We are mid-way through National Inclusion Week (NIW), which celebrates and raises awareness of diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the workplace. In part one of our NIW series, we took a deeper look into what we are doing at Arm to build and foster D&I in everything we do.
In part two, we are celebrating our colleagues in Research from around the world. They may not have had the most traditional path to their current role, but their differences and experiences are a crucial part of the innovation driven in research. In a wide range of roles, we see the benefit of inclusion every day, professionally and personally. We asked some of those in Research what inclusion meant to them, and what their experiences in previous roles have enabled them to achieve today.
Project managers are an integral part of Research. Without them, our engineers would not be able to focus on creating the future of technology. Their ultimate mission is to enable Research – by implementing processes, providing guidance, and removing obstacles. Eri Latorre-Chimoto is one of these people. Eri began her career as a programmer at an IT consulting firm in Japan, where her first assignment allowed her to work with an inspiring project manager. Eri was inspired to realize her potential in the field, and after a year she became a Project Management Office Coordinator, involved in various system integration projects. After moving to the UK in 2009, Eri worked as a video game producer, developing AAA console games. In 2015, she joined Arm, where she has been able to use her expertise in project management and understanding of technology to enable our world-class engineers to conduct cutting-edge research.
What does inclusion mean to you?
‘For me, inclusion means understanding and respecting different perspectives. By having different perspectives within a team, we can come up with new ideas and solutions which we may have missed if we only saw things with a fixed view. However, this will not happen if people cannot freely express their opinions and feelings. I believe inclusion is key to creating a psychologically safe space.’
What made you move into the technology industry, and how has your experience helped you in your current role?
‘I studied law and politics at university, but I went into the technology industry as I was always interested in technologies. In Japan, companies offer extensive graduate training programs, where I learned the basics of programming in six months. Experience in the creative industry definitely helped me to be an effective project manager in a research organization. There is actually a lot in common between creative projects, such as video games and research, both constantly tackling the ambiguity and working with highly talented people with diverse backgrounds.’
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in the industry?
‘There is no need to give up on working in technology, even if you do not have a technical background. You can still contribute greatly by bringing different perspectives to the organization because your view is not technically biased. When changing industries, having a solid core competency, project management skills in my case, definitely helps. Also, being curious and willing to learn new things opens up more opportunities and helps with adapting to a new environment quickly.’
Before joining the technology industry, Hongsup studied computational neuroscience as part of his PhD, conducting research in human visual memory. After a Postdoc position, Hongsup decided to leave academia for career progression reasons, as well as finding it difficult to conduct research directly, after he became a professor. However, Hongsup highly values his academic experience, and has gained valuable communication skills, especially when speaking with people from different backgrounds.
‘Because of my positive experience in academia, and as a person who’s switched domains multiple times, while also being a person of color, an immigrant, and a member of the LGBT community, D&I has been an important topic for me. I think D&I is about providing fair and equal opportunities, and psychological safety at work, which affects productivity. If I cannot be myself at work, I will not be able to stay productive and creative. At Arm, I have been fortunate to work with colleagues who share these values. I have also been able to share my experience with others, in groups such as the Austin Women’s Network. I am hopeful that these issues are addressed from management in near future because D&I work starts from cultural change.'
Not every engineering career begins with studying computer science at an undergraduate level. Hanno is proof of this, studying mathematics with computer science as a minor in Bonn, Germany, finishing with a PhD in a branch of pure mathematics, categorical homotopy theory. After much deliberation, Hanno left academia and started his career in industry as a formal methods engineer, working on the verification of a lightweight x86 hypervisor. Hanno moved to the UK in 2017 to start at Arm as a security engineer, contributing to the Mbed TLS security stack. Since 2019, he has been part of Arm's security research group, with a focus on modern cryptography, such as post-quantum cryptography, fully homomorphic encryption, and zero-knowledge proofs.
‘I am in my current role because of people at Arm that were willing to consider applications that were not a canonical fit on paper. I believe that we all benefit from being open minded and welcoming of differences, not only technically, but also personally and culturally, rather than being fixed on a particular view or expectation.’
What made you move away from academia into the technology industry?
‘I was convinced I'd become a mathematician, and at heart I still am. I love the beauty and depth of the structures and arguments it uncovers. It does not require expensive equipment or a particular workplace - it is a game of thought that anyone can engage in. Finally, it constantly makes you face and overcome your own insufficiency, offering the rewarding joy of understanding at the end of each such cycle. To me, the latter is the primary purpose of pure mathematics - in the words of the pianist Glenn Gould: "The justification of art is the internal combustion it ignites in the hearts". However, while everybody can appreciate a piece of music without being trained in composition, research mathematics can only be appreciated in its depth by those who have studied it. I got increasingly uncomfortable with this confinement towards the end of my PhD, as well as with the uncertainty of an academic career and its incompatibility with family plans.’
What advice would you give to someone considering a similar career change?
‘Take your time to study, and do not rush. You will rarely have the opportunity again to think as deeply about things as during your years at university. At some point I was not sure whether a PhD would be worth the effort if in the end I would leave academia and go to industry, likely doing something completely unrelated. But with hindsight, if you enjoy research and the subject matter is at your heart, I can only encourage you to take this step, regardless of whether you will use the subject in your later career: It teaches you a great deal of self-discipline, persistence and frustration tolerance, and the experience of facing severe hurdles, some of which you overcome and some of which you do not, will be very valuable for your professional career.'
Where you start in your career is not necessarily where you will be in three, five- or ten-years’ time, and our colleagues in Arm Research demonstrate this. Changing direction may feel like a leap of faith, but it can pay dividends, and provide new perspectives. We have seen how valuable D&I is in the workplace – and how when we are willing to celebrate differences, our connections with colleagues thrive.
There is still one more part of our NIW series to go. Look out for our third blog to learn about some more of our inspiring researchers.
Explore National Inclusion Week
This blog is the second in a three part series. Click the links below to discover more:
Celebrating National Inclusion Week at Arm Research (1/3)
Celebrating National Inclusion Week at Arm Research (3/3)
Great blog! It gave me good things to say to my non-technical friends who have expressed a desire to pursue a career in software development but are hesitant to do the work because they feel it will be a waste of time since no one will hire them.