About

I am an experienced software engineer with a diverse background, ranging from academic research in quantum physics and materials science to the development and management of cutting-edge generative AI products within the industry.

During Ph.D. at the University of Tokyo, I focused on the experimental study of low-temperature physics, specifically superconductivity in ionic-liquid gated 2D materials. After completing my doctorate, I joined RIKEN AIP’s molecular informatics team for a brief postdoctoral period. I later joined Prof. Andrea Young’s group as an Elings Prize Fellow at University of California Santa Barbara, where I studied quantum transport properties in twisted bilayer graphene. My Ph.D. and postdoctoral research made significant contributions to the comprehension of transport properties in various 2D quantum materials, with key findings published as a lead author in multiple high-impact scientific journals including Science and Nature, Nature Physics.

Currently, as CTO at DATAGRID, I play a crucial role in the development and multiple-team management of various generative AI-based SaaS products, such as Anomaly Generator for generating synthetic images, kitemiru for virtual try-on, and drug discovery/chemoinformatics AI service. My diverse background in both natural science and software engineering allows me to effectively navigate the challenges and opportunities in these interdisciplinary fields.

Japanese page is here.

Work Experience

DATAGRID Inc. (Kyoto, Japan)
- Chief Technology Officer (CTO), October 2023 – present
  - Built multiple generative AI-based SaaS products from scratch, overseeing various aspects including development, product design and strategy formulation.
  - Established and managed cross-functional product development teams, including frontend, backend, and ML engineers, to drive the successful development and launch of generative AI-based products.
- Lead Engineer, April 2023 – September 2023
  - Built multiple generative AI-based SaaS products from scratch, overseeing various aspects including development, product design and strategy formulation.
  - Established and managed cross-functional product development teams, including frontend, backend, and ML engineers, to drive the successful development and launch of generative AI-based products.
  - Conducted user interviews and hypothesis testing to ensure product alignment with market needs
  - Implemented ML backend APIs using Pytorch, FastAPI, Luigi, Gokart and Redis, ensuring seamless integration with frontend applications and robust system performance.
- Senior Engineer, October 2021 – March 2023
  - Implemented ML backend APIs using Pytorch, FastAPI, Luigi, Gokart, and Redis on GCP, ensuring robust system performance.
  - Led R&D and product development efforts focusing on materials informatics and chemoinformatics, delivering generative AI-powered solutions.
  - Constructed and optimized machine learning experiment pipelines, leading to more efficient data engineering and model-improvement-cycle.
Elings Prize Fellow at University of California, Santa Barbara (CA, USA)
October 2018 – September 2021
- Experimental research on quantum transport of twisted bilayer graphene.
  - Detailed investigation of twist angle dependece of superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene. Nature Physics 16, 926-930 (2020)
  - Discovery of Chern insulators in magnetic field in twisted bilayer graphene. Nature Physics 17, 478-481 (2021)
  - Discovery of isospin Pomeranchuk effect in twisted bilayer graphehe. Nature 592, 220-224 (2021)
Postdoctoral Researcher at RIKEN (Tokyo, Japan)
April 2018 – September 2018
- Deep-learning-based automated classification of 2D atomic crystals. npj Computational Materials 5, 124 (2019)

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Applied Physics, March 2018
The University of Tokyo, Japan
- Thesis: Study on Electric-Field-Induced 2D Superconductivity
- Advisor: Prof. Yoshihiro Iwasa
- Ph.D thesis based on following papers:
  - “Metallic ground state in an ion-gated two-dimensional superconductor” Science 350, 409-413 (2015).
  - “Superconductivity protected by spin-valley locking in ion-gated MoS2” Nature Physics 12, 144-149 (2016).
  - “Nonreciprocal charge transport in noncentrosymmetric superconductors” Science Advances 3, e1602390 (2017).
  - “Quantum phase transitions in highly crystalline two-dimensional superconductors” Nature Communications 9, 778 (2018).
Master of Engineering, March 2015
The University of Tokyo, Japan
Bachelor of Engineering, March 2013
The University of Tokyo, Japan

Skills

Areas of Expertise

Overall design and team management for developing machine learning (ML) products leveraging generative AI for synthetic data generation in fields such as visual inspection and drug discovery.
Design and implementation of ML backend APIs using FastAPI.
Comprehensive data analysis, data engineering, and feature engineering of ML models.
Experimental ressearch in the field of quantum physics and materials science, including nanofabrication and ultra-low temperature measurements (AFM, e-beam lithography, evaporation, dilution refrigerator).
Effective project management in both Physics and ML domains, ensuring timely delivery and high-quality outcomes.

Technical Proficiencies

Programming Languages: Python (Advanced, 5+ years), C/C++
Backend Frameworks: FastAPI
Hardware Control: LabRAD
Data Pipelines: Gokart, Luigi, MLflow
Cloud Platforms: Azure, GCP
Tools: Git, Docker
Competitive Coding: Kaggle Competition Expert

Selected Honors and Awards

37th Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists （第 37 回井上研究奨励賞） from Inoue Foundation for Science, Feburuary 2021
13th Young Scientist Award of the Physical Society of Japan （第 13 回日本物理学会若手奨励賞（領域６）） from the Physical Society of Japan, March 2019
Elings Prize Fellowship in Science 2018 from California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, March 2018
8th JSPS Ikushi Prize (第８回日本学術振興会育志賞) from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), March 2018
Dean’s Award (工学系研究科長賞) from Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, March 2018

Yu Saito