A year of promises to create academies dedicated to the development of semiconductor talent finally came to fruition on Friday with the opening of the Smart Semiconductor and Sustainable Manufacturing Institute at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU).
This “model of government-industry collaboration” is the first to open under a May law written to relax restrictions on universities, making it easier for them to work with businesses and encouraging research in key national industries.
To create these “semiconductor academies,” the government has promised funding of NT$9.6 billion (US$344.38 million) over 12 years to cover half of the costs, with industry paying for
National Cheng Kung University’s (NCKU) Smart Semiconductor and Sustainable Manufacturing Institute will hopefully become a model of government-industry collaboration in southern Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the institute’s plaque unveiling ceremony yesterday.
The institute’s establishment is expected to foster a new ecology of industry-academic collaboration and serve as a hub that connects actors in the “technology corridor,” Tsai said, referring to links between the Hsinchu Science Park, Kaohsiung’s Ciaotou Science Park, Tainan’s Southern Taiwan Science Park, the Chiayi Science Park and the Pingtung Science Park.
The institute would serve to foster next-generation talent, and drive sustainable and innovative development in