Masatoshi Shima was at least partly responsible for the design of the world's first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.

He studied organic chemistry at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. With poor prospects for employment in the field of chemistry, he went to work for Busicom, a business calculator manufacturer. There, he learned about software and digital circuit design. When Busicom decided to use LSI circuits in their calculator products, they approached the American companies Mostek and Intel for help. Masatoshi Shima ultimately worked closely with Marcian Ted Hoff and Federico Faggin of Intel to complete the design of the Intel 4004 microprocessor.

Later, he worked for Intel on the design of the Intel 8080 and then left Intel along with Faggin and designed the Zilog Z80 and Zilog Z8000.

External link

• Interview with Masatoshi Shima regarding his role in the design of the 4004