Kazunari Sasaki

Prof. Dr. Kazunari Sasaki graduated the Tokyo Institute of Technology for bachelor (in inorganic materials) and master degrees, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Zürich), Switzerland, for a Ph.D degree in 1993. After spending 10 years in Europe including Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research, he became an Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University in 1999. He became a Professor of Faculty of Engineering in 2005. He has been appointed as a Distinguished Professor of Kyushu University in 2011 for his outstanding contributions as a professor. He is currently a Senior Vice President of Kyushu University since 2016, Director of the Next-Generation Fuel Cell Research Center since 2012, and Director of the International Research Center for Hydrogen Energy since 2006.

Sasaki’s research areas are materials and electrochemical processes of fuel cells and related devices. He is one of the most active leaders in fuel cells, hydrogen energy, and green innovation in Japan. He is the lead author of the book Hydrogen Energy Engineering: A Japanese Perspective, and has published more than 250 papers in international journals or conferences. Major Awards include Christian Friedrich Schönbein Silver Medal from European Fuel Cell Forum in 2008, and Ministerial Award of the Environment of Japan in 2019.