Dr. Hamada Shigetaka, the Japanese engineer who helped transfer semiconductor manufacturing technology to Samsung Electronics, died at approximately 1 a.m. on January 6. He was 101.
Yang Hyang-ja, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, announced his passing through her Facebook page on January 7, stating that Dr. Hamada died at a Tokyo hospital. Yang added that his wife, Hamada Yoshie, also passed away on January 1 at age 99.
Born in Tokyo in April 1925, Dr. Hamada graduated from the Department of Electronic Engineering at Tokyo Imperial University, now the University of Tokyo. His 1948 undergraduate thesis was titled "Anomalous Noise in Magnetrons."
He conducted semiconductor research at the Electronic Tube Research Laboratory of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, the predecessor of NTT, before working at Kinki Plant Record Co., now NTEC, an NTT affiliate.
Dr. Hamada's relationship with Samsung began in the early 1980s when he delivered lectures on emerging technologies at Samsung Electronics. He served as a technology advisor to the late Samsung Chairman Lee Byung-chul (1910-1987), who was eager to embrace cutting-edge technologies, and influenced the early development of Samsung's semiconductor business.
Chairman Lee treated Dr. Hamada with exceptional courtesy, providing him with a dedicated helicopter during factory visits. Among first-generation Samsung semiconductor executives, he was known as "the bridge between Korean and Japanese semiconductor industries" and "the hidden contributor to Korea's semiconductor industry."
In a 2022 interview with JoongAng Ilbo, Dr. Hamada reflected on his role: "I didn't hand over the technology. Other engineers did all the work. Technology transfer was my job at the company at that time. I simply fulfilled my duties."
Chairman Lee announced his semiconductor business plan in February 1983. Yang explained that "the deceased was Chairman Lee's closest friend in technical matters and greatly influenced the 1983 semiconductor business plan." In December of that year, Samsung Electronics became the world's third company to successfully develop 64K DRAM semiconductors.
Yang first met Dr. Hamada in 1988 when she served as a Japanese interpreter during Samsung Electronics' invitation of the Hamada couple to Korea. Using basic Japanese skills she had acquired at Gwangju Commercial High School for Girls and after joining the company, she interpreted for five days, which led to continued exchanges with Tokyo starting in 1989. Yang went on to serve as senior researcher, principal researcher, chief researcher, and eventually executive at Samsung Electronics.
Yang announced that a farewell ceremony for Dr. Hamada will be held in Tokyo on January 12.