MIRDC board of directors convened at the end of July and unanimously elected Dr.Mi-Ching Tsai (Professor of Mechanical Engineering Department, National Cheng Kung University) as the new MIRDC chairman of the board. The handover ceremony was held with the former and the new chairman later on the same day. Dr. Tsai not only had served as the director of the Department of Engineering and Technologies on the National Science Council (Executive Yuan) and as the director of the National Cheng Kung University Research and Services Headquarters, he has also long devoted himself to the control and application, design, and drive of various motors as his personal field of expertise. In 2013 Dr. Tsai worked with MIRDC to develop a coin-type motor that became popular internationally and that won the R&D 100 Award (also known as the Oscars of the technology industry). His long-term cooperation with MIRDC has resulted in a mutual consensus and understanding.
Former MIRDC chairman of the board Mr. Huang, Chi-Chuan has led MIRDC in line with government policies since he accepted the post in September 2008. During his tenure MIRDC has continued with R&D in industry technology and assisted industries in developing new products. Under his leadership, MIRDC received excellent assessment for three consecutive years from the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ technology project performance evaluation. Mr. Huang actively promoted international cooperation between MIRDC and international organizations. In addition to long-term cooperating partners, many new partners such as Valtion Teknillinen Tutkimuskeskus (VTT) in Finland, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) in Japan, and Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) have joined MIRDC in mutual technology development.
The new chairman, Dr.Mi-Ching Tsai, has long been involved with the development of high performance brushless synchronous motors. He has contributed to Taiwan’s electrical and mechanical fields by developing magnetic analysis and electromechanical design and control. Dr. Tsai has also proposed industry alliances and other innovative industry-academic collaboration strategies, which also contributed to the development of Taiwan’s electromechanical industry. For his contributions he was awarded with the Outstanding Contributions in Science & Technology by the Executive Yuan. At the same time, he cooperated with China Steel Corp. and designed a motor that utilized silicon steel produced by China Steel as replacements for magnets in motors. The use of silicon steel in motors indicates that Taiwan is no longer restricted by Chinese rare earth, and has successfully reduced the cost.
Dr. Mi-Ching Tsai is an all-around leader who has made significant contributions in industry, official, academic, and research fields. As the new MIRDC chairman, he hopes that the centre will continue to invest in technology development, deepen academic research collaboration, and link with domestic and international industries and academic organizations. This is expected to integrate developmental momentum and intellectual resources, which can be centered on focused industries. These developments will also play a key role in value creation because implementation of research results can facilitate industry transformation and upgrades and improve industry competitiveness. The mission of MIRDC aims to increase the added value and international competitiveness of metal related industries and to create new frontiers for Taiwan industries.
Caption: From left to right, former MIRDC Chairman Huang, Chi-Chuan (left), supervisor Lin, Te-Sheng (center), and new MIRDC Chairman Dr. Mi-Ching Tsai (right)