Yukiko Muller is expected to be the second Marshallese woman to complete a Ph.D., after former President Hilda Heine, who was the first.
She is currently studying in Japan in a doctoral program in Interdisciplinary Intelligent Systems Engineering at the Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus.
She studied computer science in Taiwan and graduated with a Bachelor of Science. She attended a Moroccan educational program to deepen her specialization before moving to Japan with support from the Japanese government.
Yukiko is on track to complete her Ph.D. in September.
She’s working with a graduate student at the University of the Ryukyus, Shiho Oshiro, to develop an underwater drone to be able to move and communicate underwater in the same way as on land.
Yukiko said that the support and funding has allowed her to conduct her state-of-the-art experiments successfully, which have gained a attention all over Japan. The University of the Ryukyus in a school-wide competition awarded her second place for her research. Her research was also published in Japan’s Science & Technology magazine.
She said although her experiments are conducted in Japan, her work is intended for and dedicated to Marshall Islands and will be implemented once she returns.