Dr. Tsugio Makimoto

With 43 years of working experience in the semiconductor industry, he is a leader in Japan's semiconductor industry. He participated in the controversy over the trade conflict in the semiconductor industry between Japan and the US as a representative from Japan. In Japan, he is called "Mr. Semiconductor". He proposed a theory in the semiconductor industry called "Makimoto Wave" stating, “a period in which standardization is valued and a period in which customization is emphasized alternate every 10 years”. He was born on Remacle Island in Japan; his father was a school teacher. He attended La Salle High School, located in Kagoshima. He received his B.S. in Applied Physics from the University of Tokyo in 1959; his M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1966; and his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1971. He joined Hitachi Ltd. in 1959, where he held various senior positions, including Executive Managing Director since 1993, Senior Executive Managing Director since 1997 and Corporate Chief Technologist since 1998. After 40 years at Hitachi, Ltd. he was head-hunted in 2000 by then Sony President, Nobuyuki Idei. He became an Operating Managing Director and then Corporate Senior Executive Vice President at Sony. He served as Senior Advisor of Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp. He also served as the Chairman of PDF Solutions KK and Chairman of the Society of Semiconductor Industry Seniors. He has been a Member of Technical Advisory Panel of Inphi Corporation since December 2008 and serves as a Member of Advisory Board of Nantero, Inc. He served as a Director of GLOBALFOUNDRIES Singapore Pte. Ltd. (formerly Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.), from September 1999 to April 2008. He served as a Member of International Advisory Panel of National Science and Technology Board of Singapore from 1999 to 2000, the Chairman of Japan Institute of Electronics Packaging from 2003 to 2005, a Member of the Industry Advisory Board of UC/Berkeley (EE/CS) from 2003 to 2006), on the Board of Directors of Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing from 1999 to 2008 and on the Board of Directors of Elpida Memory Inc. from 2006 to 2010. He was given the Bellwether Award by Semico Research in 2003 for his vision, leadership, and outstanding contributions to the semiconductor industry, and the SEMI Recognition Award at 2004 ITPC. He is also Visiting Professor at Tokyo University. He authored several books including "Living with the Chip" and "Digital Nomad". He is well recognized as one of the leaders in the semiconductor industry. He was also nominated a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. in 1997. He has spoken at academic conferences in and outside Japan as a representative of the semiconductor industry, contributing to the development of the industry.