PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Shigeru Sasaki

Also known as 佐々木繁

Shigeru Sasaki is an image-processing engineer and research executive whose Fujitsu Laboratories career ran from video-rate vision systems to palm vein authentication and the CEO's office. He joined Fujitsu Laboratories in 1981 after a master's degree at Iwate University, and developed the world's first real-time video-rate image processing system in 1984. In 2003 he began leading development of PalmSecure, a palm vein biometric authentication technology that reached commercial release in 2004. The International Association for Pattern Recognition made him a Fellow in 2010, and in 2016 he became CEO of Fujitsu Laboratories. In October 2018, Fujitsu Laboratories and MIT's Center for Brains, Minds and Machines announced a multi-year partnership on the science and engineering of intelligence.

Works
5
Citations
113
h-index
2

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1981–1988

    Joining Fujitsu Laboratories

    He earns a master's degree in computer science from Iwate University and joins Fujitsu Laboratories in 1981. In 1988, he is a visiting researcher in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University.

  2. 1984–1985

    Real-time video image processing

    He develops the world's first real-time video-rate image processing system in 1984. A color version follows in 1985.

  3. 1987–1991

    Vehicle vision and SUBARU graphics

    In 1987, he leads development of an automated drive system built on real-time image processing, as part of Japan's nationally funded Autonomous Vehicle project, the Personal Vehicle System (PVS). In 1991, he develops the architecture platform for SUBARU, a 3D computer graphics system with the world's highest performance at the time.

  4. 2003–2005

    The PalmSecure palm vein system

    In 2003, he leads development of PalmSecure, Fujitsu's palm vein biometric authentication technology. It reaches commercial release in 2004 and a global launch in 2005.

  5. 2008–2013

    Fujitsu Laboratories director

    He joins the board of Fujitsu Laboratories in 2008 and becomes Corporate Senior Vice President and Director in April 2010. He chairs Fujitsu's research and development center in China from 2009, and its laboratories in the United States and Europe from 2013.

  6. 2010

    An IAPR Fellowship

    The International Association for Pattern Recognition names him a Fellow in 2010 for contributions to image processing and its applications in industry. By 2015, he also chairs IAPR's TC-8 committee.

  7. 2016–2018

    CEO of Fujitsu Laboratories

    Fujitsu Laboratories names him CEO and Representative Director as of April 2016, and announces his reappointment to the post for April 2017 and again for April 2018.

  8. October 2018

    Partnering with MIT on intelligence

    Fujitsu Laboratories and MIT's Center for Brains, Minds and Machines announce a multi-year partnership in October 2018 to advance the science and engineering of intelligence. A new research fund covers visual recognition, language processing, new machine learning methods and the theory of deep learning. As CEO of Fujitsu Laboratories, he says that understanding how humans think, feel and make decisions is critical to developing new technologies.

Career

  1. 1988Carnegie Mellon UniversityVisiting researcher
  2. 1981–2018FujitsuBoard member, Chair
  3. International Association for Pattern RecognitionChair

Education

  1. Iwate UniversityMaster's degree in computer science

From the biography.

Most-cited works

  1. Palm vein authentication technology and its applications2005 · 100 citations
  2. Business expansion of palm vein pattern authentication technology2005 · Fujitsu Scientific and Technical Journal · 13 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Carnegie Mellon University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Carnegie Mellon University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  3. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Carnegie Mellon University. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.
  4. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Carnegie Mellon University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Shigeru Sasaki yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Fujitsu Laboratories of America Technology Symposium 2015 Speaker Biography: Shigeru Sasaki web.archive.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Fujitsu Laboratories Announces Executive Appointments and Resignations (March 24, 2010) info.archives.global.fujitsu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Chronological List of IAPR Fellows iapr.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Executive Appointments and Resignations (Fujitsu Laboratories, March 18, 2016) info.archives.global.fujitsu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Fujitsu Laboratories Announces Executive Appointments and Resignations (December 22, 2016) info.archives.global.fujitsu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Executive Appointments and Resignations (Fujitsu Laboratories, February 13, 2018) info.archives.global.fujitsu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Fujitsu Laboratories and MIT's Center for Brains, Minds and Machines Broaden Partnership info.archives.global.fujitsu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Fujitsu Laboratories and MIT's Center for Brains, Minds and Machines Broaden Partnership | MIT News news.mit.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.