The National Science Council (NSC,
Taiwan experiences an annual shortfall of 2,000 engineers for the semi-conductor industry. The NSC announced in early December that it would establish new facilities as part of the National Nano Device Laboratories (NDL,
However, NSC member Lee Yuan-tseh (
Speeding the project up would however cause a budget problem since only NT$300 million has been allocated to the project in its first two years. Lee suggested that this may be overcome by coordinating government efforts with those of semiconductor devices manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,
Other NSC officials endorsed Lee's idea of looking to the private sector to make up the budget shortfall.
"Although it is a forward-looking research center focusing on research and development, the NDL is certainly the most powerful supporter of the semiconductor industry" said said NSC chairman Huang Chen-tai (
We hope the industry would finance personnel training project at NDL," Huang said.
According to the NSC, NDL's research and development efforts are mainly associated with silicon-based semiconductor devices and materials with a special focus on deep sub-micron metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) devices. After the fulfillment of 100nm device technologies in 1999 by adopting Germany Leica's Electron Beam Lithography facilities, the development of 70 nm device technologies is underway.
NDL Director Simon Sze (施敏) stressed yesterday that semiconductor professionals would play a key role in maintaining Taiwan's competitiveness in the future because Taiwan-made semiconductors would account for 10 percent of global output in value, costing more than US$60 billion dollars. Future investment in the industry in Taiwan in next ten years would be more than US$50 billion, Sze estimated.
"Once new laboratories were built, more than 1,000 semiconductor professionals would join the market every year to develop the semiconductor field," Sze said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique