Taiwanese research institutions clinched 12 prizes in this year’s R&D 100 Awards, the most of any nation in Asia and the second-most worldwide behind only the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday, adding that the results represented recognition of the nation’s achievements in technology research and development.
The US obtained 72 awards while the rest of the world excluding Taiwan took 16 prizes in this year’s listing.
Taiwan’s performance in the research-and-development event proved the push to boost technology via government-business cooperation is bearing fruit, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Chuan-neng (林全能) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: screen grab from the Ministry of Economic Affairs Web site
Taiwan has significantly fewer research-and-development institutions than the US, but won a comparable number of awards, he said, adding that the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) alone claimed eight awards, which topped the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The nation’s success was thanks to being able to identify the types of innovations being demanded, robust research-and-development institutions capable of achieving genuine breakthroughs and a high level of integration in public-private-sector partnerships, Lin said.
The patents created by the nation’s researchers originated from projects that the ministry conceived and implemented in cooperation with Metagone Biotech, Compal Electronics, Kao Fong Machinery and Asahi-Utou Technology, among others, he said.
This year’s awards also marked the fifth consecutive year Taiwanese innovation in biomedicine gained recognition in the awards, with three patents receiving a distinction, he said, adding that the nation’s biomedical sector has firmly established itself as a global player.
ITRI gaining eight prizes is a rare achievement and the group is proud of the work it has performed, institute president Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) said.
The technologies developed and patented by the ITRI that received honors include eye drops for treating macular degeneration, targeted glaucoma drugs, surgical electrode needles and green technology for manufacturing polyimide films, he said.
They additionally included precision manufacturing software, an energy-saving private network solution, a thin-film technology for next-generation semiconductor processing and software for managing power battery rotation systems, he said.
Metal Industries Research & Development Center’s advanced electrochemical machining system, the Taiwan Textile Research Institute’s thermostatic leather, the Institute for Information Industry’s industrial cybersecurity platform and the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research’s bioplastics conversion technology for forestry waste were also awarded.
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