UW Converge Tokyo

Dr. Steven L. Brunton is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington. He is also Adjunct Professor of Applied Mathematics, Computer science, and Aeronautics and Astronautics, and he is a Data Science Fellow at the eScience Institute. He is Director of the NSF AI Institute in Dynamic Systems and the AI Center for Dynamics and Control (ACDC) at UW. Steve received the B.S. in mathematics from Caltech in 2006 and the Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton in 2012. His research combines machine learning with dynamical systems to model and control systems in fluid dynamics, biolocomotion, optics, energy systems, and manufacturing. He received the University of Washington College of Engineering junior faculty and teaching awards, the Army and Air Force Young Investigator Program (YIP) awards, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). He has co-authored over 200 scientific publications, mentored over 30 PhD students and over 15 postdocs, and collaborated on funded research exceeding $100M dollars. Steve is also passionate about teaching math to engineers as co-author of four textbooks and through his popular YouTube channel, under the moniker “eigensteve”.

For over 30 years, Arthur Yu-Cheng Chiao, ’80 has played a pioneering role in advancing Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, driving innovation in memory and logic ICs, and strengthening independent R&D capabilities. Under his leadership, Winbond became the world’s leading supplier of code storage Flash, with products embedded in one-third of global electronic devices. Arthur has also been dedicated to promoting Taiwan’s electronics industry competitiveness, serving as Chairman of TEEMA and advisor to ITRI, fostering international collaboration and forward-looking R&D. His contributions have earned him recognition as an ITRI Fellow and recipient of the prestigious ERSO Award.

Anind K. Dey is a Professor and Dean of the Information School and Adjunct Professor in both the Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering and the Department of Human-Centered Design and Engineering. Anind is renowned for his early work in context-aware computing, an important theme in modern computing, where computational processes are aware of the context in which they operate and can adapt appropriately to that context. His research is at the intersection of human-computer interaction, machine learning, and ubiquitous computing. For the past few years, Anind has focused on passively collecting large amounts of data about how people interact with their phones and the bjectts around them, to use for producing detection and classification models for human behaviors of interest. He applies a human-centered and problem-based approach through a collaboration with an amazing collection of domain experts in areas of substance abuse (alcohol, marijuana, opioids), mental health, driving and transportation needs, smart spaces, sustainability, and education. These are all ongoing areas of research for Anind. Anind was inducted into the ACM SIGCHI Academy for his significant contributions to the field of human-computer interaction in 2015 and named an ACM Fellow in 2021.

Dr. Yasunori Endo currently serves as Vice President and Executive Director for Research at the University of Tsukuba. Since 2013, he has been a Professor in the Faculty of Engineering, Information and Systems at the same university. His research interests include the analysis of uncertainty using soft computing and machine learning methodologies, with a particular emphasis on clustering. He has authored numerous papers in these fields and has contributed to both theoretical developments and practical applications of intelligent systems. He is an active member of IEEE, the Japan Society for Fuzzy Theory and Intelligent Informatics, and the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE).

Jungo Kasai is the Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of a Tokyo-based startup, Kotoba Technologies, where he leads real-time speech-to-speech translation and speech generative AI. Previously, he was a Research Assistant Professor at the Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago. He earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Washington, focusing on natural language generation, efficiency, and evaluation. His honors include the NAACL 2022 Best Paper Award, IBM PhD Fellowship, Funai Overseas Fellowship, and Masason Foundation Scholarship.

Born in Tokyo in 1955, Mitsunobu Koshiba received his B.S. in Engineering (Printing and Imaging Engineering) from Chiba University in 1978 and completed his M.S. degree at the same university in 1980.

After studying Materials Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a Rotary Foundation Fellow, he joined Japan Synthetic Rubber Co., Ltd. (now JSR Corporation) in 1981. He worked at the Tokyo Research Center, where he was engaged in the development of semiconductor materials.

In 1990, he was assigned to Silicon Valley in the United States and played a key role at JSR Micro Inc. in establishing the company’s position in the U.S. semiconductor materials market. After returning to Japan in 2002, he served as General Manager of the Electronic Materials Division and as an executive officer in charge of the Fine Chemicals business. He was appointed President and CEO in 2009, became Chairman and CEO in 2019, stepped down in June 2021, and served as Honorary Chairman until the end of June 2023.

He founded Cdots LLC, a think tank through which he publishes opinions and gives lectures on advanced technologies, geopolitics, and geoeconomics. Since 2019, he has chaired the Economic Security/Geoeconomics Committee at Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives).

