Nicolas Chow Chin Sung

I am of Sino-Mauritian descent, born and raised in Montreal. I studied mechanical and mechatronics engineering at Concordia University and later obtained my MBA from McGill University becoming the first student from the main campus to complete my studies at the Tokyo campus. I have lived in Japan since 2018 and worked across various industries, but always in startups.

In Canada, I worked in manufacturing, automation, and quality assurance developing software and simulations to program robots for various applications mainly in aerospace and automotive. In moving to Japan, I made the leap into logistics and material handling. At Kyoto robotics, I was developing a clothes picking application for an automated warehouse. And then, I moved into robotics consulting at Innovatech Studio to evaluate various warehouse automation technologies. I was able to leverage that experience and take on the head of engineering role at Telexistence, where I lead the development team in designing and manufacturing a system to restock kombini shelves. The Telexistence robot, TX Scara, has been deployed at over 100 stores throughout Japan; you can see them working behind the cold beverages at certain FamilyMarts. After leaving Telexistence, I worked on a short project with ROMS to develop a simulation for their robotic picking system (RPS).

Now, I have started a new career in developing robots for space at Astroscale Japan. Together with JAXA, we are tackling the issue of removing space debris in order to make the use of space sustainable for future generations. You can follow our progress on LinkedIn or X as we enter a critical phase in our current mission to categorize an uncollaborative inactive piece of debris.

My career in robotics would not have been possible without the spark from my high school robotics team. After graduating, I became a mentor for the program called FIRST robotics (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). My team, The Northern Knights, is the longest running Canadian team, and also the 1st Canadian team to win the world championship competition. One of my former students created her own team in Tokyo, and there are now several teams across Japan who participate in the competition.

In my spare time, I also practice Aikido and play ice hockey. I've travelled across Japan by shinkansen, and once hiked Mt.Fuji twice in the same week. I look forward to serving our community!