Dr. Motoyama was a Postdoctoral Scholar at CNS-UCSB from 2008-2011. His dissertation and subsequent research has revealed the importance of geographic proximity and personal transnational connections in generating innovation. He worked in Interdisciplinary Research Group 2 (Globalization of Nanotechnology) with Rich Appelbaum, expanding the group's focus on nanotech innovation in East Asia to include Japan and bringing his spatial analytic approach to this work.