SI: Sony Appoints Nobel Prize Winner Ei-ichi Negishi As R&D Advisor

[Christopher]

In a rather unique acquisition, Sony has appointed Professor Ei-ichi Negishi, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, as Executive Research Advisor to Sony for R&D. Sony will tap his expertise and apply it to the field of materials and devices, specifically in the area of organic electronics. He is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Purdue University (USA) and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Hokkaido University Catalysis Research Center.

Professor Negishi will be present at internal and external research centers, and participate in research progress review meetings and other opportunities. He will also advise on Sony’s medium and long-term research plans, and on methods for nurturing talented researchers. Through the involvement of such a renowned expert in this field, Sony aims to stimulate its researchers in their organics electronics research and development, and accelerate their R&D processes as a result.

Professor Negishi was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Akira Suzuki, Professor Emeritus at Hokkaido University and Richard F. Heck, Professor Emeritus at University of Delaware, for their research findings in ‘palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis’, which is being used widely throughout the world as a technology that drastically accelerates organic synthesis reactivity, and that has contributed to the technological advancement of various industries, including pharmaceuticals, agrichemicals, plastics and liquid crystal.

We found a great interview on YouTube with Professor Ei-ichi Negishi:

The opportunity to interact with Professor Negishi, a global authority on organic chemistry who brings vast experience and insights relating to research procedures, is certain to stimulate and inspire Sony’s researchers as they engages in their own research and development of organic electronics. Sony expects his appointment to be a catalyst for further breakthroughs leading to the practical implementation of these technologies in new and revolutionary Sony products.

Sony continues to achieve world-leading research results in the field of organic electronics based on organic chemistry and synthesis, which have contributed to the development of technologies such as organic transistors used in the rear substrates of organic light emitting diode(OLED) displays and flexible OLED displays, dye-sensitized solar cells (a type of organic photovoltaic cell), electrolytes for next-generation rechargeable batteries, vegetable-based plastics and recycled plastics. Sony is further accelerating its research and development in these technologies, to enable their adoption as core technologies in future generations of Sony products.

This post is an altered version of the original Sony global press release.

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