Professor first Taiwanese to win technology award

National Taiwan University Professor Wu Chung-chih (吳忠幟) has won the 21st Khwarizmi International Award (KIA) for Science and Technology from Iran for his study of organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) and technologies, making him the first Taiwanese ever to receive the award, the National Science Council (NSC) announced on Sunday.

Wu's in the fields of OLEDs, displays and lighting technologies has drawn international attention and earned him the award in the international category along with another 10 researchers who competed with 192 scientists from 54 countries, the NSC said.

Award in the international category include four from Europe, two from India, and one each from Canada, Egypt, South Korea, China and Taiwan.

Wu also invited to teach at Malek Ashtar University of technology in Isfahan, Iran, this summer.

The KIA, designed to recognize the efforts made by researchers, innovators and inventors in Iran and all over the world is sponsored by UNESCO, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World.

In 2004, Wu and the Industry Technology Research Institute developed Taiwan's first high-contrast top-emitting active-matrix OLED display technology that earned him the Outstanding Innovation Award from the institute and began to get widespread attention, the NSC said.

The technology promises to deliver excellent display performance with clear image quality even in bright light at low cost.

Several including flat panel maker Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp, have shown interest in adopting the technology, Wu said.