| Kazuo Hagimoto |
Mr. Kazuo Hagimoto completed his master course at the Graduate Schools of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1980, and joined Yokosuka Electrical Communication Laboratory, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (currently Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT)) in the same year. In 1999, he worked as a senior staff member in charge of OSS at the Network Division, NTT Communications. He became director of the Media Networking Laboratory, Network Innovation Laboratories of NTT in 2000, director of the Photonics Transport Network Laboratory of the same laboratories in 2004, director of the Network Innovation Laboratories in 2005, and executive director of the Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group in 2009, the post he still holds.After joining Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, he was the motive force behind the endeavor to increase the capacity of core communication systems, and was engaged in the exploration and commercial development of optical communication technology, a key to this endeavor, from time when transmission speed began to be measured in gigabit/s to the age of terabit/s transmission. In particular, the development of repeater systems using optical amplification boosted capacity and reduced costs by several orders of magnitude compared to conventional telecommunication technologies. The large-capacity optical fiber communication technology developed based on his work is today indispensable as the main artery of digital society.
Particularly notable among his achievements is the construction of a stable erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) and the world’s first transmission experiment with this amplifier in 1989, dramatically enhancing transmission performance. He demonstrated EDFA’s low-noise, broadband and high-output properties, thereby opening the door to terabit/s optical transmission. He played a key role in having the 10-Gbit/s optical transmission system using EDFA adopted as an international standard and implemented commercially. As a result, the introduction of the system was accelerated both in Japan and the USA. Repeater systems using EDFA have been adopted worldwide as a standard optical transmission system. He continued to increase the transmission capacity, and succeeded in both expanding the amplification bandwidth and reducing noise by using EDFA and Raman amplifiers, which are distributed amplifiers, in combination, thereby establishing technology for terabit/s class high-density wavelength division multiplexing transmission. This technology led to the commercial development of a 40-Gbit/s large-capacity wavelength division multiplexing transmission system. This system is now used in Japan and many other countries. With his great vision and leadership qualities, he took command of numerous projects, including collaborations with overseas carriers, achieved international standardization of OTN and commercial implementation of 40G OTN-LSI, making the latter a de facto standard worldwide. He also played a leadership role in promoting industry-academia-government collaboration, and pressed ahead with a variety of R&D activities, all of which had a significant impact on the industry. He truly had an active hand in the construction of social infrastructure.
After assuming the post of executive director of NTT Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group in 2009, he has taken positive steps to strengthen the international competitiveness of Japan’s optical communication industry by promoting industry-academia-government collaboration. This was done by ensuring consensus within the IEICE and pursuing state-assisted projects. He also worked very hard to educate younger researchers. He served as chair of the Executive Committee for an OSA international conference related to the optical amplifier and its application (Yokohama) in 1993 and chair of the Program Committee of the IEEE International Conference on Communications (Kyoto) in 2011, expanding the presence and enhancing the status of Japan in major international conferences. His contributions in these areas have been globally recognized including being made a fellow of the IEEE.
For his contributions mentioned above, he has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Sakurai Kenjiro Memorial Award from the Optoelectronics Industry and Technology Development Association in 1989, the Takayanagi Memorial Incentive Award from the Takayanagi Memorial Electronic Science and Technology Advancement Foundation in 1994, the Maejima Award from the Teishin Association in 2007, the Science and Technology Award (development) from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2009, and the Prime Minister Award Commending Contributors to Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration in 2009. Within the IEICE, he received the Achievement Award twice, in 1994 and 2006, was made a fellow in 2005, and served as chair of the Technical Committee on Optical Communication Systems between 2001 and 2002, director of General Affairs between 2006 and 2007, and president of the Communication Society in 2011.
As clearly demonstrated by the above, Mr. Hagimoto’s contributions to the IEICE and to the field of electronics, information and communication have been truly outstanding, and we are convinced that he is well qualified to receive the Distinguished Achievement and Contributions Award from the IEICE.
