Shigeki Sugano(1958-)
His current research interests include anthropomorphic robot, dexterous manipulator, and human-robot interaction. Since 2020, he has served as the Program Manager of the JST Moonshot Project “Smart Robot that is Close to One Person for a Lifetime”.
Career
Shigeki Sugano received the BS, MS, and DE degrees in mechanical engineering from Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, in 1981, 1983, and 1989, respectively. He was a Research Associate with Waseda University from 1986 to 1990. From 1993 to 1994, he was a Visiting Scholar with the Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford University, USA. Since 1991, he has been a Faculty Member with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Waseda University, where he is currently a professor. He served as the Dean of the School/Graduate School of Creative Science and Engineering, Waseda University from 2014 to 2020. He served as the Senior Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University from 2020 to2024. Since 2025, he has served as the Chairperson of the Future Robotics Organization, Waseda University. He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers.
Awards
Dr. Sugano has received many awards including IEEE RAS Distinguished Service Award in 2008, IROS Harashima Award in 2016, the Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2017, and Tateisi Prize by the Tateisi Science and Technology Foundation in 2024 .
Activities
Dr. Sugano is a fellow of the four academic societies, IEEE, the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME), the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE), and the Robotics Society of Japan (RSJ). He served as the Secretary of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) from 2006 to 2007. He served as an AdCom Member of the IEEE RAS from 2008 to 2013. He served as the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Advanced Robotics from 2007 to 2012. He served as the General Chair of the IEEE/ASME International
Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) in 2003, and the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) in 2013. Since 2019, he has served as the Chair of the IROS Steering Committee. From 2001 to 2010, he served as the President of the Japan Association for Automation Advancement. He served as the President of SICE in 2017. He served as the President of RSJ in 2023 and 2024.