Today, the 15th ceremony of awarding the State Prize of the Republic of Armenia for Global Contribution to High Technologies took place.

The event was attended by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President Vahagn Khachaturyan, representatives of the legislative and executive authorities, and guests.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan awarded State Prize of the Republic of Armenia for Global Contribution to High Technologies to Yoshiaki Damon Hagiwara, a Japanese scientist, founder of the AIPLAB consortium, and president of the LOCOMTEC AIPS laboratory for Artificial Intelligence Partner Systems.

During the ceremony, the Prime Minister made a speech and noted: “First of all, I would like to thank you for your contribution to the global technological sphere and congratulate you on being awarded the State Prize of the Republic of Armenia in the field of High Technologies.” Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that this prize is important, because through it, Armenia, as a state, pays tribute to those individuals who have had a very concrete impact on the formation of modern life. “And this is also, in a sense, a format of our participation in these global processes, which we consider very important. Of course, the visit of such high-profile figures to Armenia, their contacts with our students, business community, and technological sphere, I think is important and an additional incentive for the development of the technological sphere in our country. This award ceremony also helps us to check and make sure of the accuracy of our strategic ideas in the technological and educational spheres. This is also an important circumstance that I want to emphasize,” the Prime Minister added.

Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that he noticed an interesting pattern in his interactions with all the laureates in that they all, when recalling their path and activities, always refer to school, which means that regardless of their future life and education, school plays a very significant role in everyone’s life. “And the fact that all our guests definitely remember a small episode from their school after achieving such success once again emphasizes how important the existence of educational infrastructure in the country is, which is an absolute priority for our Government. And we are implementing very serious programs in the field of education: preschool education, general education, higher education, postgraduate education, science and technology.”

In his speech, the Prime Minister also thanked Yoshiaki Damon Hagiwara for sharing his experience with the students and for his willingness to continue communication in the future.

Summing up, the Prime Minister noted: "Dear Mr. President, esteemed colleagues, let me once again, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, pay tribute to Mr. Yoshiaki Hagiwara, the 15th laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Armenia for Global Contribution to the Field of High Technologies."

The latter expressed his gratitude for appreciating his activities and awarding him with the State Prize of Armenia. In his speech, the renowned scientist emphasized the importance of the development of the high-tech sector and the consistent implementation of programs in the field of education.

* * *

Dr. Yoshiaki Damon Hagiwara is the founder of the AIPLAB consortium, chairman of the LOCOMTEC AIPS Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence Partner Systems, an IEEE Life Fellow, an AAIA member, and a distinguished alumnus of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Yoshiaki Damon Hagiwara graduated from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, USA, with a PhD in electrical engineering in physics in 1975. While working at Sony from 1975 to 2008, he was involved in the early development of image sensors and digital camera chipsets, including ADCs, DRAMs, high-speed Cache SRAM buffer memory chips, microcontroller chips, and high-performance real-time processors. In 1992, he was a member of the JEDEC Memory Standardization Committee and also served as the Chairman of the IEC TC47 Technical Committee of the International Standards Committee (IEC).

He has been a visiting professor in the departments of electrical engineering and applied physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), a visiting professor in the department of electrical engineering at Gunma University in Kiryu, Japan, a full professor in the department of information science and technology at Sojo University in Kumamoto, Kyushu, Japan, and is currently a specially appointed professor in the Office of the President of Sojo University.

In 2008, he founded the AIPLAB consortium and served as the president of the Artificial Intelligence Partner System (AIPS) Laboratory. He continues to serve as the president of the LOCOMTEC AIPS Laboratory in Atsugi, Japan, developing system solutions for AI Robot Clean Energy SDGs. Mr. Hagiոara was the Chairman of the Education Committee of the Society of Semiconductor Industry Professionals (SSIS) and continues to serve as a member. He is an honorary Caltech alumnus, AAIA member, IEEE lifetime member, and a member of IEEE EDS, IEEE SSCS, IEEE CS, IEEE Superconductivity Council, IEEE Nanotechnology Council, IEEE Sensors Council, and IEEE Systems Council.