Mr. Yoshihiro Kyotani joined the Japanese National Railway (JNR) as engineer. After working in administration at the Ministry of Transportation and at several JNR firms, he joined the JNR Technology Development Department, as deputy Director (1968- 1976) and later as Director (-1983). During this assignment, he proposed a new type of high speed ground transportation system based on the principle of superconducting magnetic levitation and propulsion, and after approval of the proposal, directed the special project team dedicated to related technology development. He received many prestigious national awards for this achievement including the Purple Ribbon Medal in 1988. After retirement he was invited to join TECHNOVA Inc. (one of the "Think Tank" organizations founded by the late Mr. Minoru Toyota) in 1987 as President, and later became Chairman in 1989. At the same time, he provided his expertise (as Senior Executive Advisor) to the Central Japan Railway company (JR Tokai), Ship and Ocean Foundation, and many other organizations in Japan and the U.S. Between 1990 and 1994, he was formerly involved in the U.S. National Maglev Initiative project through the International Maglev Technology Center, which was supported by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Department of Energy and Department of Defense. Since 1995, he has been actively promoting various projects on applied superconductor technologies for Energy, Information and Transportation industries as CEO of ATTECH Inc. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Kyoto University. He is a recipient of THE IEEE Max Swerdlow Award For Sustained Service To The Applied Superconductivity Community in 2003.
