| Masao Kawachi |
Dr. Masao Kawachi completed his master’s degree in electronics physics at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1973, and thereupon joined Ibaraki Communication Laboratory, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (now Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT)). He became vice president of NTT Opto-electronics Laboratories in 1998, vice president of NTT Network Innovation Laboratories in 1999, and senior vice president of NTT Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group in 2003. In 2005, he moved to NTT Electronics Corporation where he became vice president. Since 2009, he has been a fellow of the same company.After joining NTT, Dr. Kawachi studied liquid crystal displays. From the late 1970s, he was engaged in research and development of optical fibers, which were still in their early stages. He worked to reduce the transmission loss of silica single-mode optical fibers using the vapor-phase axial deposition (VAD) method, and developed its now well-established fabrication technology. He was the first to develop an optical integrated circuit known as a silica planar lightwave circuit (PLC) by integrating LSI microfabrication with a glass particle deposition technology called the flame hydrolysis deposition (FHD) method. He devised the FHD method in the course of developing VAD. The PLC made it possible to use optical waveguides to improve high-precision optical signal processing and mass production capability, thereby solving problems associated with the existing optical communication components - namely, poor productivity and a low level of integration.
Dr. Kawachi energetically drove the research and development of technologies related to optical waveguide design, fabrication processes and the optical packaging of silica PLCs, and developed numerous optical components that now play key roles in optical communication systems. These components include arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) optical filters, which led to the widespread use of wavelength-division multiplexing optical communication systems, optical splitters, which support optical access or Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH), and optical switches, which are used to add or drop optical signals in reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) systems. These achievements became the driving force behind optical integration research using materials other than silica such as optical semiconductors and led to new research fields such as optical hybrid integration technology. Dr. Kawachi’s pioneering research and development of optical integration circuits have contributed importantly to both academia and industry.
For these achievements, he received the Best Paper Award (1984), the Achievement Awards (1992 and 1998), and the Distinguished Achievement and Contributions Award (2009) from the IEICE, the Kenjiro Sakurai Memorial Prize (1995), the Director-General of the Science and Technology Agency Award (Distinguished Service to Science and Technology Award, 1999), the Okochi Memorial Technology Prize (2000), and the Medal with Purple Ribbon (2008). He was also made a fellow by the IEICE, Japan Society of Applied Physics, and by the IEEE.
Through his service as chair of the Technical Committee on Optical Electronics in 2000, director of Conferences, Student Activities and Education in 2002 and president of the Electronics Society in 2008, all within the IEICE, and as chair of the IEEE/LEOS Japan Chapter Organizing Committee, he has made major contributions to the development of scientific activities. By assuming a number of important posts, he has had a significant impact on the development of the information and communication field in Japan. He has served as a member of the Strategic Site Building WG, the Science and Technology Promotion Adjustment Expense Review Section, the Subcommittee on Research Planning and Assessment, the Science and Technology Council, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and as a member of the 21st Century Network Infrastructure Technology Research Promotion Council, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
As mentioned above, his contributions to work on electronics, information and communication technologies, and in particular to the development of the IEICE, other engineering societies both in Japan and abroad, and the optical communication component industry are so outstanding that we recommend that he be designated a fellow, honorary member of the IEICE.
