Nobukazu Teranishi

Name: Hallway Studios Limited
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Nobukazu Teranishi is a professor at two universities in Japan - the University of Hyogo and Shizuoka University - developing photon counting image sensors for visible light X-ray. After gaining a degree and a Masters in physics at the University of Tokyo, he advanced image sensors and cameras at the NEC Corporation (1978-2000) where he invented the pinned photodiode in 1980, resulting in higher image quality, smaller pixel sizes and higher resolution images. Teranishi also worked at the Panasonic Corporation (2000-13) and continues to develop image sensors for various applications.

Born in Japan in 1953, he holds numerous patents in his homeland and the United States. Teranishi’s awards include the Prize of the President of KEIDANREN of National Invention Awards (1994), Persons of Scientific and Technological Research Merits Commendation by Minister of State for Science and Technology (1997), Progress Medals from the Royal Photographic Society (2010 and the Photographic Society of America (2011) and the Yamazaki Teiichi Award (2013).

Three innovations across three decades have revolutionised our visual world: the charge-coupled device; the pinned photodiode and the complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensor.