Kazuo Yamamoto
	Kazuo Yamamoto Design Group Leader R & D Department, Engineering & Production Division Imaging Systems Group Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Studied industrial design in college and was attracted by Olympus' potential as a manufacturer of a wide range of products from consumer goods to medical equipment. Beginning with photographic apparatus for microscopes, he has worked on a variety of product designs. In his current position as Design Group Leader, he is in charge of overseeing the entire Design Group. While his energies are no longer focused on a single product, he is eager to volunteer for new and interesting business projects with unchanging flexibility and a spirit of challenge if they come around. The[mju:] series in champagne-gold was his idea and broke the common notion that all cameras had to be black.

Kazuhiko Osa
	Group Leader, Development 1 Scientific Equipment Development Department, Scientific Equipment Division Medical Systems Group Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Specializes in the development and design of microscopes, from the optical microscopes that everyone used at least once in elementary school to advanced microscope systems that reveal an even more infinitesimal reality. After a transfer to Olympus U.S.A., Olympus' subsidiary in the United States, he returned to Japan to work in planning, giving him extensive experience in all fields of microscope business. Excelled in mathematics and science as a child, but every time he said he wanted to major in engineering in college, people didn't believe what he said, as he looked more like the lawyer type. He really likes cameras, but people around him think it is a little surprising, too.

Takeshi Asaka
	Takeshi Asaka Design Group R&D Department, Engineering & Production Division Imaging Systems Group Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Entered Olympus because of his dramatic encounter ith the OM1 as a junior-high school student. A graduate of the Engineering Faculty of Chiba University, along with Kazuo Yamamoto, Group Leader, he has designed cameras as well as developed microscopes following the first-generation BX series whose Y shape is now considered the global de-facto standard. Also worked on BX51, CX41, CX31 models that were all awarded the G-Mark in 2001. Applying his own experience as a hospital patient, he is currently working on ergonomic and stress-free designs of high-tech medical equipment. An avid train fan, his hobby has led to publishing a book of photographs: Hachiko-sen ni Omoi o Yosete (Hikari Shobo, 1997).

Koji Shimobayashi
	Design Group R&D Department, Engineering &Production Division Imaging Systems Group. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Aspired to be an inventor as a child and then a designer f consumer electrical appliances. Entered Olympus eleven years ago after graduating from Musashino Art University with a degree in industrial design. His design work covers cameras, recorders, and microscopes. He was elated to see Michael Schumacher, the F1 racer, talking into a voice recorder that he designed during an interview. The young designer who looks good in jeans has a strong penchant for cars: he drives a burgundy-red Alpha Romeo 155.

Takashi Toyoshima
	General Manager, Purchasing Department General Manager, R&D Department Engineering & Production Division Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Assigned to start up the Purchasing Department created in April 2001. Concurrently served as General Manager of the R&D Department from October 2001 and has worked on both film and digital camera development. Even with 300 employees in the Design Group, he quickly learned all their names because of their strong and distinct personalities. Perhaps because he has always worked on high-tech products, he is personally drawn to furniture design, and a simple living environment with a few good pieces of wood furniture is his ideal. He believes design should give users a sense of assurance and comfort.