Honorary Member

Kunihiko FUKUSHIMA

Kunihiko FUKUSHIMA  Dr. Fukushima graduated from the Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University in 1958 and joined the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK). Within NHK, he worked in the Technical Research Laboratories, Broadcasting Science Research Laboratories, and Science and Technology Research Laboratories. In 1989, he became a professor in the Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University. After retiring from the university in 1999, he served, successively, as a professor of The University of Electro-Communications, a professor at the Tokyo University of Technology, and a visiting professor for Kansai University. Currently, he is senior research scientist at the Fuzzy Logic Systems Institute, where he is continuing to conduct research in his expert field: neural networks. And, he still takes part in related research conferences, both in Japan and overseas, thereby deepening his relationships with younger researchers.
   From 1965, Dr. Fukushima undertook research into neural networks, which support todayfs artificial intelligence technology. He was a trailblazer in that he proposed Cognitron and Neocognitron, which form the basic architecture for deep learning. These are hierarchical neural network models and are configured based on the neurophysiological structure of the visual cortex of the human brain. He classified the characteristics of low-order visual cortex nerve cells, and proposed, from an engineering perspective, a neural network structure that incorporates convolution operation. In order to engineer a high-order visual cortex function, he proposed Neocognitron, which extrapolates this structure repeatedly. The performance of Neocognitron was verified in the field of pattern recognition, such as recognition of handwritten characters. It was demonstrated that its practical performance from an engineering perspective was satisfactory. Since the late 2000s, the structure of Neocognitron has become known as a neural network structure called gConvolution Neural Networkh (CNN) or gDeep CNNh (DCNN). Neocognitron has been having significant impacts not only on technology for pattern recognition of still images but also on the processing of speech, video and text, including text written in a natural language.
   Neocognitron has been a de facto standard since 2012, particularly in the field of image processing. Researchers and engineers both in Japan and overseas are building models and developing systems that deal with DCNN.
   For the achievements mentioned above, he received two Best Paper Awards and an Achievement Award from the IEICE, of which he is now a fellow. He is also a recipient of numerous other awards, including the 2003 IEEE Neural Network Pioneer Award and the 2012 INNS Helmholtz Award, indicating that he is highly regarded both within and beyond Japan. And, he has made tremendous contributions to development of the IEICE, such as serving as chair of the Technical Committee on Medical Electronics and Bioengineering.
   In light of his outstanding contributions to the electronics, information and communication field, we wholeheartedly recommend that Dr. Fukushima be designated as a fellow, honorary member of the IEICE.
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