Against this backdrop, countries are beginning to seek new models of technological collaboration to accelerate the industrialization of AI and semiconductor research and development. Supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and jointly promoted by the National Institutes of Applied Research (NIAR) and the Cybersecurity Hub CZ, theAdvanced Chip Design Research Center (ACDRC) Taiwan-Czech bilateral research program was born from these industrial needs and the trend in international technological cooperation. The program aims to establish a transnational semiconductor and AI technology cooperation platform by connecting Taiwanese enterprises, academic institutions, and Czech research units, attempting to advance research results into practical industrial applications.

Within the ACDRC program framework, a research team composed of Pedestal Inc. and National Taiwan University (NTU) has partnered with Brno University of Technology and the Czech Technical University in Prague. Their collaboration focuses on key issues such as large language model computing architectures and AI chip efficiency optimization, exploring how Taiwanese semiconductor technology can gradually enter the European market through transnational research cooperation.

In an exclusive interview with The Icons, a UK-based global entrepreneur media outlet, Pedestal Inc. CEO Kevin Hsu pointed out: “The real problem large language models encounter is actually memory and hardware costs.” He further explained, “When model parameters exceed 50 Billion, or even 100 Billion, the supply and price of DRAM become critical constraints.”

Against this industrial backdrop, Kevin Hsu and his team began to rethink the design direction of AI chips. By integrating the company’s technical capabilities, academic research, and transnational cooperation networks, Pedestal Inc. is attempting to find a new competitive path in the AI era, starting from the perspectives of computational efficiency and architectural innovation.

Kevin Hsu: What Enterprises Need for AI Adoption is Complete Technical Capability

At its inception, like most IC design companies, Pedestal Inc. originally aimed to launch its own chip products. However, during market engagement, Kevin Hsu and his team gradually discovered another need.

Many enterprises wished to integrate AI into their products but lacked chip design capabilities. On the other hand, directly adopting standard chips often made it difficult to meet their specific product requirements.

“Many companies want to adopt AI, but they don’t necessarily need a standard chip,” Kevin Hsu said. “What they need is a complete set of technical capabilities that enable AI implementation. To some extent, we are actually providing the entire design capability to our clients.”

This observation ultimately led to the transformation of Pedestal Inc.’s business model. The company shifted from “making chips” to “providing NPU IP and integration services,” establishing a complete AI development toolchain that forms an integrated workflow from model design and compiler to hardware architecture.This strategy enables Pedestal Inc. to offer highly customized AI chip solutions to enterprises, allowing the company to establish a differentiated position in the fiercely competitive AI chip market.

AI Chip Design is Redefining Efficiency

In the past few years, the narrative of the AI chip industry has almost entirely revolved around the computational power race. However, for many enterprise products, what truly determines competitiveness is not maximum performance, but efficiency:

“Enterprise products ultimately have to return to power consumption and cost. If you can achieve half the power consumption of others under the same computational power, the entire product competitiveness becomes completely different.”

This difference is particularly evident in edge AI applications, such as laptops, tablets, or drones, where energy efficiency is often more critical than raw computational power. The Neural Processing Unit (NPU) designed by Pedestal Inc. has achieved approximately 30% lower power consumption compared to mainstream market solutions in some application scenarios.

Kevin Hsu points out that the next phase of AI competition will likely no longer be a simple GPU computational power race. “GPUs are designed for general-purpose computing, but a lot of AI inference actually involves fixed pattern computations. If you design from the architecture level, you can achieve higher efficiency at the hardware level.”

With this in mind, Pedestal Inc. chose to design its NPU around a DSP-centric architecture, gradually developing an AI computing framework focused on low-power inference.

Connecting European and Asian Semiconductor Ecosystems

With the advancement of AI and semiconductor technologies, international research collaboration is gradually becoming a significant force for industrial innovation. Pedestal Inc.’s participation in the ACDRC Taiwan-Czech bilateral research program involves collaborating with Czech academic institutions, allowing research resources and industrial needs to interface on a common platform.

This cooperation focuses on technological research and development while establishing a framework for transnational talent cultivation and industrial exchange.

Dr. Jiří Háze, director of the ACDRC center and head of the Department of Microelectronics at Brno University of Technology, pointed out that ACDRC is progressively becoming an important platform connecting the European and Asian semiconductor industries.

