Prof. Eric Isaacs, a prominent University of Chicago physicist and President
of UChicago Argonne, LLC, as well as Director of Argonne National Laboratory
(ANL) - one of the USA leading federally funded research and development centers,
and Academician Michael Ming-Chiao Lai, President of National
Cheng Kung University (NCKU), together signed a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) at The Howard Plaza Hotel, Taipei. This is a great opportunity for NCKU
to sign MOU with ANL, one of the greatest research institutions in the world.
Both institutes will together make great efforts in promoting joint research
and developments in energy technology and nanotechnology.
“It is the great honor for me to welcome our distinguished guests from
ANL to Taiwan to sign this MOU. This is a great opportunity to both institutions
to pull out resources together to energy research, particularly green energy,
as the most important and scientific assets for industry all over the world.
Last year American President Barack Obama particularly mentioned green energy
is the most important area of the United States indeed to be focused on in the
future. Also alternative energy is very important. I am very proud to say that
NCKU is very good with a ranking at the 19th worldwide in alternative energy
research recently. By signing this MOU, we can pull out the resources and researches
together in the future. In addition, another research, nanotechnology is a new
technology in the future with potential benefit. Moreover, to sign this MOU
is to exchange the knowledge of researchers and students. I hope this is the
beginning of collaboration between both institutions,” said President
Lai.
“I will thank President Lai for the interests and inviting us to join
here to sign this agreement. Today for the people what we have, the people what
NCKU which is one of the outstanding universities in the world has, is the great
opportunity to sign MOU here to solve the problem in the world. Particularly
we are going to solve the energy problem. My hope is today we standing here
and we signing this agreement no less ambitious but to change the world. We
do have the exciting collaborating chance very small but working together between
ANL and NCKU in the future. I hope to grow the opportunity of exchange such
as scientific exchange to explore the solution for energy as the popular issue
of the world. Moreover, the climate issue such as global warming needs to be
solved in the future with more researchers coming in and the young people involved
together due to the agreement we sign today,” said Prof. Eric Isaacs,
the Director of Argonne National Laboratory (ANL).
Prof. Yon-Hua Tzeng as Dean of College of Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science commented that ANL is very active in promoting international academic
cooperation with the mission to invite the best scientists all over the world
to ANL for the exchange and research. NCKU and ANL have been established the
real cooperative relationship through the exchange and visits of researchers.
Signing the MOU is to accelerate related research in alternative energy and
nanotechnology, and expand and strengthen both relations of cooperation and
personnel exchanges.
ANL and NCKU cooperated on the Nanodiamond for many years as ANL is the most
prominent Nanodiamond research laboratory in United States. Both have established
a Diamond Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Research Platform. NCKU, ANL,
Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan, R.O.C (ITRI) and German
industry jointly build a RF Diamond Transistor now, and with the expectations
of Nanodiamond in NCKU and MEMS in ITRI to build a world-class Nano MEMS platform.
ANL and NCKU both hope to have the collaboration projects with extension of
the international industry-academia area including collaboration with industry
and the establishment of application-oriented laboratories.
NCKU and ANL committed to cooperate in fields of mutual interest, including
the areas of renewable energy and nanotechnology. This collaborative effort
involves the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) and the Advanced Photon Source
(APS) at ANL and NCKU. ANL and NCKU will jointly seek the development of research
programs in the general area of renewable energy, nanofabrication, nanobiomedicine,
nanoscale materials, nanodevices, X-ray microscopy/scattering and nanoprobe
characterization of novel nano structures and materials.
The goal is to establish a framework for collaboration in both fundamental
research and advanced technology development in areas critical to the development
of world-leading programs particularly focusing on applications to energy, advanced
materials, and medicine. In addition, both of us will build academic exchange
relationships includes being the principal investigator in the cooperated project
with each other and the universities may exchange faculty members, staff, and
students.
National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) leads globally in the emerging field
of alternative energy research. According to the latest academic ranking of
research institutions conducted by Elsevier, the world's major publisher of
science and medicine literature, NCKU ranks 19th worldwide in alternative energy
research papers of distinctive competency, which is the only Taiwanese institution
among the global top 25 list. NCKU's outstanding accomplishment in alternative
energy research has contributed significantly to the development of this field.