About Me

Hi! I’m Nicholaus Kevin Tanjaya — call me Kevin. I’m an Indonesian living in Tokyo, Japan, working as an engineer after completing my PhD at the University of Tsukuba.

My journey in Japan didn’t start with a perfect plan. It started with curiosity and a willingness to try. From a first-year Master’s student living alone in a foreign country for the first time, to finishing my PhD and landing a job at a Japanese company — I built it step by step, with plenty of trial and error along the way.

This blog is where I document that journey honestly — not just the highlights, but also the confusion, the setbacks, and the lessons learned. If you’re thinking about studying or working in Japan, I hope my experience gives you a real, grounded picture of what it’s actually like.

My Story

I did my undergraduate degree in Physics at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Indonesia. That’s where I first encountered research — my thesis covered photothermal heating in gold nanoparticles, a topic that sounded obscure at the time but ended up opening doors I never expected.

After graduating, I decided to take a big leap and move to Japan for graduate school. I was accepted into the Master’s program in Applied Physics at the University of Tsukuba, where I continued research in the same field. One thing led to another, and I went on to complete a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering — in the same lab, with the same supervisor.

During my Master’s and PhD, my research focused on nanophotonics, plasmonics, and photothermal engineering — a field that sits at the intersection of physics, materials science, and optical engineering. My work resulted in several publications in international peer-reviewed journals.

After graduating in 2025, I joined SOLIZE Ureka Technology (formerly SOLIZE), an engineering company in Tokyo. I started in the thermal management team for datacenter cooling systems (until March 2026), and I’m currently transitioning into ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). Getting a job in Japan as a foreign PhD graduate wasn’t easy — and I plan to write about that whole process in detail on this blog.

Life Outside Work

Outside of work, I enjoy exploring new restaurants around Tokyo. Japan is a food lover’s paradise, and after years of living here, I still haven’t run out of places to try.

I’m also actively picking up new skills: Mandarin (HSK), Korean (TOPIK), and AWS cloud computing. When I need to recharge, I game or binge something on Netflix.

I also run a YouTube channel @nktaruaru — mostly gaming content, still small but steadily growing 😄

Background

Education

• 2014 – 2018: B.Sc., Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) — Physics
• 2020 – 2022: M.Eng., University of Tsukuba — Applied Physics
• 2022 – 2025: Ph.D., University of Tsukuba — Materials Science & Engineering

Languages

• Indonesian: Native
• English: Fluent (TOEIC 945, iBT 88)
• Japanese: Professional (JLPT N2, currently preparing for N1)
• Mandarin: Basic (HSK 2, currently studying)
• Korean: Currently studying (TOPIK)

Certifications & Academic Profiles

• AWS Cloud Practitioner
• ORCiD
• Google Scholar

Selected Publications

• Master’s: Photothermal heating and heat transfer analysis of anodic aluminum oxide with high optical absorptance — Nanophotonics
• PhD:
  • Thermo-optical measurements using quantitative phase microscopy — Optics Letters
  • Thermal conductivity and thermo-optic coefficient measurements of transparent thin films using quantitative phase microscopy — Optics & Laser Technology
  • Reflection-type quantitative phase microscopy for thermal conductivity and thermo-optic coefficient measurements of substrates and thin films — Optics & Laser Technology

Got Questions?

If you have questions about graduate school in Japan, job hunting as a foreigner, or just curious about daily life in Tokyo — feel free to reach out. I’ll do my best to reply to every message.

Hope you find something useful here! 🙌