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Hideo Ozawa, founder and chairman of Nidek, died on June 16, 2009, aged 79.

Ozawa founded Nidek in 1971 with the goal of linking optics and electronics. The first Xenon photocoagulator in Japan, developed by Nidek in 1973, became a huge success, while in 1982 the company introduced the first auto-refractor. Nidek subsidiaries were quickly established in the US, France and Italy. Ozawa was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Emperor of Japan in 2004.

Wanting to help turn things from 'invisible to visible', Ozawa helped develop new technologies in optics, lasers, coating and diagnostic devices and the company he helped establish now operates in around 100 countries worldwide.

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