countries.

Professor Kawaguchi's primary research interests center around the area of database and transaction processing systems. He has currently one full time PhD student  and is looking for another PhD student with outstanding math background, wishing to develop 'next generation' software systems together. Public Website

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Columbia University, New York, NY.
• M.S. in Computer Science, Columbia University.
• M.S. in Administration Engineering, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan.
• B.S. in Administration Engineering, Keio University.

Information Architectures: System Analysis & Design, Object-Oriented Design & Software Engineering, Introduction to Software Engineering. Database and Transaction Processing systems: Advanced Database Systems, Database Systems, Database Management, Introduction to Database Systems. Programming Principles: Advanced C++ Programming, Internet Programming, Software Design Laboratories, Introduction to Computing.

Professor Kawaguchi's recent achievements are roughly grouped into the following four categories, all of which involve demonstrative implementations:

• Data-warehouse and Decision Support: emphases on data quality investigation and enhancement of decision support. Involved in interdisciplinary research work with civil engineering, biomedical engineering, and biology for the development of specialized data-warehouses. The most recent work spans into mathematical characterizations of database errors and the effect of error propagation in decision support as well as integration of operations research tools into decision making.
• Information Retrieval: examines a real-time measure of bias in Web search engines. The measure introduced in this research is designed to capture the degree to which the distribution of URLs, retrieved in response to a query, deviates from an ideal or fair distribution for that query. The bias concept and computation method have become a core part of a NASA funded project in 2004 to develop a system designed to improve aerospace safety by accurately identifying human factors contributing to mishaps.
• Navigation Control Systems: aims to establish a proactive means to prevent marine accidents by using the full potential of the standardized GPS-based Automatic Identification System. The system envisioned will provide adequate decision-making support for group shipping, especially during critical maneuvering in restricted areas such as channel passing and harbor approaches.
• Wireless Biometric Application Development: gathers a detailed account of the methodology and technical issues needed to realize a wireless-capable diabetes information management system for practical use. Focus centers around the implementation techniques and key issues for PDA data management such as an approach for wireless biometric data management to meet today's security challenges and comply with HIPAA regulations and service-level management.

• M. Lee, A. Mondal, C. Small, I. Paddibhatla, A. Kawaguchi, and S. Govind, A Database for the Analysis of Immunity Genes in Drosophila: PADMA Database, Fly, Landes Bioscience Journal, Volume 5, Issue 2, pp. 155-161, April/May/June 2011.
• R. Shoji, T. Furuya, A. Kawaguchi, and M. Inaishi, Ship Dominance Region in Route, Japan Institute of Navigation, Vol. 123, pp. 7-12, October 2010.
• A. Agrawal, A. Kawaguchi, and Z. Chen, Deterioration Rates of Typical Bridge Elements in New York, Journal of Bridge Engineering, Volume 15, Issue 4, pp. 419-429, July/August 2010, doi:10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0000123.
• M. Inaishi, H. Kondo, and A. Kawaguchi, Impact of Route Dimensions on Ship Agent Group Navigation, In Japan Institute of Navigation, Vol. 121, pp. 49-54, October 2009.
• A. Kawaguchi, M. Inaishi, H. Kondo, and M. Kondo, Towards the Development of Intelligent Navigation Support Systems for Group Shipping and Global Marine Traffic Control, IET Intelligent Transport Systems (invited), Volume 3, Issue 3, September 2009, pp.257-267; doi:10.1049/iet-its.2008.0080. Preliminary version appeared as Towards the Development of Intelligent Navigation Support Systems for Group Shipping and Global Marine Traffic Control, In the 10th International Conference on Applications of Advanced Technologies in Transportation (AATT2008), Athene, Greece, May 2008.