was a Japanese

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

who was influential in founding

Busicom was a Japanese company that manufactured and sold computer-related products headquartered in Taito, Tokyo. It owned the rights to Intel's first microprocessor, the Intel 4004, which they created in partnership with Intel in 1970. Busicom aske ...

, driving the development of the

Intel 4004 The Intel 4004 was part of the 4 chip MCS-4 micro computer set, released by the Intel, Intel Corporation in November 1971; the 4004 being part of the first commercially marketed microprocessor chipset, and the first in a long line of List of I ...

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...

, and later driving Sharp into the

LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not em ...

calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-si ...

market.

Biography

Tadashi Sasaki was born on May 12, 1915, in Hamada City, Shimane Prefecture. Not much is known of Sasaki's mother. His father was a former samurai from the garrison at Hamada Castle and a teacher. Initially, Sasaki desired to study modern Japanese literature, but he was encouraged by one of his school teachers to study science.Aspray, William (1994-05-25). "Oral-History: Tadashi Sasaki". Interview #211 for the Center for the History of Electrical Engineering. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. He studied electrical engineering at Kyoto University, where he graduated in 1938. After graduation, he worked for a short time on circuit design at the Electrotechnical Laboratory—a preeminent research laboratory sponsored by the Ministry of Telecommunications.Johnstone, Bob. ''We Were Burning: Japanese Entrepreneurs and the Forging of the Electronic Age''. New York: A Cornelia and Michael Bessie Book. 1999. Pg. 24-26 This position was short-lived as the outbreak of war in Japan meant Sasaki would be recruited for wartime work. Sasaki was assigned to an aircraft maker called Kawanishi, which was based in the western Japanese port of Kobe. Sasaki did research on vacuum tubes for use in telephones, wireless, and radar. In this position, he learned about the vertical integration of technology, an experience he found to be very valuable. Additionally, Sasaki worked to develop radar technologies as well as radar technologies to aid in the war effort. This research took him to Wurzburg, Germany, where he studied anti-radar technology. He later worked in Kobe Kogyo, the first Japanese company to manufacture transistors, and then in Hayakawa Electrical Industries, where he helped to develop electronic calculators. This eventually led him to obtain American patent licences to fabricate integrated chips and thus the first commercially successful pocket calculator. His frequent trips overseas to study the latest developments in semiconductor technologies earned him the popular nicknames "Rocket Sasaki" and "Mr. Rocket".

Intel 4004

Sasaki played a key role in the creation of the first

, the

. Initially, he conceived of the idea of the chip and requests that

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

build it, for building better calculators. He was involved in the development of the Busicom 141-PF

desktop calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-size ...

which led to the 4004's creation. He conceived of a single-chip

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the primary processor in a given computer. Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of a computer program, such as arithmetic, log ...

in 1968, when he discussed the concept at a brainstorming meeting that was held in Japan. Sasaki attributes the basic idea to integrate the four basic parts of the calculator chipset (

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

(4001),

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

(4002),

shift register A shift register is a type of digital circuit using a cascade of flip-flop (electronics), flip-flops where the output of one flip-flop is connected to the input of the next. They share a single clock signal, which causes the data stored in the syst ...

s (4003) and

(4004)) into a single chip to an unnamed woman, a software engineering researcher from Nara Women's College, who was present at the meeting. Sasaki then had his first meeting with

Robert Noyce Robert Norton Noyce (December 12, 1927 – June 3, 1990), nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", was an American physicist and entrepreneur who co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel Corporation in 1968. He was also credited w ...

from

in 1968, and presented the woman's four-division chipset concept to Intel and Busicom, providing the basis for the single-chip microprocessor design of the Intel 4004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasaki, Tadashi 1915 births 2018 deaths Japanese electrical engineers Japanese men centenarians Japanese inventors Sharp Corporation people People from Hamada, Shimane