SHUJI NAKAMURA

Shuji Nakamura was born in 1954 in Japan. Nakamura is the inventor of the blue LED, which was a major breakthrough in lighting technology. Nakamura obtained B.Eng and M.eng degrees in electronic engineering. After university Nakamura joined the Nichia Corporation where he maned to invest the first marketable LED. Nakamura is a professor of Materials and Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of California and holds over 200 US patents and over 300 Japanese patents. In 2015 Nakamura was awarded the Global Energy Prize for the invention, commercialisation and development of energy efficient white LED lighting technology. Together with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano he received the Nobel Prize of Physics in 2014 for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes, which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources. Amongst his numerous awards, Nakamura was named Investor of the Year in 2012 by the Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association. In 2014 Nakamura received the 2014 Order of Culture Award in Japan and he was inducted into the National Investors Hall of Fame in 2015. Nakamura's discoveries and inventions have widespread benefits and the energy efficient technology is present in numerous devices including solid state lighting displays, Blu-Ray discs as well as medical technology. It has been argued that Nakamura's invention will eventually mean that Edison's light bulb will become obsolete and as a result save the world billions in energy costs.

Praise for Shuji Nakamura

The Nobel Prize committee cited the development of the blue LED as leading to a new, more efficient and environmentally friendly way to illuminate the world. LED lamps have the potential to help more than 1.5 billion people around the world who do not have access to electricity grids - because they are efficient enough to run on cheap, local solar power.