FANUC

Born in 1925 in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, he graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1946 and joined Fujitsu, where he led the development of Japan's first commercial numerical control (NC) system for machine tools and invented the electro-hydraulic pulse motor for servomechanisms. He founded Fujitsu FANUC in 1972 as a Fujitsu spinoff, became its president in 1975, and by 1982 had captured half of the global CNC market. Elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 1992, he received Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1995. He passed away in October 2020 at age 95.