JAPANOhio(UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

SUCCESSFUL
JAPANESEINNOVATORGIVES BACK TO AMERICA
Dr. Hiroyuki Fujita, a Japan-born physicist, entrepreneur, and innovator,
became a successful industrialist in the U.S. after founding the medical
equipment company Quality Electrodynamics in Cleveland, Ohio. Here’s how
his beliefs led him to success and respect in the U.S. community.
On January 24, 2012, Dr.
Hiroyuki “Hiro” Fujita, a Japanborn physicist and entrepreneur
living in Ohio, found himself inthe First Lady’s box at the U.S.
Capitol, listening to President
Barack Obama extol American
manufacturing during his Stateof the Union Address. As thefounder and CEO of Quality
Electrodynamics(QED),
anengineering healthcare innovations
company, Dr. Fujita was being
acknowledged for his role as an

Around 170 associates
work at QED in Ohio.
Dr. Fujita sends a letterto them every New Yeardelivering a message
that they should neverlose the entrepreneurial
spirit of the company
and never be satisfied
with the status quo.

immigrant entrepreneur and forcontributing to high-tech exports.
He was honored to be sitting withMichelle Obama, Jill Biden, andother dignitaries listening to thepresident discuss income inequality,
tax cuts, and new energy sources.
The rare and special distinctionof attending the State of the Union
represented a significant milestone
in the success that Dr. Fujita had
achieved in his adopted homeland,
and it came at the end of a long roadthat began when he first moved tothe U.S. as a college student in 1988.
Born in Nara Prefecture, in Japan’s
Kansai region, Dr. Fujita originallywanted to follow in the footstepsof his grandfather and uncle, whowere both diplomats. But while hewas studying at Waseda University,
he also took a summer course at theUniversity of California San Diego,
and was impressed by the academic
freedom that students enjoyed. He
decided to enroll at MonmouthCollege in Illinois to benefit fromsmaller classes and focus on his
language skills.
“I was too young even to knowwhat I wanted to do at the time,”says Dr. Fujita. “But my attitude

was that I would do all I could,
given all the opportunities I saw,
to learn something new. So, I
studied physics and math, and kept
improving my English skills.”
Dr. Fujita then earned his Ph.D.
in physics from Case Western
Reserve University in Cleveland,
Ohio. His thesis focused on themodeling of radiofrequency (RF)coils used in magnetic resonanceimaging (MRI) scanners. Upon
entering the industry, he continued
his MRI research, focusing on
hardware and generating multiple
patents. However, he wanted to havea greater impact and realized thatto do so he needed to be involved
with management decisions. Suchan opportunity came when he waspersuaded to join a startup that wassoon acquired by General ElectricCompany.
At this technology giant, Dr.
Fujita enhanced his management
skills while working withtechnology teams internationally.
Eventually, however, he decided
he wanted to establish his own
business based upon the philosophy
he had developed over the years.
“My philosophy is thateverything comes down to people
and trust,” says Dr. Fujita. “I wanted
to build a company culture in which
everybody is united in mutual trust
and respect, with a common goal,
which is to make a difference in oursociety no matter what we do.”In 2006, he established QEDin Ohio as a healthcare diagnostic
imaging technology company.
QED specializes in RF coils for
MRI scanners. These devices areessential in detecting the changes inthe body’s induced magnetic field
during scans, allowing the creationof detailed anatomical images. Whatmakes QED’s RF coils unique, says
Dr. Fujita, is their higher signalto-noise ratio, which provides
clearer, high-resolution imagery.
Dr. Fujita attributes the successful
development of the RF coils, as wellas the business itself, to personal
relationships. As proof of QED’s
success, and only three years after
the company’s establishment, it wasnamed by Forbes as one of America’s
top 20 most promising companies.
Dr. Fujita has met many great
people throughout his career but
cites 94-year-old Albert Ratner, aprominent and acclaimed giant in
the U.S. real estate industry, as a rolemodel and mentor. This respectedveterancommunity
leaderintroduced Dr. Fujita to otherinfluential businesspeople whojoined QED’s board of directors.
With that group of talent, QED
was able to expand its businesssignificantly.
In 2019, Canon Inc., well known

Dr. Fujita also serves as a governor of OIST, highly
regarded worldwide for its interdisciplinary approach.
He is shown here attending the OIST Board ofGovernors meeting held in Okinawa in September 2022.

for its camera and office equipment
businesses, added QED to its
holdings as part of its long-termbusiness transformation strategy.
The acquisition helped the Japanesemultinational corporation to
boost corporate diversification in
healthcare imaging and radiology.
Dr. Fujita now also serves as chief
technology officer of the CT-MRDivision at Canon Medical Systems
Corporation based in Japan. “Japanis definitely one of the leading
countries in the whole world interms of craftsmanship,” says Dr.
Fujita. “I thought I could add someunique values and contributions
to the business knowing both theAmerican and Japanese culture
deeply.”Mr. Ratner also instilled in Dr.
Fujita the importance of community
involvement, not only in Ohio andthe U.S. but internationally. The
CEO has since taken on numerous
roles in public and private groups,
enhancing his prominence as anindustrialist. He is a member of theBoard of the Greater Cleveland
Partnership, the U.S.-Japan Council,
the Cleveland Council on WorldAffairs, The Cleveland Orchestra,and the Board of Governors of theOkinawa Institute of Science andTechnology Graduate University(OIST) and serves as the first
Asian chairman of The Ohio State
University’s Board of Trustees in
its long history of more than 150
years. Dr. Fujita is also the chairof the Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest
Hospital Board of Trustees as well as
inaugural Honorary Consul of Japanin Cleveland.
In taking on such roles in theU.S., Dr. Fujita has also had to work

Dr. Fujita received the President’s “E” Award in2013 and the President’s “E Star” Award in 2019
for contributing to U.S. export growth.

in an environment with different
social issues than those in Japan. For
example, he is often the only board
member of Asian descent, and has
worked to increase the visibility offellow Asian people in America.
His goal is to change how otherpeople see Asians by making themmore prominent and more involved
worldwide in a more visible way.
“I want to make a positive
difference, and I want people toknow that we are also a great partof society,” says Dr. Fujita. “To thatend, Asian people have to get more
involved, because if people do not
see what we do, the perception
is that we do nothing, and theperception becomes a reality. Iwant people to know about ourcontributions. I care about thecommunity and I’m part of thecommunity too. And then I wantyounger Asian people to recognize
that. They will say, ‘OK, this guy’s
doing that. Why not us?’”Dr. Fujita’s positive attitude, hiswillingness to challenge himself,and his commitment to people
have enabled him to succeed inbusiness while becoming a pillar of
the community. His belief is that
one must have ambitions, and theseambitions will form strategies for
success. With that mindset, he’s sureto achieve whatever goals he sets forhimself.