Executive Research Director

Title
Professor of the Institute of Systems and Information Engineering,
Executive Research Director at the Center for Cybernics
Research,
Director at the R&D Center for Frontiers of MIRAI in
Policy and Technology, University of Tsukuba
President and CEO of CYBERDYNE, Inc.
Program Director of SIP (Strategical Innovation Promotion Program) promoted by the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan

• Profile

  • Yoshiyuki Sankai earned a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Tsukuba in Japan in 1987.
    He has progressed from being a research fellow at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (“JSPS”) to assistant professor, associate professor, and then professor at the Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Tsukuba.
    Dr. Sankai is also a visiting professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas in the United States.
    Currently, he is a professor, the Executive Research Director at the Center for Cybernics Research and the Director at the F-MIRAI for the University of Tsukuba, the President and CEO of CYBERDYNE Inc., and a Program Director of SIP promoted by the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan.

    He was appointed as a leader of the Global COE (Center of Excellence) program for Cybernics, by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan)(2007-2012).
    He was selected as one of the top 30 Japanese scientists and his research plan/project obtained financial support from the “Funding Program for World Leading Innovative R&D on Science and Technology”(2010-2014). He was a Program Manager of the Impulsing Paradigm Change through Disruptive Technologies (“ImPACT”) program (2014-2018), initiated by the Cabinet Office of Japan, and also Business producer of Program for Building Regional Innovation Ecosystem by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (“MEXT”). And he was Director of Center for Cybernics Research (2011-2017).
    He also served as an Executive Board Member of Advanced Robotics, a member of Global Agenda Council on Robotics & Smart Devices, a Center Partner of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a member of the Global Future Council of Production, and a member of the Global Precision Medicine Council of the WEF.Now,
    he is a fellow of the Robotics Society of Japan (“RSJ”) and the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (“SICE”). And he is also appointed as an International Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (“IVA”).

    Dr.Sankai led the intellectual property strategy and international standard setting by ISO and IEC as an expert member of the committee on the medical robotics field and personal-care robotics field.
    He has pioneered innovative cyborg-type robot technology in a new academic field, “Cybernics: the fusion and combination of humans, robots and AI/information systems,” and established a social
    problem-solving venture company “CYBERDYNE, Inc.” in 2004.
    In March 2014, the company was listed in the “Mothers” section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, as the first company to issue class shares in Japan.
    In addition, due to its distinctive advanced technology and growth probability, the company was awarded FY2013’s ”IPO of the Year” and FY2014’s “Innovative Equity Deal of the Year” by Thomson Reuters Market, becoming the first company ever to receive an award two years in a row.
    Now, Dr. Sankai is acting as a core member of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s Smart City Project/Tsukuba Promotion Council, as well as a founding core member of the Tsukuba Conference.
    He has received numerous awards, including: The 2005 World Technology Award (2005), Good Design Gold Award (2006), Award from the Minister of Economy(2007), the 21st century Invention Award from Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation (2009) , Gold Prize of 2014 Edison Awards, DealWatch Awards 2013 IPO of the Year (Thomson Reuters) (2014), DealWatch Awards 2014 Innovative Equity Deal of the Year (Thomson Reuters) (2015), the 7th Robot Award (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare award) (2016), the Prime Minister’s Award (the third Nippon Venture Awards) (2017) , MEXT Award
    in the 7th Technology Management and Innovation Awards(2019), Ichimura Prize in Industry for Distinguished Achievement(2019), The Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon(2019) awarded by the Emperor, Intellectual Property Achievement Awards, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Awards(2020) and many more.

Director of Center

Title
Professor of the Institute of Systems and Information Engineering, Director of Center for Cybernics Research, Principle Investigator of Life Engineering Laboratory, University of Tsukuba.

• Profile

  • He is currently a Professor of the Institute of Systems and Information Engineering, Director of Center for Cybernics Research and also Principle Investigator of Life Engineering Laboratory, University of Tsukuba.
    He received the B.S. in Integrated Human Studies, M.S. and Ph.D. in Informatics from Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, in 2000, 2003 and 2005, respectively.
    He was a Project Assistant Professor with the Grad. Sch. of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto from 2005 to 2006. From 2006 to 2013, he was an Assistant Professor with the Grad. Sch. of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Osaka. From 2013 to 2016, he was an Associate Professor with the Cybermedia Center, Osaka University, Osaka.
    From 2016 to 2019, he was an Associate Professor with the Grad. Sch. of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Osaka.
    In 2019, he joined the University of Tsukuba, and is now a director of the Center for Cybernics Research, University of Tsukuba.

