Rate My Professor Akira Furusawa

Akira Furusawa is a professor of applied physics in the School of Engineering at The University of Tokyo. He earned a Master of Science degree in applied physics in 1986 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in physical chemistry in 1991, both from The University of Tokyo. Furusawa previously worked at Nikon Corporation before joining The University of Tokyo as an assistant professor in 2000 and advancing to full professor in 2007. He also serves as deputy director of the RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing and as director of the startup company OptQC, which focuses on optical quantum computers.

Furusawa specializes in quantum optics and quantum information science. His research has included the first demonstration of unconditional quantum teleportation, achieved in 1998 at the California Institute of Technology in collaboration with Jeff Kimble. He has led projects on continuous-variable quantum computing, including demonstrations of logical qubits in traveling light and ultra-fast generation of Schrödinger cat states. Furusawa has received the Ryogo Kubo Memorial Award in 2006, the JSPS Prize and Japan Academy Medal in 2007, the International Quantum Communication Award in 2008, the Toray Science and Technology Prize in 2015, and the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2016. He has co-authored books such as Quantum Teleportation and Entanglement and Optical Quantum Computers: A Route to Practical Continuous Variable Quantum Information Processing, and published extensively in journals including Nature, Science, and Nature Photonics. Furusawa is a member of the Physical Society of Japan, the Japanese Society of Applied Physics, and OPTICA, and has delivered invited talks at international conferences and workshops.