This Engineer Who Designed ADAS For Honda Is Making News For His Hair

Generally, when we think of automotive engineers, we think of people with nerdy glasses and a simple and understated appearance. However, there is one lead Honda engineer who is becoming viral for his distinct appearance, especially his hairstyle. His name is Shotaro Odate, and recently his images have become viral due to his extremely unique anime-inspired spiky hairstyle. What's more interesting about Odate’s hairstyle is that it has been consistent over the years.

Honda engineer’s hairstyle is breaking the internet

As mentioned, Shotaro Odate is the lead engineer at Honda who is the mastermind behind the Honda Sensing 360+ ADAS Level 2 safety suite. From the images, we can note that Odate has been rocking this hairstyle for decades, as his images from his younger days show him with spiked hair.

The manager of advanced safety development at Honda, despite spending a good amount of time making sure his hair looks stylish every time, has also managed to become the core architect of Honda’s ADAS suite. For those who may not be aware, Honda Sensing 360+ offers features such as a 360-degree camera, predictive collision mitigation, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, and others.

As for Shotaro Odate’s personal-level achievements, he holds over 250 patents, which is extremely impressive. His patents include steering sensors, advanced braking systems, seatbelt intelligence systems, and driver behavioral monitoring.

On top of these, Odate has also published 9 peer-reviewed papers in the field of automotive safety. His focus is on the integration of artificial intelligence and sensor fusion into real-world vehicle behaviour prediction.

What's even more impressive about Shotaro Odate is that he is also an exceptionally strong individual. Some media outlets have reported that he is capable of bench pressing over 170 kgs. So, one could say that in addition to having a Naruto-like hairstyle, the Honda lead engineer also has power like him as well.

Does Honda support this style?

Many people would assume that the Japanese company Honda, which is known for making some of the most reliable and bulletproof vehicles, would not allow such unique hairstyles. However, it's the total opposite. Honda's culture is known to respect the individuality of its employees, unlike other Japanese brands. In Odate's case, his personality is embraced by the company.

Netizens’ reactions

A number of netizens have appreciated Shotaro Odate for expressing his style and personality through his unique hairstyle. One of the netizens has stated, “Unapologetically himself!!! I love this.” Meanwhile, another social media user has stated, “He has 250+ patents… let him have any hairstyle he wants!” Lastly, another user highlighted, “He's a cool genius, he can wear his hair any way he wants.”

Honda plans for India

Now coming back to Honda's motoring side, the company is currently planning to launch more strong hybrid vehicles in India. As per the reports, Honda will base its hybrid portfolio on a new multi-energy modular platform called PF2. This architecture will have extensive localisation gone into it.

It has been highlighted that the Honda PF2 platform will have a stronger focus on cost-effectiveness to make sure that its vehicles can be affordable for Indian buyers. The same PF2 platform will be utilised for ICE and EVs. Honda aims to launch small and medium-sized hybrid vehicles in India.