Dr. Hiroshi Saito completed a master's degree at the Department of Mathematical Engineering and Information Physics, School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo in 1983 and entered the backbone switching research department of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (currently Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, NTT) in April of the same year. He received a doctorate from the same university in 1992. After working as a research fellow at NTT Communications Network Research Laboratories in 1994 and a senior researcher at NTT Service System Integration Laboratories in 2010, he has been a professor at the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo, since April 2018.

Since joining the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, he has consistently engaged in research and development in the field of information and communications and has achieved many excellent results in traffic technology. He has brought innovation to information communication services by creating and promoting pioneering theories and methods.

His notable achievements include being the first to propose a new method, the non-parametric approach (a method that does not use a parameterized model), leading to a new flow of research and development on ATM network traffic technology, which advocated a new direction for traffic research for the first time in the world, responding to traffic diversification, and broadband networks with various applications that cannot be handled by conventional theoretical models that assume the randomness of telephone traffic.

In these research achievements, the theoretical models proposed and constructed by the candidates were always related to real systems. He has applied theory based on applied mathematics to the system design, control, and management of actual systems, as well as the comprehensive design, control, and management of communication networks, and has practiced research and application to traffic technology.

Furthermore, while the existing traffic theory was an extension to apply stochastic process theory on the time axis to individual systems, he has clarified the spatial structure and performance relationships of networks, including social networks, and has been a leader in the field of network science theory and the application of spatial information mathematics to obtain knowledge related to network design, control, and information aggregation.

For the above achievements, he received the following awards, including the 1994 Telecommunications Advancement Foundation Award for Encouragement of System Science, 1998 Japan OR Society Literature Award, 2003 IPSJ DICOMO 2003 Noguchi Award, 2008 IEICE Communications Society: Outstanding Contributions Award, 2010 Telecommunications Advancement Foundation Award for Telecom System Science, 2016 ACM MSWiM Conference Best Paper Award, and the 2020 Arne Jensen Lifetime Achievement Award. These achievements have been recognized as significant contributions to the mobile communication industry and academia.

In addition, At IEICE, he served as Chair of the Technical Committee on Information Networks in 2006, Councilor in 2008, and Director of Editorial and Publishing Affairs in 2011. In 2006, he was awarded the title of Fellow of the Communications Society. Furthermore, he was awarded the title of Japan OR Society Fellow in 2003, and IEEE Fellow in 2005, and his activities have been recognized in various fields.

As described above, Dr. Saito has produced world-class research results through theoretical research and practical application, and his achievements in information and communications are remarkable. We are confident that Dr. Saito is a worthy recipient of the IEICE Distinguished Achievement and Contributions Award.