Emma Haruka Iwao

Early life and education As a child, Iwao became interested in pi, learning of the record-breaking computations of her Japanese compatriots Daisuke Takahashi and Yasumasa Kanada. She studied computer science at the University of Tsukuba, where she was taught by Takahashi. She was awarded the Dean's Award for Excellence in 2008, before starting graduate studies in computing. Her master's thesis considered high performance computer systems. She works to make cloud computing accessible for everyone, creating online demos and teaching materials.

In March 2019 Iwao calculated the value of pi to 31,415,926,535,897 digits (equal to ), using 170 terabytes (TB) of data. The calculation used a multithreaded program called y-cruncher using over 25 machines for 121 days.

In March 2022 she extended the world record to 100 trillion digits of pi.