“ACDRC integrates research, education, and industrial cooperation within a single framework, enabling transnational collaboration to operate long-term. Through such cooperation mechanisms, Czech students can gain a clearer understanding of the complete semiconductor industry chain, while Taiwanese companies can access research-oriented system design capabilities.”

In his view, Taiwan and the Czech Republic possess high complementarity in semiconductor talent cultivation. Taiwan has a complete semiconductor industry chain, allowing students to encounter the practical industrial environment early on. Czech engineering education emphasizes theoretical foundations and system design capabilities.

From Academic Research to Market Application: A New Model for Transnational Cooperation

For enterprises, the value of international research collaboration is often reflected in the connection between research results and industrial application. Through transnational cooperation mechanisms, companies can access the technological needs of different markets earlier, aligning research and development directions more closely with actual industrial scenarios.

Kevin Hsu noted that through collaboration with Czech universities, Pedestal Inc. has been able to access new industrial demands. For instance, in the European market, the importance of automotive electronics and industrial applications far exceeds that in the Asian market:

“The demand for automotive chips in the Czech market is very pronounced. This is an application area we have had less exposure to in the past.”

Dr. Jiří Jakovenko, ACDRC Executive Board Member and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague, pointed out that ACDRC is designed precisely to make research results more accessible to industry.

“The most effective cooperation model is one where education, research, and industrial needs coexist,” said Jiří Jakovenko. “Through co-supervising graduate students, enterprise participation in research projects, and long-term internship systems, research results can enter the market more quickly.”

This collaborative framework is gradually transforming the exchanges between Taiwan and the Czech Republic from one-off research cooperation into a continuously operating transnational technology and talent network.

Redefining Roles in the Global AI Race

As generative artificial intelligence transitions from technological breakthroughs towards industrial application, the competitive logic of the semiconductor industry is also changing. In recent years, market focus has often centered on model scale and computational power metrics. However, as AI technology begins to enter practical product scenarios, the importance of chip architecture and energy efficiency is rapidly increasing.

In Kevin Hsu’s observation, the AI chip industry is likely approaching a new round of elimination. As more and more companies invest in AI accelerator development, the clarity of the technological roadmap will directly determine whether a company can survive the next phase of competition.

“In the end, the companies that remain will be those with very clear technological differentiation.” For Pedestal Inc., this roadmap has always revolved around the same core principle: low-power AI inference. The team designs computation units based on a DSP architecture and continuously optimizes data flow and system integration, aiming to establish a chip platform with superior efficiency advantages in edge computing and embedded devices.

Discussing the future technical direction of their products, Kevin Hsu provided a clear goal: “Our target is to launch the world’s lowest power AI inference chip within three to five years.” In his view, as AI technology gradually enters more terminal devices and application scenarios, the balance between power consumption and performance will become a crucial condition for product competitiveness. For Pedestal Inc., low power is not just a technical metric, but a design philosophy that determines whether a product can truly be adopted by the market.

Amidst these industrial changes, the research collaboration extending from Taiwan to the Czech Republic and Europe also provides new pathways for technological development. Through the transnational research platform established by ACDRC, enterprises, academia, and research institutions can promote technological research and development and application validation under a common framework, enabling research results to enter practical industrial scenarios more quickly:”Future competition in AI will not just be a battle of model parameters, but a contest of overall computational efficiency. Whoever can utilize computational power to its fullest extent under limited energy and hardware conditions will have a better chance of securing their position in this wave of the AI industry revolution.”

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Then chips stopped being just another component. They became strategic assets. Governments started talking about supply chain resilience and technological sovereignty like their national security depended on it, because in many ways, it does. Suddenly, the rules of the game shifted. Talent, technology, and industrial ecosystems became the new battlegrounds, and international cooperation had to be rethought from the ground up.

In the middle of this realignment, something interesting has been taking shape. With support from Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a cross-border initiative called the Advanced Chip Design Research Center (ACDRC) has been quietly building bridges between Taiwan and the Czech Republic. It is not just another academic exchange program. It is a structured platform designed to connect two very different but surprisingly complementary semiconductor ecosystems.

On the Taiwan side, the center is driven by the National Institutes of Applied Research (NIAR). The Czech counterpart brings together three institutions: Masaryk University, Brno University of Technology, and Czech Technical University in Prague, operating under the umbrella of the CyberSecurity Hub CZ. The key figures include Jirí Háze, who serves as Director of the ACDRC Center and heads the Microelectronics Department at Brno University of Technology, and Jirí Jakovenko, a professor and vice dean at Czech Technical University in Prague.

