The 2026 Shoichiro Yoshida Memorial Nikon Astronomy Achievement Award, presented by the Foundation for Promotion of Astronomy, has been awarded to Hiroaki Imada, Senior Specialist of the ALMA Project at NAOJ.
Hiroaki Imada received the Shoichiro Yoshida Memorial/Nikon Astronomy Achievement Award.
The Shoichiro Yoshida Memorial Nikon Astronomy Achievement Award is presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the research and development of new methods and technologies for astronomical observation. Imada received the award for his work entitled “Development of the Ultra-Wide-Field Radio Telescope Optics.”
Imada has been engaged in developing design techniques for radio telescope optics. Based on optical theory and employing ray-tracing simulations, his new method enables us to evaluate the performance of wide-field optical systems quickly and with high precision on a computer. These achievements were highly recognized and led to this award. His method is applicable not only to wide-field optical systems but also to conventional single-beam systems, and it has been employed for the optical design of the extended Band 8 receivers (Band 8 v2) of the “ALMA 2” project—an initiative aimed at enhancing ALMA’s capabilities—as well as for the numerical performance evaluation of the Band 2 receiver optics.
The award ceremony was held on Friday, May 22, 2026, at the NAOJ Mitaka Campus. Imada received a certificate and commemorative gift from Masami Mikamiya, President of the Foundation for Promotion of Astronomy, and delivered a commemorative lecture.
Reflecting on the award, Imada commented:
“I am very pleased to receive this distinguished award. I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the selection committee, the many researchers I have worked with, and my family. I hope that the technique recognized in this award will contribute to more robust optical designs for future radio telescopes and to the construction of telescopes that provide higher-quality observational data.”
Professor Satoru Iguchi, the ALMA Project Director at NAOJ:
“The new method devised by Imada has also been applied to receiver development in the ‘ALMA 2’ project, making an important achievement for the project. I look forward to his continued contributions to the advancement of technologies that support the future of radio astronomy.”
