From Eco-Friendly Lighting to Blu-ray

Kyoto Prize Symposium

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Kyoto Prize Laureate for Advanced Technology

Isamu Akasaki received a Kyoto Prize for his research on blue LED.

Watch live-streaming video of the presentation here.

Blue light-emitting diode (LED) technology has brought us Blu-ray movies, stunning light displays and ecofriendly lighting. Once considered to be technologically impossible, the development of blue LED became a reality thanks to one man’s breakthrough discovery.

Honoring blue LED researcher Isamu Akasaki

Isamu Akasaki is the 2009 recipient of the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology—Japan's highest private award for global achievement—and he is considered to be the pioneer of blue LED technology. His extraordinary achievement stimulated research on blue LEDs worldwide and was the first step toward their eventual commercialization in the 1990s.

Akasaki will speak about his lifetime contributions to semiconductor science during a special free presentation at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 22, at San Diego State University's Montezuma Hall. Click here to watch live-streaming video of Akasaki's presentation at SDSU.

Lecture features Sony Electronics and blue LED lighting displays

Joining him is Edgar Tu, senior vice president of Sony Electronics, who will discuss the commercial impact of Akasaki's work over the past 20 years, with demonstrations of an LED-backlit HDTV and a Blu-ray Disc player, plus a 3-D TV that will use Blu-ray technology.

The Illuminating Engineering Society of San Diego will also create blue LED light installations throughout the building to enhance the lecture.

Register now

For more information and to register for the presentation, please visit http://www.kyotoprize.org/events/registration.cfm. Parking is free.

The event is part of the Kyoto Prize Symposium, a series of lectures taking place throughout the San Diego region April 20-22. Sponsored by the Inamori Foundation, other San Diego universities, including University of San Diego and University of California San Diego, will present lectures from the basic sciences and arts and philosophy Kyoto Prize recipients.

For more information on the symposium, please visit the Kyoto Prize website.

About the Inamori Foundation

The non-profit Inamori Foundation was established in 1984 by Kazuo Inamori, founder and chairman emeritus of Kyocera and KDDI Corporation. The Kyoto Prize, founded in 1985, reflects Inamori’s belief that human beings have no higher calling than to strive for the greater good of society and that mankind’s future can be assured only through the balanced development of scientific progress and spiritual maturity.

Kyoto Prize laureates are selected through a strict and impartial process that considers candidates from around the world. As of Nov. 10, 2009, the Kyoto Prize has been awarded to 81 individuals and one group. The laureates represent 13 nationalities, and include scientists, engineers, researchers, philosophers, painters, architects, sculptors, musicians and film directors. The U.S. has produced the most recipients (33), followed by Japan (13), the United Kingdom (12) and France (eight).