2008 Buessem Award Recipient

Nobutatsu Yamaoka graduated from Nagoya Institute of Technology in March 1966 with a B.S. degree in Technology of Ceramic Industry and joined Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd., working on temperature compensating ceramic capacitors and interface phenomenon of ceramics-Nickel metal until 1971. He was promoted to manager of Materials Development Div. (1975); Asst. Director, Materials Dev. Dept. (1980); Director, Technology Development Center (1983); Director, Development Center of Production System (1989), and Executive Director, Operation Headquarters (1991), retiring and becoming president of Taiwan Taiyo Yuden Co. in 1999; by 2002, he was also president of Hong Kong and Shanghai Taiyo Yuden. In 2004, he became company auditor of Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd.

During his career, Mr. Yamaoka developed SrTiO3-PbTiO3-CaTiO3 ceramic compositions without super-sonic wave with electric distortion at 15.75 kHz from super high voltage ceramic capacitors for C-TV. Because of small electro-distortion, they replaced BaTiO3-based ceramic capacitors. From 1972 to 1982, he developed SrTiO3-based boundary layer capacitors with high apparent dielectric constant and established the grain size control procedure/firing technology in a reducing atmosphere for mass-production. These capacitors were useful for downsizing an electronic circuit or as an auto-insertion part on a printing circuit board. He also developed Zn-Cu electrode systems for ceramic capacitors instead of Ag electrodes and applied them to commercial ceramic capacitors. In 1983-1991, he developed SrTiO3 based ceramic varistors with high capacitance, which protect electronic devices from invasions of a high voltage surge and high speed voltage noise below 1-sec. He and his group developed BaTiO3-based MLCC’s with Nickel inner electrodes with a high capacitance above 1µF, as well as low temperature fired multi-layer ceramic substrates, high-Q dielectric resonators, and PbTiO3-based pyroelectric ceramics. He was the first chairman of the Dielectric Dept. in Japan Electronic Material Industries Assoc., 1995-1999. He became company auditor of Taiyo Yuden in 2004. In his R&D activities, he has contributed over 36 papers/technological reviews and 86 patents in the electronic ceramic field.

Awards include: 1985 R.M. Fulrath Award (American Ceramic Soc.); 1984 Technological Accomplishment Award/1986 Advanced Technology Award (Japan Soc. of Powder & Powder Metallurgy); 1995 Technology Award on Development (Japan Ceramic Soc.); and a Testimonial on his contribution to the electronic ceramic industry from the Kiyoshi Okazaki Memorial Soc., 2008.

The Center for Dielectric Studies presented Nobutatsu Yamaoka with the 2008 W.R. Buessem Award at the CDS Awards Dinner on October 13, 2008.