As founder, president and CEO of Quality Electrodynamics (QED) and founder of solar energy company eQED, Hiroyuki Fujita  seems to have his finger on the pulse of emerging innovations. He believes in Cleveland's ability to be a major player, especially in bioscience.

At the recent Summit on Leadership at the Union Club, which this reporter attended, Fujita talked about what's still needed to make Cleveland the undisputed leader in healthcare-related industries.

"Cleveland is very strong in biomedicine," said Fujito, who came here from Japan in 1992 to attend Case Western Reserve University. Where Cleveland needs to develop is in the technical areas that support production. "There should be an education program like medical device assembly to train people so they're ready to go," he said.

"The technology is here -- it goes back to the steel industry in Cleveland," Fujita continued. "It's a matter of transforming that talent to help the biotechnology industry."

Fujita also noted that communication between biotech companies and local suppliers would help form important connections. "Local suppliers may not realize that they can help us," he said.

Fujita started QED five years ago. The company, which manufactures MRI coils, has 75 employees and has partnerships with Toshiba and Siemens. QED has been recognized by Forbes and Inc. magazines as one of the country's fastest growing companies.

SOURCE: Hiroyuki Fujita
WRITER: Diane DiPiero