Shuji Nakamura
Shuji Nakamura
Shuji Nakamurais a Japanese-born American electronic engineer and inventor specializing in the field of semiconductor technology, professor at the Materials Department of the College of Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, and is regarded as the inventor of the blue LED, a major breakthrough in lighting technology. Together with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano, he is one of the three recipients of the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics "for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes, which has enabled bright...
NationalityJapanese
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth22 May 1954
CountryJapan
You work to earn money. But in Japan, that idea has a bad image, and you're not supposed to say that.
I was so surprised because I'm not too sure whether I could win a Nobel Prize, you know, because basically, physics, it means that usually people was awarded for the invention of the basic theory. But in my case, not a basic theory, in my case just making the device, you know.
For people who currently have to burn fossil fuels to produce meager, polluting light, LED lighting is a game changer.
I have been very fortunate to be supported by many people in my career. I also appreciate my personal friends, business friends, and my family who have been patient and understanding of my long working hours.
I hope that energy-efficient LED light bulbs will help reduce energy use and lower the cost of lighting worldwide.
It is very satisfying to see that my dream of LED lighting has become a reality.
I'm not sure whether I could win a Nobel Prize or not, but the Nobel Committee called me, and, 'You got the Nobel Prize.' So, I was so, so happy, and I was so surprised.
The LED light bulb is more than ten times the efficiency of regular incandescent lighting, so it can save the world hundreds of billions of dollars in electricity costs.
I wanted to quit Nichia. I didn't care about anything. It was OK for them to fire me. I was not afraid of anything.
The Japanese press likes me a lot, but the problem is the Japanese government. It's very bureaucratic.
The most important thing I learned at the University of Florida is that a Ph.D. and writing papers is very important in the United States.
If Japanese companies don't reform drastically and implement English as their daily business language, the economy will only continue to contract.
Basically, I like research because research is like to solve the quiz, you know. Always there is a problem, and I have to solve the problem. So I like those patterns. It's almost like research is sort of in a quiz.
Many researchers have joined the field and applied the LED to many new markets such as mobile phone screens, LED TV, and LED Lighting.