    He is served as elected board members of the Virtual Reality Society of Japan, Human Interface Society of Japan, and
    Japanese Society of Medical Virtual Reality.
    His primary research interests include biomedical simulation, sensory feedback technologies, Cybernics, biomedical image processing, medical artificial intelligence, medical systems, and assistive systems with a seamless fusion of cyber and physical spaces.
    He has published more than 180 peer-reviewed papers. He is currently a member of IEEE and ACM.

Vice Director of Center

Title
Professor, Institute of Systems and Information Engineering, University of TsukubaVice Director, Center for Cybernics Research, University of Tsukuba

• Profile

  • In 2004, Hiroaki Kawamoto completed the Doctoral Program in Intelligent Interaction Technologies at the Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Tsukuba, and received his Ph.D. in Engineering. After serving as a Research Resident at the Japan Association for the Advancement of Medical Equipment, he joined the University of Tsukuba as an Assistant Professor in April 2009. He was promoted to Associate Professor in April 2015 and Professor in December 2024. In 2025, he conducted research as an Affiliated Researcher in Advanced Robotics at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia（IIT）. In the same year, he participated in the 11th Japan Biodesign Fellowship, working toward the creation and societal implementation of innovative medical devices and technologies.

    His research is grounded in Cybernics, an interdisciplinary field that integrates humans, AI robots, and information systems. He specializes in human–robot integration technologies that establish a bidirectional connection between human intent and robot motion. He established the fundamental principles of integrated human–robot control for the wearable cyborg HAL. He also built an integrated medical–engineering research framework involving physicians and healthcare professionals, advancing innovative robotic treatment technologies from clinical translation and safety technology development to international standardization and societal implementation through a university spin-off company. He is currently extending these achievements into Human-Cyber-Physical Systems（HCPS）to create a new paradigm of human-collaborative robotics in which people and autonomous robots mutually adapt and cooperate.

    During his doctoral studies, he investigated integrated human–robot control technologies that connect people with wearable robots through bioelectrical signals and human motion information, thereby forming a sensorimotor interaction loop between them. Through this research, he established the fundamental principle of voluntary control, enabling a wearable robot to move according to the wearer’s intent, and built the technological foundation for the integrated control of the wearable cyborg HAL. In 2004, he participated as a founding member of CYBERDYNE Inc., a university spin-off company established to translate research outcomes into societal applications.

    He subsequently systematized human–robot integration technologies and developed a hybrid control architecture that combines voluntary control reflecting human intent with autonomous control generated by the robot. This architecture was implemented in the wearable cyborg HAL and further developed into technologies for supporting, improving, and regenerating physical functions.

    After joining the University of Tsukuba, he led the establishment of an integrated medical–engineering research framework for HAL and advanced innovative robotic treatment technologies from research and development to clinical application. Within NEDO’s Project for the Practical Application of Service Robots, he contributed to the development and validation of safety technologies for wearable personal-care robots and to the establishment of ISO 13482, the international standard specifying safety requirements for personal-care robots.

    Since 2015, he has participated in an investigator-initiated clinical trial of HAL for cerebrovascular disorders. His responsibilities included data analysis, clinical-trial protocol development, study operations, and regulatory activities toward medical-device approval. He has also promoted the application of human–robot integration technologies to a broader range of medical conditions.

    He is currently extending the human–robot integration technologies developed through HAL research into Human-Cyber-Physical Systems（HCPS）, which integrate human, cyber, and physical spaces. His research focuses on mobility robots that transport people and robotic arms that assist human activity in living environments. These systems communicate human state and intent to the robot while feeding sensory and environmental information perceived by the robot back to the person, thereby creating a bidirectional sensorimotor loop. Under the third phase of Japan’s Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program（SIP）, he serves as Principal Investigator for the development of foundational technologies supporting the wider societal deployment of human-collaborative robotics.

    His laboratory is guided by three principles—Connection, Cycle, and Resonance. It seeks to connect humans, AI robots, and information systems at an advanced level, circulate information and action among them, and bring their interactions into resonance. Through this approach, the laboratory aims to pioneer new research domains that enhance human and societal capabilities.