I completed an IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecture Tour (DLT) to East Asia in early April 2024. Overall, I enjoyed the trip very much, because of the excitement gained from sharing my knowledge with scientists and research students in various universities, the highly insightful ideas obtained during the discussion with the audience, and the unforgettable experience when engaging with the historical and cultural places in the cities that I visited.

Summary of DLT Talks

In this DLT, I delivered five talks, scheduled as follows:

• Talk 1 at Yonsei University, hosted by Prof. Jemin Lee, on 5 April 2024

• Talk 2 at Keio University, hosted by Prof. Tomoaki Ohtsuki, on 9 April 2024

• Talk 3 at Osaka Metropolitan University, hosted by Prof. Hai Lin, on 10 April 2024

• Talk 4 at National Tsing Hua University, hosted by Prof. Yao-Win Peter Hong and Prof. Chia-Han Lee, on 12 April 2024

• Talk 5 at National Taiwan University, hosted by Prof. Hsuan-Jung Su, on 12 April 2024

All of my talks have focused on terahertz communications, a pivotal wireless technology for the 6G and beyond era. In each of my talks, I introduced the role and importance of terahertz communications for the 6G and beyond wireless networks, gave a summary of recent research advances in terahertz communications in terms of performance analysis, spectrum allocation, and hybrid beamforming, and finally discussed pressing challenges for harnessing the benefits of terahertz communications in the next decades. At the end of each talk, I promoted IEEE ComSoc to the audience.

It is impressive to see that each talk attracted 20–40 attendees, including both academic staff members and research students. At the end of each talk, I had insightful discussions with the audience on terahertz technologies and 6G, where some discussions were very inspiring. For example, I discussed the cause and impact of molecular absorption with the audience at Yonsei University, beam split and squint issues with the audience at Osaka Metropolitan University, and signal processing design in photonic-based terahertz systems with the audience at National Tsing Hua University. Such discussions have provided me with several new ideas for my research at the next stage.

Extra Talk Activities

In addition to research talks, I was lucky to have two free Saturdays during this trip.

On the first Saturday, I visited historical palaces in Seoul, such as Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, and Deoksugung, as well as the War Memorial of Korea, which provided me with an insider viewpoint of Korean history.

On the second Saturday, I visited the National Palace Museum in Taipei, where it was unforgettable to see the Jadeite Cabbage in front of my eyes. Also, I spent the evening in New Taipei City and watched a baseball game in the top league in Taiwan, between Fubon Guardians and Rakuten Monkeys. This was my first experience watching a baseball game live, giving me a completely different impression from watching it on the Internet.

In addition, although I have not had any time to do sightseeing in Yokohama and Osaka, I have seen beautiful Sakura (i.e. cherry blossoms in the Japanese language) on the campuses of Keio University and Osaka Metropolitan University, as well as a lot of first-year students who just started their university life there. I sincerely hope some of these students will join IEEE and become rising stars in our field in the near future.

My Views on the DL Program

In reflection, my DLT was not only about academic experience; it was a testament to the power of in-person connection and the great potential of collaboration. Therefore, I highly recommend the DL program to any interested researcher. If you want to become an IEEE ComSoc DL, please apply for it and I am sure it will benefit your research career profoundly! With the efforts of all DLs, we will unlock the potential of our collective knowledge and propel our field toward new horizons.