Daisuke Konno, Dr.

Profile

■Daisuke Konno,Dr
   Japanese Scientist, Engineer, Business Director ,Professor,  Essayist and Editorial
writer, and Researcher on the history of Japan's Bakumatsu period and MeijiRestoration.
   Born in 1945, Dr. Konno studied engineering (with particular focus on fluid
dynamics and fluid engineering) at the University of Tokyo, eventually earning a Ph.D.in
Mechanical Engineering. In the meantime, he went abroad for short-term  study at the
Mathematical Statistics Institute of Moscow University in the former Soviet Union. Healso
attended the "Top Management Course" at the Nomura Harvard Management School.
   Until 1999, he filled important positions such as Division Executive, Board Member
and CTO in listed Japanese companies of all conceivable sizes with profound large typed
and frivolous small typed. In the past, he concurrently held other posts including
Reviewer of Papers for the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineering, Chair of the
National Big Project  at MITI, and more recently, the first Director as well as Industrial
Innovation Committee Member and others as the key person and prime mover upon the
creation of the national corporation "Innovation Network Corporation of Japan" by the
Japanese government.
   Since 2000, he has served as President and CEO of the Eureka Think Tank for
evaluation of technical projects, an organization with over 1,200 evaluators.Concurrently,
as Political Counselor to the Mayor of Niigata City, he has given lectures on "China's
Movements" and other subjects upon request by prominent Dietmembers' groups fromthe
Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party.
   Since 1994, he has served as Tenured Professor, State Key Laboratory on Tribology
at Tsinghua University in China, and since 2008 as Guest Professor, RICFRH ofHistory
Dept.  at Peking University. This makes him the only Japanese person to hold
professorial posts at both of China's top two universities, and has yielded strong
connections with high-ranking Chinese officials. However, his principal ideology is
freedom of thought and is basically unsuited to Chinese communism.
   Since 2001,He also serves as General Executive Board Member and Director of the
Japan-China Science & Technology Exchange Association. At the present time,
Simultaneously he serves the Honorary Chairman of the ASJ, Algae Society of Japan,
And the Board member of the Dimaag-AI Inc. located at Silicon Valley in CA,USA.
   Meanwhile, he has visited 70 of the world's countries for academic or business
purposes, and has given lectures on Bushido (The Way of the Samurai) at Cambridge
University in England and other universities,
European Center for Japanese studies, Alsace in France and elsewhere. To increase
understanding of Japan in the world, he looks for Japanese attributes such as theirethos,
reservedness, values, humility, graciousness, and aesthetic awareness in the greatfigures
of the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration period, then translates their works into English
and distributes or introduces them free at overseas universities and elsewhere. He
received a letter of acknowledgement from US President Clinton for the first of these,the
English translation ofKeihatsuroku("Treatise on Enlightenment") by Hashimoto Sanai,
published in 1996. The second wasRyukonroku("Soulful Minute") by Yoshida Shoin,
published in 2003, followed now by the third,Seikenroku("Record of Conscience") by
Sakuma Shozan.
   Other publications includeChugokunoZuno-Seika DaigakutoPekin Daigaku
("Brains of China - Tsinghua and Peking Universities", Asahi Shimbun) andMindo
Kakumei no Susume("Encouragement  for Revolution in Cultural Standards", Toho
Publishing).