Academia Sinica has selected 19 new academicians, the institution announced yesterday at its 34th Academician Convocation, which was delayed two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Incoming academician Chen Li-chyong (林麗瓊), one of four women selected, told reporters that her decision to return to Taiwan in 1994 had been greatly influenced by then-Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲).
Chen thanked her husband, Chen Kuei-hsien (陳貴賢), who is also an academician at the institution, for encouraging her to return to the country.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Chen Li-chyong said her return coincided with the beginning of a boom in the nation’s tech sector.
The success of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is the result of joint efforts made at the time, she added.
Encouraging young people to devote themselves to scientific research, Chen Li-chyong said: “While young people have many options, science and technology is a significant underpinning that [society] cannot do without.”
“Taiwan’s [academic] environment is no worse than the US,” she said.
Female scientists, especially in physics, are quite rare, she said, adding that she hoped more women would understand and appreciate that the discipline is “fun.”
“After all, the crash of thunder, or cooking a meal, everything is about physics,” she said.
Chen Li-chyong said she is currently researching the use of semiconductors for synthesizing hydrocarbons from carbon dioxide.
The technology still has a low conversion rate of about 1 percent, but if that rate reaches 10 percent, it might enter commercial use and contribute to phasing out fossil fuels in the chemical and other sectors, she said.
Newly elected Academicians and Honorary Academicians :
Division of Mathematics and Physical Sciences (5)
1. Jane-Ling Wang (Distinguished Professor, University of California, Davis)
2. Mu-Tao Wang (Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University)
3. Li-Chyong Chen (Distinguished Research Fellow (CCMS, NTU) & Director (AI-Mat, NTU) & Professor (Phys. NTU)
4. Liu Chen (Emeritus Professor at Above Scale and Research Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California, Irvine.)
5. Jen-Chieh Peng (Professor of Physics, University of Illinois)
Division of Engineering Sciences(5)
1. Kai-Nan An (John and Posy Krehbiel Professor Emeritus, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science)
2. Shin-Tson Wu (Trustee Chair Professor, University of Central Florida)
3. Chung-Chieh (Jay) Kuo (University of Southern California, Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and William H. Hogue Professorship)
4. Tze-chiang Chen (IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM Fellow, Vice President of Strategy, Science and Technology, IBM Research)
5. Yu-Pen Su (Consultant, National Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST)
Division of Life Sciences (6)
1. Huey-Kang Sytwu (Vice President, National Health Research Institutes/Distinguished Investigator, National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, NHRI)
2. Joseph Ching-Ming Wu (Director, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute Simon H. Stertzer Professor of Medicine & Radiology)
3. Jaung-Geng Lin (Chair Professor at the China Medical University, Taiwan).
4. Hui-Kuan Lin (Anderson Professor for Cancer Research, Director of Prostate Cancer Center of Excellence, Director of Signaling and Biotechnology Program at Wake Forest School of Medicine)
5. Ming-Che Shih (Distinguished Research Fellow, Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, Academia Sinica)
6. Tang K. Tang (Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica)
Division of Humanities and Social Sciences (3)
1. Yiting Li (Distinguished Professor, National Taiwan University)
2. LEE, Fong-mao (Adjunct Research Follow at Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, Academia Sinica/Emeritus Chair Professor, Graduate Institute of Religious Studies, National Chengchi University)
3. Wen-chin Ouyang ( Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature, SOAS, University of London)
Elected Honorary Academicians:
1. Edward Carroll Stone (David Morrisroe Professor of Physics; Vice Provost for Special Projects California Institute of Technology)
2. Tasuku Honjo (Professor, Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study)
3. Arthur Kleinman (Esther and Sidney Rabb professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts and Science, Harvard University)
Source: Academia Sinica
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over