In addition to excellence in teaching and research, the NTU administration also pursues excellence in its management. The R&D Office passed the ISO 9001 international quality management system standards recently, and the accreditation ceremony was held officially on June 24th.

At the accreditation ceremony, President Lee encouraged other administrative units within the university to participate in the ISO certification process, so that management quality could make progress along with academic excellence. Director of the R&D Office, Dr. Ji-Wang Chern, represented the Office to accept the ISO certificate from Mr. Foucauld de Lauzon., Asia Pacific Regional Manager of the French AFNOR Group. Other guests at the ceremony include representatives from the French AFNOR Group, the Kind Management Consulting Inc., Vice Presient Tzong-ho Bau of NTU and other top administrators from within the university.

The R & D Office was established for the purpose of integrating the resources of various research units to develop prioritized research projects. It implements all kinds of subsidy and incentive programs, handles patent applications and technological transfers, assists teachers to apply for academic/industrial cooperation grants, and offers administrative service in the areas of business start-ups for faculty and students. In sum, the Office is responsible for promoting academic research throughout the university.

Starting from October 2007, the R & D Office launches a project to induct a series of ISO9001:2000 concepts and practices. Through a systemized and standardized approach, the R & D Office inspects the issues of rationality and convenience in its service process, and looks for potential problems in an effort to streamline the cumbersome administrative procedures that faculty members are involved with in their research work. Director of the Office, Dr. Ji-Wang Chern specifically appointed Mr. Cheng Ching Yu, then head of the Planning Department, as the Project Leader and held him personally responsible for implementing the ISO9001 quality management systems throughout the various departments within the Office. Under Dr. Chern's supervision, the R & D Office was able to improve its service quality tremendously, achieving both efficacy and efficiency in its management.

On April 17th, the R & D Office invited the French AFNOR Group to send a committee member to NTU to conduct accreditation reviews, which applied to the Planning Department, the Technological Transfer Department, the Project Affairs Department and the Academic/industrial Cooperation Department. After repeated efforts, the staff members of the R&D Office rendered all standard administrative procedures of the Office into documentary form, and had them posted on the official website of the Office under the heading of "ISO Special Zone." On May 20th, the Office received confirmation that it passed the accreditation review from AFAQ-AFNOR, and that the quality of its management conformed to the standards of ISO 9001:2000.

Passing the ISO 9001 accreditation review is like crossing the first threshold for the R&D Office. What lies ahead for the staff members is a harder task: they are obliged to continually provide administrative assistance to NTU faculty, and to keep improving its management quality to facilitate the completion of goals in all areas of research and development!