In labs, in court, in the classroom, he has taken the status quo to task

When you cue up your first high-definition DVD, stop to thank Shuji Nakamura, who helped develop the bright blue LEDs that power it. Nakamura came from Japanese industry's equivalent of left field to deliver a technology that had stumped researchers in some of its best electronics labs.

Back in 1993, many researchers thought it would be impossible to deliver a blue LED of adequate brightness before the end of the century. That's when Nakamura grabbed the attention of big-company researchers by demonstrating a blue LED that was 100 times brighter than the most advanced prototypes of the time. And

while other researchers were arguing at academic meetings over techniques for oscillating blue lasers, Nakamura would show up and make presentations using a pointer based on a bright blue laser he'd developed in his lab.

Nakamura's advance was based on gallium nitride, a material rarely used by researchers at that time. His success drove a shift to the material from the traditional selenide.

A further shock to Japan's tech elite, who were accustomed to seeing the giants make the breakthroughs, was that Nakamura hailed from provincial, midsize Nichia Corp. Thanks to his work, Nichia's sales grew more than tenfold.

Nakamura left Nichia in December 1999, after 20 years of service, and sued the company, saying he had not been fairly compensated for his invention. His victory in court exposed a broad practice of undercompensating engineers for key contributions and pressured Japan's electronics giants to establish rules for evaluating employees' innovations.

As a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Nakamura continues to study gallium nitride crystal structures. This fall, he discovered structures that he believes could dramatically outperform LEDs.

Meanwhile, he says his UCSB experience has convinced him that "the harsh university entrance exam system used in Japan and other Asian countries is not a good tool for attracting creative students and developing their instincts."

OTHER PROFILES
Takeshi Uchiyamada
John Deng
Y.W. Chung
Theodore Berger and John Granacki
Dean Kamen
Leroy Hood
Ken Kutaragi
Jim Barton
Complete Profiles List >>