The nation’s first 3D printing industrial cluster for medical devices has taken shape in Kaohsiung, the Ministry of Science and Technology said yesterday, adding that medical devices for body parts from head to toe can be created there.
The ministry in December last year unveiled the first demonstration site for 3D-printed medical devices and smart manufacturing at the Southern Taiwan Science Park’s (南部科學工業園) branch campus in Kaohsiung’s Lujhu District (路竹).
The Food and Drug Administration on Jan. 12 launched a set of guidelines governing 3D-printed medical devices, making Taiwan the first Asian nation to establish regulations on such devices, the ministry said.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
The ministry is this year to help local medical device developers obtain ISO 13485:2016 certification, which specifies requirements for medical devices, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hsu Yu-chin (許有進) said.
There are 54 medical device developers at the science park, which has a campus in Tainan and another in Kaohsiung, with more than NT$9.28 billion (US$310.1 million) invested, the Southern Taiwan Science Park Bureau said.
The Kaohsiung campus has attracted key players in 3D printing and medical devices, such as dental implant maker Alliance Global Technology Co (全球安聯), joint prosthesis maker United Orthopedic Corp (聯合骨科) and machine manufacturer Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機), the ministry said.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
Medical devices — especially dental implants — are one of the most popular applications for 3D printing, which can produce customized devices, Tongtai chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said.
While 3D printing cannot replace all traditional methods of manufacturing, it can boost the efficiency of materials, such as making aircraft components lighter or shoe soles more elastic by using printing powders made of different materials, he said.
While the aerospace industry has proven to be a niche market for 3D printing in other nations, Taiwan still lacks “bolder” industrial designers, as well as investors who are willing to support designers with groundbreaking ideas, he added.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)