Dr. Iman Majd is a distinguished healthcare professional with a multifaceted career spanning diverse areas of medicine, education, and research. His journey began at Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Iran, where he earned his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree in 1996. Subsequently, he pursued a Master of Science in Acupuncture at Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA, USA, graduating in 2005. Dr. Majd’s commitment to advancing his expertise led him to complete a Residency in Acupuncture at Bastyr University’s Department of Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine from 2005 to 2007. Dr. Majd sought further specialization in family medicine, completing the University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals Family Medicine Residency in 2012. Throughout his career, he has held various faculty positions, showcasing his dedication to education. Notably, he served as Clinical Adjunct Faculty at Bastyr University from 2005 to 2021 and as a Clinical Instructor and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Washingtons Department of Family Medicine from 2012 to 2021. Dr. Majd has made significant contributions to patient care as an Attending Physician at the University of Washington Neighborhood Clinics – Factoria since 2012 and at the University of Washington Medical Center since 2018. In 2021, Dr. Majd assumed the role of Interim Director at the Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Washington, later becoming the Director in 2022. He also serves as the Clinic Director at the Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Washington in Ballard. His exceptional achievements have been acknowledged through numerous awards, including the prestigious Bastyr Mission Honor award in 2018 and the Gold Circle Award from the American Society of Association Executives in 2020. Dr. Majds leadership roles extend to his involvement in various professional organizations, including the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, where he served as the Chair of the Board of Commissioners and Chair of the Executive Committee. In addition to his clinical and administrative roles, Dr. Majd is actively engaged in research, having secured grants such as the Osher Foundation Grant in 2021 and the RapSDI Grant from the American Academy of Family Physicians in the same year. Dr. Majd is an accomplished author with publications in peer-reviewed journals and contributions to educational curricula. He has also delivered invited talks and presentations on acupuncture, integrative medicine, and healthcare practices at national, regional, and local levels. With an unwavering commitment to integrative health and a distinguished career marked by excellence, Dr. Iman Majd continues to impact the field of medicine through his leadership, education, and patient-centered care.

Seiji Sasaki is a technology executive with extensive experience in leadership roles at major tech companies. He currently holds the position of GTM Leadership at OpenAI. Prior to this role, Sasaki had a notable career at Salesforce, Slack, and SAP. Throughout his career, Sasaki has been recognized for his leadership in expanding and managing operations for global tech companies in the Japanese and Korean markets.

Sasaki’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business/Trade/Commerce from the University of Washington (1991-1994) and participation in the GSB LEAD Business Program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2023-2024).

Dr. Yanfang Su is a health economist with more than ten years of work experience in health systems and policy. Dr. Su holds an MA in Public Management from Tsinghua University and an ScD in Global Health and Population within Health Systems track from Harvard University. During her postdoctoral training at the University of Washington, Dr. Su applied econometric methods to health financing and published papers in The Lancet as co-first author and The Lancet Infectious Diseases as first author. Her publications focus on three areas: 1) economic evaluation of healthcare systems, including analysis of equity, supply, demand, costs, and quality; 2) public policy evaluation; and 3) global health and population measures. Dr. Su is the cofounder and the co-director of a new initiative, Learning for Action in Policy Implementation and Health Systems (LAPIS), in the Department of Global Health at University of Washington. Dr. Su is the founder and Board Chair of a non-profit organization, the East West Alliance for Education and Health, which delivered equitable community services and conducted digital health randomized controlled trials in low-resource settings. Dr. Su worked at Tsinghua University and the Hong Kong Policy and Research Institute in China. Dr. Su has consulted for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, and Results for Development on primary health care systems strengthening. Dr. Su is a guest editor for a special issue on policy implementation science in Frontiers in Health Services. Dr. Su is an NIH-funded Implementation Science Scholar (IS-2) and an NIH career development awardee (K01).

Dr. Masahiro Yamaguchi is Vice President for Education Reform and Global Engagement at Tohoku University, where he also directs multiple university-wide initiatives in graduate education, global learning, and international strategy. He has played a key role in advancing the university’s internationalization, including the Top Global University Project, and has contributed to building a strategic partnership with the University of Washington since the establishment of the Academic Open Space (AOS). He has been a Professor of Physics since 2003, received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1990, and works in theoretical particle physics and cosmology. He was awarded the Nishinomiya–Yukawa Memorial Prize in 1996.

Jihui Yang currently serves as the Vice Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Washington and the principal research administrator for a high-impact portfolio, spearheading strategic initiatives that bridge engineering, medicine, and industry. A Fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences, Jihui has built a career at the intersection of fundamental materials science and large-scale industrial application.

His research team works on developing next-generation energy storage solutions, making high-performance batteries more stable, sustainable, and manufacturing-ready. By collaborating with national laboratories and industry partners, Jihui’s work ensures that the clean energy technologies of tomorrow are built on a foundation of rigorous engineering and scalable innovation. He has authored over 100 papers and holds 19 US patents, reflecting a career-long commitment to translating academic excellence into global energy solutions.