Collaboration with Colleagues within and beyond DENSO the Key to the Evolution of Business and Technology Building the Next Stage in the Future of Quantum Computing

01

In 2007, I completed a postgraduate degree in quantum mechanics at Nagoya University’s School of Engineering. During my postgraduate studies, I was involved in research into the use of superconductivity to create a new type of integrated circuit that would be superior to semiconductors. My passion for motorcycles and my experiences of travelling the world inspired me with a determination to bring new technologies into the world and provide society with new forms of mobility. These ideas led me to join DENSO, which supplies a wide variety of products to automobile manufacturers around the world. Initially I worked on the development of in-vehicle microprocessors and communication technology. In 2011 I was transferred to Germany, where I was involved in the co-creation of industry standards with overseas manufacturers and worked on the Single-Edge Nibble Transmission (SENT) protocol for automotive communications. I also helped to open up a path for standardization activities as the first Japanese to participate in the PSI5 Consortium.

02

Basically, I aim to apply quantum computing to new business creation. Using quantum computers developed by D-Wave Systems, I am engaged in proof-of-concept experiments focusing on problems relating to mobility IoT and factory IoT, and in the co-creation of applications. There are two main obstacles to the development of practical quantum computers. First, there is the market-technology gap. The problems that we solve with applications cannot be solved directly by quantum computers. A special type of modeling is required, but there are few people with knowledge of both the markets and the technology. For that reason, I have been engaged in quantum computer research for several years with people in various organizations, including Tohoku University and Waseda University. I have already accumulated knowledge about obstacles to the efficient implementation of applications, and approaches to the elimination of those obstacles. Second, it will be necessary to create worthwhile markets. Because of the lack of applied research relating to quantum computing, we are still not sure how quantum computers can be used. For that reason, I am carrying out proof-of-concept trials, while also actively sharing information and working to spread knowledge about quantum computing in ways that are easy to understand. More people than ever are becoming interested in quantum computing, and the field is already being debated from various perspectives. I believe that by expanding this spiral, we will be able to create markets to exploit the unique characteristics of quantum computing.

03

I am convinced that we should continue to take up new challenges without fear of failure. To open up new markets for the first time in the world, we need to create not only the how (technology), but also the what (value). When we had only mobile telephones, nobody imagined a smartphone, and few people would have responded that they wanted such a thing. As this suggests, the creation of the “what” is never easy. My approach is to start small with a lean start-up, and to develop applications technology with my colleagues while monitoring the mood of society. This method sometimes leads to failure. However, my attitude is to learn from failures, to value the opinions of those around me, and to continue to take up the challenge of creating truly valuable markets.

04

A key advantage for me is the fact that I have colleagues from various backgrounds and experience in wide range of fields. When I am talking to one of my colleagues, other people join in and the scope of the conservation expands. DENSO also offers fertile ground for a one new initiative after another, and an environment in which innovation happens within the company as well as outside. I was also attracted by the opportunity to carry out proof-of-concept trials of large-scale IoT systems using DENSO’s

We are ready to seize the opportunities offered by this once-in-a-century phase of change and innovation by taking up this new challenge in the global arena.

01

In 1998, Tadashi Kadowaki, then a postgraduate student at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Professor Hidetoshi Nishimori published quantum annealing in the transverse Ising model. They were the first in the world to propose quantum annealing as a method for solving combinatorial optimization problems. After graduation, Kadowaki worked on the development of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) at ROHM Semiconductor. He later switched to bioinformatics, and after working for a venture company and carrying out post-doctoral work, he was employed by Eisai, where he was involved in genome analysis and the analysis of cancer bio-markers. Most recently he undertook research in the Data Science section with the aim of using artificial intelligence in drug discovery. In May2018 he joined DENSO in search of an environment in which he can take up new challenges in the field of quantum computer applications, at a time when the automobile industry in Japan and globally is on the threshold of a once-in-a-century phase of change of innovation.

02

Computer development has hitherto been supported by Moore’s Law (*), which is now reaching its limit. Kadowaki aims to create a quantum computer that will go beyond the limits of conventional computers through wide-ranging efforts at all levels from the basics through to applications. Currently he is working on a methodology for understanding the characteristics of quantum bits, which are vulnerable to noise. One quantum computer that can already be used is the quantum annealing computer developed by the Canadian company D-Wave Systems. While experimenting with this computer, Kadowaki is also engaged on research using both theoretical analyses and computer simulations, while debating with his co-researchers at Tohoku University and Waseda University. At the applied level, he is not only working on the combinatorial optimization problem, but also carrying out surveys on trends in cutting-edge research that could be used within DENSO, such as quantum simulations and quantum machine learning.

03

Kadowaki thinks that today’s quantum computers are being used primarily as research tools that will help us to understand the practical quantum computers of the future. The strategic directions emerging from research around the world are likely to determine the shape of practical quantum computers and the tasks for which they will be used. His goal is to develop core technologies that will give DENSO products and services a competitive advantage, while also verifying the usefulness of those technologies in meeting real-life social needs within and beyond DENSO. The development of practical quantum computers will involve many challenges at both the basic and applied levels. We will need to select targets and determine the level of effort to be devoted to each under a strategy that also encompasses collaboration with outside partners.

04

For around 25 years, Kadowaki has engaged in research and development in a wide range of fields in both universities and industries. By looking back on major and minor failures and successes, he has learned that it is never possible to predict in advance whether a research project will succeed. Perhaps he has simply become aware of the obvious fact that we carry out research because there are things that we cannot predict. Kadowaki believes that the potential for serendipity can be enhanced by discovering the fun of research within oneself, and by giving priority to producing diversity. Depending on the situation, some research fields are likely to be given priority. However, we all need to deepen our knowledge by widely cultivating unexplored lands on the frontiers of science, in the hope of discovering knowledge that will be valuable for industry.