Akira Ishimaru ( ja, アキラ石丸; born March 16, 1928) is a Japanese-American electrical engineer and professor emeritus at Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. He is best known for his contributions to the theory of wave

scattering Scattering is a term used in physics to describe a wide range of physical processes where moving particles or radiation of some form, such as light or sound, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by localized non-uniformities (including ...

random In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of pattern or predictability in events. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no :wikt:order, order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. Ind ...

media.

Biography

Akira Ishimaru was born on March 16, 1928, in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He received his bachelor's degree from

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

and Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from

, respectively in 1951 and 1958. During his doctoral studies, he was supervised by Gedaliah Held. From 1951 to 1952, he worked at Electrotechnical Laboratory in

Tanashi, Tokyo was a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Tanashi means the land without rice. Because of the area's elevation relative to the Tamagawa River, traditional irrigation and rice farming was impossible. Hence, the area w ...

. In 1956, he was employed at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

. In 1958, he joined the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering of the University of Washington, where he was also an adjunct professor of

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical s ...

. He became a professor emeritus at the institution in 1999. In 1996, Ishimaru was elected as a member of

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

"for his contributions to the theory and application of wave propagation and scattering in random media." Ishimaru is also the recipient of

IEEE Centennial Medal The IEEE Centennial Medal was a medal minted and awarded in 1984 ''to persons deserving of special recognition for extraordinary achievement'' to celebrate the Centennial of the founding of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (I ...

(1984),

IEEE Heinrich Hertz Medal The IEEE Heinrich Hertz Medal was a science award presented by the IEEE for outstanding achievements in the field of electromagnetic waves. The medal was named in honour of German physicist Heinrich Hertz, and was first proposed in 1986 by IEEE Reg ...

(1999) and IEEE Third Millennium Medal (2000). He is a fellow of

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

, the Optical Society of America, the

Acoustical Society of America The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary orga ...

, and the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

. He was the editor of ''

Radio Science One way of outlining the subject of ''radio science'' is listing the topics associated with it by authoritative bodies. Union of Radio Science International (URSI) The International Union of Radio Science has several commissions corresponding to ...

'' from 1979 to 1983, as well as the founding editor of the journals ''Waves in Random Media'' and ''Waves in Random and Complex Media''.

Research

Ishimaru's research has mainly focused on wave propagation and scattering in random and

turbulent In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between t ...

media; his research has contributed to advances in

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ran ...

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Earth ...

ultrasound imaging Medical ultrasound includes diagnostic techniques (mainly medical imaging, imaging techniques) using ultrasound, as well as therapeutic ultrasound, therapeutic applications of ultrasound. In diagnosis, it is used to create an image of internal ...

laser surgery Laser surgery is a type of surgery that uses a laser (in contrast to using a scalpel) to cut tissue. Examples include the use of a laser scalpel in otherwise conventional surgery, and soft-tissue laser surgery, in which the laser beam vapori ...

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

systems and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

, as well as

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

and

optical communication Optical communication, also known as optical telecommunication, is communication at a distance using light to carry information. It can be performed visually or by using electronic devices. The earliest basic forms of optical communication date b ...

s. His other research interests

object detection Object detection is a computer technology related to computer vision and image processing that deals with detecting instances of semantic objects of a certain class (such as humans, buildings, or cars) in digital images and videos. Well-researched ...

and imaging in cluttered environments,

inverse problem An inverse problem in science is the process of calculating from a set of observations the causal factors that produced them: for example, calculating an image in X-ray computed tomography, source reconstruction in acoustics, or calculating the ...

s, wave propagation and scattering in the atmosphere and the terrain, acoustic scattering in the ocean and optical diffusion in tissues. Ishimaru has also authored two textbooks on advanced electromagnetics: ''Wave Propagation and Scattering in Random Media'' (1978) and ''Electromagnetic Wave Propagation, Radiation, and Scattering'' (1991).

Selected publications

;Books *Ishimaru, A. (2017). ''Electromagnetic Wave Propagation, Radiation, and Scattering: From Fundamentals to Applications'', 2nd ed, IEEE. *Ishimaru, A. (1997). ''Wave Propagation and Scattering in Random Media'', IEEE. ;Journal articles * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ishimaru, Akira Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering 1928 births People from Fukuoka University of Tokyo alumni University of Washington College of Engineering alumni University of Washington faculty Fellow Members of the IEEE American electrical engineers Electrical engineering academics Japanese emigrants to the United States American academics of Japanese descent Fellows of Optica (society) Fellows of the Acoustical Society of America IEEE Centennial Medal laureates Scientists at Bell Labs Japanese electrical engineers Optical engineers Microwave engineers American telecommunications engineers Japanese telecommunications engineers American acoustical engineers Japanese acoustical engineers Fellows of the Institute of Physics 20th-century American engineers 21st-century American engineers 20th-century Japanese engineers 21st-century Japanese engineers American educators of Japanese descent American textbook writers Living people

Biography

Research

Selected publications

See also

References