Taiwan garnered 26 gold, 12 silver and five special awards on Friday at the 26th Invention & New Product Exposition (INPEX) in Pittsburgh, making it the show’s big winner. The Taiwanese delegation showcased 54 inventions at this year’s expo, one of the US’ largest invention trade shows.
Held each year in Pittsburgh, INPEX offers more than 1,000 innovations, new product ideas and technologies that can be licensed, manufactured, marketed or applied to a brand or product line.
Among the winning Taiwanese inventions was a highly efficient -ceramics cooling substrate for LED devices that uses far-infrared radiation instead of traditional convection to dissipate heat.
The invention took three years to develop and was the result of a collaborative effort by Far East University’s Environmental Materials Center and its mechanical engineering and automation and control engineering departments. The invention won the special award for Outstanding Design from the Asia-Pacific.
Chen Chih-chen (陳智成), director of the university’s Environmental Materials Center and co-designer of the product, said the new invention could double the battery life of LED devices, which have suffered from short battery life because of cooling problems. The new substrate could lower temperatures by 10 percent and the use of nano materials reduced its weight by between 60 percent and 70 percent, Chen said.
Another eye-catching invention was a wheelchair that combines the features and convenience of manual and electric wheelchairs. It was the only Taiwanese invention to win two gold awards at the show.
Kuo Tsung-yuan (郭聰源), a professor at Southern Taiwan University, which designed the product, said the wheelchair was designed to help increase the willingness of paralyzed patients and the elderly to exercise or engage in leisure activities.
Chen Tsung-tai (陳宗台), head of the Taiwanese delegation, said many of the Taiwanese inventions have already been mass produced, while others received orders from buyers at the show. Some other Taiwanese inventions included a cart that could climb stairs, a high--efficiency impact wrench, a microalgae protein feed and a nutritious food additive.
Taiwan was also the biggest winner among 15 participating countries at last year’s INPEX. It won 24 gold, 25 silver and five bronze awards and seven special awards last year.
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