When we spoke with them, both emphasized that this is not just about signing agreements and holding conferences. The center was built to do real work, training people, conducting research, and bringing industry into the conversation from day one. At a moment when everyone is worried about supply chains and who controls critical technology, this Taiwan-Czech partnership offers a different way of thinking about what international collaboration can look like.

Two Ways of Teaching, One Goal

If you put Taiwanese and Czech engineering education side by side, you would struggle to find two approaches that look more different. And that, it turns out, is exactly the point.

Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is a tightly integrated machine. Design, manufacturing, packaging, testing, it is all there, often within driving distance. Universities have built themselves around this reality. Students spend their undergraduate years in cleanrooms. They work on company projects. They learn the tools and processes they will use in their careers before they even graduate. When they enter the job market, they hit the ground running.

Jakovenko has watched this up close. The connection between Taiwanese universities and industry is extraordinarily tight, he told me. Students are working on real manufacturing processes and corporate projects while they are still in school. By the time they finish, they already know how to do the job.

The Czech approach could hardly be more different. It reflects a European tradition that prioritizes theoretical depth over practical training. Students spend years building a foundation in microelectronics, circuit design, materials physics. They learn to think systematically about problems. They understand why a chip works the way it does, not just how to make one.

At the same time, the universities maintain long-term cooperation with industrial partners, who provide guidance on the skills students need. Some industry experts also teach courses, and more than half of the instruction is devoted to practical lab or computer exercises. The universities take pride in their facilities, including clean rooms where students gain hands-on experience, which is uncommon in Europe.

Jakovenko sees the tradeoffs clearly. The strength of Czech education is that students develop a deep understanding of entire systems. They do not just learn a process, they understand the principles behind it. But when they started working with Taiwan, they saw something else. Students who get exposed to real industrial problems during their studies learn in ways that classrooms cannot replicate. The combination, he believes, is powerful.

Háze thinks about it in structural terms. The Taiwanese partners genuinely appreciate the theoretical depth Czech students bring to problems, he said. They think differently, more systematically. Meanwhile, the Czech side looks at Taiwan and sees how close integration between universities and industry can compress the time it takes to turn a graduate into an engineer. The center was designed to let these two models work alongside each other, each absorbing what the other does best.

The Challenge of Cooperation

Anyone who has worked in international collaboration knows how hard it is to move from a signed memorandum to actual results. The center tries to solve this problem through structure. Two working groups, one focused on talent cultivation and another on research collaboration, break the work down into pieces that can actually be managed and measured.

Háze walked me through how it works. The talent group brings Czech faculty together with Taiwanese universities and companies for curriculum discussions, joint student supervision, research coordination, and industry projects. It flows both ways. When the Czech side designs a new microelectronics course, they might consult with Taiwanese industry about what skills weigh more on the ground. When Taiwanese partners shape a research agenda, they might draw on Czech expertise in system-level design.

The research group operates with a similar philosophy but a different focus. Projects are designed from the start with applications in mind. This is not blue sky academic work. Háze emphasized that the structure deliberately aligns research with industrial needs. Projects that involve direct collaboration with Taiwanese companies are particularly promising because they force everyone to think about technical requirements and market conditions from the beginning, not as an afterthought.

This approach is changing how students experience international exposure. In the past, studying abroad often meant language practice and cultural immersion, valuable but limited. Under this framework, students land in real research environments. They work on actual problems.

Jakovenko has seen the impact in their feedback. The biggest takeaway, students tell him, is understanding the whole development chain. Design, simulation, testing, deployment, they see how it all connects. Working in Taiwan pushes them technically, but it also builds confidence in navigating international teams and thinking globally about their work.

The Moment It Became Real

Every collaboration has a turning point, the moment when participants stop treating it as a temporary project and start seeing it as something worth building for the long term. For this center, that moment came around the second year.

The first students returned from Taiwan with stories about what they had learned. Jointly supervised papers started appearing in journals. Industry partners, having seen what the collaboration could do, began proposing their own research questions. The pieces started fitting together.

Háze described watching this shift happen. Activities that began as exchanges started becoming routine. Training programs under the talent group became regular events. Research collaborations under the other group kept expanding. When partners started applying for additional funding to extend projects within the existing framework, it signaled something important. They were no longer treating this as an experiment. They were investing in a relationship they expected to last.

