Sumio Iijima
Sumio Iijima | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1939 |
| Nationality |  Japan |
| Known for | Carbon nanotubes |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Nanotechnology |
Sumio Iijima (飯島 澄男 Iijima Sumio, born May 2, 1939) is a Japanese physicist, often cited as the discoverer of carbon nanotubes. Although carbon nanotubes had been observed prior to his "discovery"1, Iijima's 1991 paper generated unprecedented interest in the carbon nanostructures and has since fueled intense research in the area of nanotechnology.
Born in Saitama Prefecture in 1939, Iijima graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1963 from the University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo. He received a Master's degree in 1965 and completed his Ph.D. in solid-state physics in 1968, both at Tohoku University in Sendai.
Between 1970 and 1982 he performed research with crystalline materials and high-resolution electron microscopy at Arizona State University. He visited the University of Cambridge during 1979 to perform studies on carbon materials.
He worked for the Research Development Corporation of Japan from 1982 to 1987, studying ultra-fine particles, after which he joined NEC Corporation where he is still employed. He discovered carbon nanotubes in 1991 while working with NEC. He is also a professor at Meijo University since 1999. Furthermore, he is the director of the Research Center for Advanced Carbon Materials, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and the dean of SKK Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT).
He was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics in 2002, "for the discovery and elucidation of the atomic structure and helical character of multi-wall and single-wall carbon nanotubes, which have had an enormous impact on the rapidly growing condensed matter and materials science field of nanoscale science and electronics."
Research Fields
Crystallography, Electron Microscopy, Solid-State Physics, Materials Science
Professional Record
- 1968 - 1974: Research Associate, Research Institute for Scientific Measurements, Tohoku University, Sendai
- 1970 - 1977: Research Associate, Department of Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
- 1977 - 1982: Senior Research Associate, Center for Solid State Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
- 1979: Visiting Senior Scientist, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
- 1982 - 1987: Group Leader, ERATO Program, Research Development Corporation of Japan, Nagoya
- 1987 - Present: Senior Research Fellow, NEC Corporation, Tsukuba (Joined NEC in 1987 as Senior Principal Researcher)
- 1998 - 2002: Research Director, JST/ICORP "Nanotubulites" Project Tsukuba and Nagoya
- 1999 - Present: Professor, Meijo University, Nagoya
- 2001 - Present: Director, Nanotube Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba
- 2002 - 2006: Project Reader, NEDO "Advanced Nanocarbon Application Project"
- 2003 - 2008: Research Director, JST/SORST (Japan Sci. & Tech. Agency/Solution Oriented Res. And Tech. ) Iijima Team
- 2005 - Present: Dean, Sungkyunkwan University, Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT)
- 2006 - Present: Project Reader, NEDO “Carbon Nanotube Capacitor Development Project”
- 2007 - Present: Distinguished Invited University Professor of Nagoya University, Nagoya
Honors, Awards
- 1976: Bertram Eugene Warren Diffraction Physics Award, The American Crystallography Society
- 1980: Seto Award, The Japanese Society of Electron Microscopy, Japan
- 1985: Nishina Memorial Award, The Nishina Memorial Foundation, Japan
- 1996: Asahi Award, The Asahi Shinbun Cultural Foundation, Japan
- 2002: Agilent Europhysics Prize, European Physical Society
- 2002: J.C.McGroddy Prize for New Materials, American Physical Society
- 2002: Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics, The Franklin Institute
- 2002: Honorary Doctor of the University of Antwerp
- 2002: Japan Academy Award and Imperial Award
- 2003: Honorary Doctor of ETH
- 2003: Van Horn Lecture, Case Western Reserve University
- 2003: Person of Cultural Merits, Japanese Government
- 2004: Honda Frontier Award, Honda Memorial Foundation, Japan
- 2004: The Society’s Medal, The American Carbon Society
- 2005: Distinguished Scientist Award, Physical Sciences, Microscopy Society of America
- 2005: Honorary Professor of Xi’an Jiaotong University
- 2005: Honorary Professor of Peking University
- 2006: The John M. Cowley Medal 2006, The International Federation of Societies for Microscopy
- 2007: Gregori Aminoff Prize in crystallography 2007, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
- 2007: Fujiwara Award, The Fujihara Foundation of Science, Japan
- 2007: Foreign Associate, The National Academy of Sciences
- 2007: 2007 Balzan Prize for Nanoscience, International Balzan Prize Foundation
- 2008: DOW lecture, Northwestern University
- 2008: The 2008 Plueddemann Award (Case Western University)
- 2008: The First Richard E. Smalley Research Award (The Electrochemical Society)
- 2008: The Kavli Prize Nanoscience 2008 (The Kavli Foundation)
- 2008: The Prince of Asturias Award for Technical Scientific Research 2008 (The Prince of Asturias Foundation)
- and others
References
External links
- "About Myself" - NEC's page about Dr. Sumio Iijima
- "Nanotubulites" - about Dr. Sumio Iijima
- Nanotubes: The Materials of the 21st Century - video presentation by Sumio Iijima
- Arizona State University story on Kavli Prize
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