The Taiwan Space Union was yesterday inaugurated at National Central University (NCU), with the aim to facilitate the development of space research in the nation.
The union currently comprises NCU, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) and Academia Sinica, while it would recruit more members subsequently, the Ministry of Science and Technology said.
The union’s name plate was unveiled by Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Lin Minn-tsong (林敏聰), along with NCU President Jou Jing-yang (周景揚), NCKU President Jenny Su (蘇慧貞) and other scientists at NCU campus in Taoyuan, where they met for a two-day workshop that ends today.
The union’s founding chairman is Ip Wing-huen (葉永烜), a member of Academia Sinica and a professor at NCU who participated in the early planning stages of the Cassini-Huygens space mission, jointly conducted by NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency to research the Saturn system.
Ip also initiated the establishment of the union, as he at a workshop in January suggested to form a think tank to support the nation’s space research efforts and later obtained support from the ministry, said union executive secretary Charles Lin (林建宏), a professor at NCKU.
“In the US, there is an organization called the Universities Space Research Association, which helps NASA develop its missions,” he said.
In a similar vein, Lin Minn-tsong has instructed the union to draft a white paper on the nation’s satellite science development goals for the next decade, he added.
The union would work in partnership with the National Space Organization (NSPO), which is in support of the new think tank, he said.
The NSPO is mainly composed of engineers, while the post of its chief scientist has been vacant since Liu Jann-yen (劉正彥), a professor at NCU, resigned in 2015.
Asked if the union is to fill the void, the ministry said that the union serves as a communication platform for strengthening partnership among institutions without influencing their operations.
The union aims to gather opinions, and help form and guide policymaking, it added.
The new think tank comprises four divisions tasked with data analysis and software development, engineering and experimental instrument development, promoting international cooperation, and forward-looking planning, the ministry said.
The Taiwan Space Industry Development Association, established in February last year, would be a mutually complementary partner of the union and facilitate the commercialization of academic research, it said.
In related news, a space development draft act was last month announced by the ministry, aimed at making the NSPO independent from the National Applied Research Laboratories.
While the bill’s notification period ended on Nov. 5, the ministry has yet to obtain the Cabinet’s approval for it.
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
TECH PROGRAM: A US official said that an important part of the delegation’s trip would be to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co executives The US is to send officials in charge of chip development to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to promote cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt announced the visit, which marks the first time officials from the office are to visit the three nations since it was set up in September last year. “As semiconductors and technologies continue to evolve, the United States will keep working with allies and partners to develop coordinated strategies to ensure that malign actors cannot use the latest technologies to undermine our collective
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
RSS