That kind of institutional commitment matters for reasons beyond just continuity. It builds trust, and in semiconductors, trust is everything. Háze pointed out that cross-border technical collaboration inevitably runs into sensitive territory. Intellectual property, concerns about technology transfer, commercial secrets, these issues do not go away just because everyone has good intentions. The only way through them is relationships built over time. When people trust each other, they can have honest conversations about risks and boundaries. Without that trust, collaboration never moves past the superficial stage.

Jakovenko sees this playing out in the details of joint research. When you co-supervise PhD students from two different countries, you have to agree on basic questions. What is the goal of the research? Who owns the results? How and when can findings be published? Those conversations require a foundation of mutual confidence. Once that foundation is there, the conversation shifts. People stop worrying about protecting themselves and start asking how they can make the work more valuable together.

Bridging the Valley of Death

There is a well known problem in technology development. Great ideas come out of university labs all the time. Many of them never go anywhere. The gap between a promising concept and a viable product is wide, and most innovations die somewhere in between. Researchers call it the valley of death.

The center was designed with this problem in mind. Háze explained the logic. In Europe, moving from academic research to market deployment requires coordination among universities, industry partners, and applied research organizations. The center tries to accelerate that process by getting everyone involved early. When industry comes to the table at the project planning stage, research teams think differently. They worry about whether something can be manufactured at scale. They consider cost. They pay attention to how mature a technology really is. Those questions do not naturally occur to academics focused on publishing papers, but they are exactly the questions that determine whether a discovery ever becomes a product.

This applied focus is shifting how young researchers in the Czech Republic think about their work. For a long time, academic success was measured in publications and citations. Those things still matter, but Jakovenko has noticed something changing. More young scholars are starting to care about whether their research actually does something in the world.

He also sees it in the job market. PhD students and postdocs who have been through this program are unusually competitive when they start looking for positions. They have the academic credentials, but they also know how to work across cultures, how to understand what industry needs, and how to translate their technical knowledge into practical solutions. That combination is rare, and European high tech companies are beginning to notice.

There is a concrete example playing out right now. Jmem Tek, a Taiwanese semiconductor startup that got involved in the center’s research activities, decided late last year to open a subsidiary in Prague. They will hold an official opening in April, bringing together representatives from government, industry, and academia from both countries. The company started with academic connections. Those connections led to research collaboration. That collaboration led to enough trust that they decided to put down roots on the other side of the world. It is exactly the kind of trajectory the center was designed to enable.

Where This Could Go In The Future

We asked both professors what they hope this looks like in ten years. Their answers, independently given, pointed in the same direction.

Háze imagines the center evolving into something broader. A recognized hub for joint doctoral training. An incubator for research that actually matters to industry. A mechanism that connects academic and industrial partners across borders. Eventually, he hopes, it can open up to more partners across Europe and Asia, letting the network grow organically from the foundation they have built.

Jakovenko thinks about it from a European perspective. The continent is rethinking its entire approach to semiconductors. The European Chips Act and various national initiatives are all trying to build more resilient ecosystems. In that context, the center offers something useful. It is not trying to create new institutions from scratch. It takes existing strengths and builds a framework around them. That lightweight but structured approach, he believes, might be exactly what international collaboration in high tech fields needs to look like going forward.

He also offered a final thought that stuck with me. At a moment when semiconductors are at the center of geopolitical competition, when countries are scrambling to build walls and hoard talent, this partnership suggests a different path. Instead of trying to go it alone, it brings complementary strengths together. Instead of treating knowledge as something to protect, it treats it as something that grows when it flows.

Háze put it simply. Real technological sovereignty, he said, does not mean closing yourself off. It means having the ability to collaborate globally and benefit from it. In an era defined by competition over chips and the people who design them, that is a lesson worth remembering.

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This transformation implies that the core of technological development is no longer just about breakthroughs and speed, but also about the stability of the overall structure, the maturity of institutions, and the ability to continuously accumulate and validate capabilities over time. In such an international environment, the role of research institutions is also gradually shifting from technology executors to capability integrators and participants in the international order.

In 2025, the transition from the National Applied Research Laboratories to the National Institutes of Applied Research (NIAR) represents more than a name change. It signals a strategic repositioning of Taiwan’s national research system in response to the evolving global technology landscape. As the largest research organization under the National Science and Technology Council, NIAR not only undertakes the four main tasks of “establishing R&D platforms, supporting academic research, promoting frontier science and technology, and fostering high-tech talent” but also bears the responsibility of transforming diverse technological energy into a long-term operational framework.

