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, Executive Research Director at the Center for Cybernics Research and Director at the R&D Center for Frontiers of MIRAI in Policy and Technology and University of Tsukuba; and the President and CEO of CYBERDYNE, INC..

He is a fellow of the Robotics Society of Japan (“RSJ”) (2012) and the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (“SICE”) (2014). He also served as Chairman (2005) and an Executive Board Member (2004-2005) of Advanced Robotics, as well as an Executive Board Member (2000-2012), Congress Head (2003), and President (2003) of the Japan Society of Embolus Detection and Treatment. He was a Program Manager of the Impulsing Paradigm Change through Disruptive Technologies (“ImPACT”) program, which was initiated by the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (“CSTI”) of the Cabinet Office in Japan(2014-2018) and a member of Global Agenda Council on Robotics & Smart Devices of World Economic Forum (2011-2014). Now he is a Center Partner of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (2017-) , a member of Global Future Council of Production (2018-) , a member of Global Precision Medicine Council (2019-) of World Economic Forum and Business producer of Program for Building Regional Innovation Ecosystem by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (“MEXT”).

He has established and championed a new academic field, “Cybernics: the fusion and combination of humans, robots and information systems,” bringing together differing realms of academia in brain/neuroscience, behavioral science, robotic engineering, IT, artificial intelligence, system integration, biology, psychology, philosophy, ethics, law, and business. “Cybernics” fuses “Humans” with “Cyber/Physical Space", and this concept runs at the core of the cutting edge innovations he has developed. Equipped with Cybernics, he is addressing the social issues of a super-aging society with the development of innovative technologies, establishment of new industries, and cultivation of next-generation entrepreneurs, and pioneering the future through the promotion of a virtuous cycle of innovation.

His achievements include the development of HAL, the world’s first “Wearable Cyborg” that promotes functional improvement/regeneration of the brain, nerve, and physical systems, from basic research on its motion principle through prototype testing, evaluation, and real-world implementation. In addition to Medical HAL, he continues to advance the development and application of various Cybernic systems (Vital Sensor, Precision Medicine, Human Big Data aggregation, AI analytics and statistical computing with super computers, other Cybernic robots) and is working toward the realization of a social and industrial visions known as “ZERO Burdening-Care Society” and “Society 5.0/5.1.”

In an effort to use his research results for the benefit of society, in June 2004, Dr. Sankai founded CYBERDYNE, INC.; a company designed to pioneer the future by developing, manufacturing, and commercializing innovative Cybernic systems and services in the fields of medicine, welfare, labor, production, and life. 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.