An assembly of academic, industry and government luminaries attended a grand ceremony marking the formation of the Taiwan Electromagnetism Industry-Academia Alliance on December 17. Jointly supported by the NTU Department of Electrical Engineering and NTU Telecommunications Research Center, the alliance is the only organization in Taiwan working for cooperation between industry and academia in the field of electromagnetics. Its establishment sets a milestone for the initiation of research cooperation between universities and enterprises.

The honored guests invited to attend the ceremony included Executive Yuan Minister without Portfolio Jin-fu Chang, National Science Council Minister Lou-chuang Lee, National Chiao Tung University President Chung-yu Wu, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology President Shi-shuenn Chen and National Taipei University of Technology President Tsu-tian Lee. NTU President Si-chen Lee also attended to personally express his congratulations to the alliance on its formation. These guests were joined by 24 industry representatives and over 40 professors from eight universities.

The new alliance was formed by electromagnetic wave research teams from eight universities, including NTU, NCTU, National Central University, NTUST, NTUT, Yuan Ze University, National Chung Cheng University and National Sun Yat-sen University. In a short time, it has gained significant support from industry. The alliance’s industry partners already include the twelve companies Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., MediaTek Inc., Ralink Technology Corp., Garmin Corp., Wistron NeWeb Corp., Asustek Computer Inc., Quanta Computer Inc., Intel Corp., Himax Technologies Inc., Microelectronics Technology Inc., Realtek Semiconductor Corp. and Chunghwa Telecom Co.

Minister Jin-fu Chang pointed out that the government has actively promoted industry-academia cooperation in recent years and declared that the establishment of the alliance provides a platform for exchanges between industry and academia and implements the concept of universities leaving their campuses and enterprises entering campuses, leading the field of electromagnetics in Taiwan on to reach ever greater milestones.

Minister Lee, who serves as director of the Taiwan branch of the International Union of Radio Science, stressed that “strengthening the basics to move forward” is highly significant. Adding that electromagnetism is an indispensible fundamental knowledge whether its space physics or semiconductor technology, Lee said he hopes this type of industry-academia cooperation will create more talented professionals for Taiwan’s information and communications technology industry and academic community.

NTU’s President Lee noted that the profound influence electromagnetism has had on the development of human technology over the years since the proposal of Maxwell’s equations in 1864 demonstrates its importance. In light of the serious problem of the declining number of professionals the field of electromagnetics in Taiwan in recent years, Lee expressed his appreciation to the alliance’s convener, Prof. Ruey-beei Wu of the NTU Department of Electrical Engineering, for taking on such an important task. Lee also offered his thanks to the participating enterprises for their willingness to join the alliance and for creating a better academic environment for the field of electromagnetics.

Prof. Wu said he hopes the alliance will spark development and innovation in electromagnetic technology, draw more talent to the field and eliminate barriers between academia and industry.