Aya Seike

Visiting Researcher
Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology,
Waseda University
Tokyo, Japan

Family Legacy of Invention Inspires Electrical Engineering Expert
Dr. Aya Seike, an electrical engineering expert, knew she wanted to be an inventor from the time she was young. Seike’s great-grandfather, a successful inventor, inspired her to follow that course. He invented a waterproof light bulb for catching squid and fish in the sea, and in the process, sparked Seike’s path to her future career. “I’m definitely influenced by his legend,” says Seike. “His achievements made me decide to become an inventor.”

Seike studied chemistry at University of Colorado and received her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Japan’s Waseda University, one of the most prestigious private universities in Asia. She joined Japan’s NEC Laboratories where she evaluated performance reliability for logic-embedded ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) to create a more efficient alternative to Flash memory. Seike is an active participant in the international inventor community, and is a member of the IEEE Electron Device Society and the Japan Society of Applied Physics.

Cross-Disciplinary Brainstorming Fuels Invention Submissions to Intellectual Ventures
Seike belongs to Intellectual Ventures’ vast network of inventors associated with the Invention Development Fund (IDF), focused on developing inventions from universities, institutions, governments and other invention-related organizations. She encountered Intellectual Ventures while she was a visiting lecturer at Waseda University. She had a number of unutilized invention ideas that didn’t relate to her research at Waseda University, and she knew that Intellectual Ventures could be a valuable outlet for those inventions.

Seike has submitted more than 30 invention disclosures to Intellectual Ventures in areas, including energy harvesting, nanotechnology and green technology. She leads a cross-disciplinary brainstorming group called Open Innovation Cafe, where she encourages specialists to bring ideas and thoughts for new inventions. Participants include engineers, biologists, chemists, physicists, economists and architects, and they all bring their own field’s different perspectives to the conversation. Seike helps refine the group’s ideas to create efficient and precise inventions, and she mentors the group by leading seminars about how to invent with quality and clear goals.    

“Male or Female, Inventors Have the Power to Change the World”
According to Seike, Intellectual Ventures plays the important role of empowering women in Japan. She says women face more challenges and often remain peripheral in the workplace. By working with Intellectual Ventures, female inventors like herself are considered on the merits of their inventions and have another avenue to monetize their work. Intellectual Ventures naturally benefits from working with the best inventors around the world, regardless of gender.

“Intellectual Ventures doesn’t distinguish whether ideas are from men or women,” says Seike. “Male or female, inventors have the power to change the world.” With inspiration from her great-grandfather and Open Innovation Cafe, and a way to monetize her inventions with Intellectual Ventures, Seike’s contributions to various technological fields may, indeed, change the world.