From life sciences to semiconductor research, from computing infrastructure to intelligent robotics integration, the challenge NIAR faces transcends deepening expertise in a single domain. The real question is how to establish stable connections between multi-layered capabilities, allowing research activities with different tempos to advance coherently within a single governance framework. This integrative capability has become a key indicator of the maturity of a research system.

Throughout this transformation process, the core issue for Dr. Hung-Yin Tsai, President of NIAR, is not merely the short-term expansion of output, but more importantly, endowing the research system with long-term carrying capacity. He believes that the real key to competition is not just speed, but the completeness and stability of the structure.

“When research capabilities are embedded within a clear governance structure, technological breakthroughs can maintain their direction despite personnel changes or external fluctuations. When institutional operations are transparent and continuous, international cooperation can be built on a foundation of trust. For me, research is a public capability that requires time to mature. It is precisely with this mindset that NIAR’s transformation and future arrangements begin to demonstrate strategic significance that transcends individual projects.”

ACDRC: From Project-Based Cooperation to Long-Term Collaboration

Discussing the establishment of the Advanced Chip Design Research Center (ACDRC), Dr. Hung-Yin Tsai noted that Taiwan does not lack chip design capabilities. The problem lies in the existing models of international cooperation, which can no longer support deeper-level connections. In the past, international research collaboration was usually organized around individual projects. Teams from both sides cooperated on specific topics, achieved phased results, published papers or technical reports, and then returned to their original rhythms upon project completion. While effective for knowledge exchange, this model struggles to accumulate the mechanisms needed for cross-border industrial chain deployment and talent circulation.

“Once a collaboration lacks subsequent connection, even brilliant results fail to create a long-term impact. The emergence of ACDRC is precisely a response to this structural rupture where projects end upon completion.”

Commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by NIAR, ACDRC aims to establish a sustainable  platform for international cooperation rather than simply showcasing individual research outcomes. It integrates three facets—chip design R&D, talent cultivation, and industrial implementation—within a single  framework, allowing collaboration to extend beyond the laboratory level and develop into longer-term partnerships.

Within the project, Taiwanese research teams establish substantive cooperation nodes in the Czech Republic, while Czech high-level technical talents participate in long-term internships and training in Taiwan. Industry units from both sides connect simultaneously. Through this two-way flow design, research outcomes are not only generated at the academic level but can also be transformed into business applications and market opportunities. Therefore, the real value of ACDRC lies in its emphasis on continuity, not in the highlight figures of any single stage.

Dr. Tsai also pointed out a more critical aspect: ACDRC is testing a new model for international cooperation. When Taiwanese IC design startups can enter the European automotive and information security supply chains through this platform and form long-term R&D relationships with local academic and research institutions, the cooperation gradually reduces its dependence on government project cycles and shifts towards a cycle driven by market forces and technological deepening.

“This cycle builds trust between both parties through co-investment and shared responsibility, and also makes talent development a core asset of the cooperation, rather than an ancillary outcome. ACDRC thus becomes an institutionalized attempt, integrating research, industry, and cross-border deployment within a single framework.”

NIAR’s Eight Research Centers: Constructing Cross-Domain Research Synergy

Looking at NIAR’s overall R&D deployment, its eight national-level research centers span a wide range of technological fields.Their true value lies not only in the specialization itself but also in the way their capabilities are interconnected.

In environmental science, the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) enhances building safety and disaster resilience through structural validation and data analysis. Meanwhile, the Taiwan Ocean Research Institute (TORI) supports a decision-making basis for geological surveys and marine resource analysis.

The capability linkages in the digital and industrial spheres are even more critical. In the ICT field, the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute (TSRI) advances  semiconductor process and design technologies, enhancing application reliability through experimental verification. The National Center for Instrumentation Research (NCIR) ensures precision measurement and equipment self-sufficiency, enabling advanced research to be verifiable and replicable. The National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC) provides large-scale data processing and high-performance computing infrastructure, enabling semiconductor design simulation and large-scale model training. When computing power, design, and validation capabilities work synergistically within the same framework, technological advancement forms a complete process, rather than isolated breakthroughs.

In the biomedical field, the model systems and experimental conditions established by the National Center for Biomodels (NCB) provide a stable foundation for new drug development and precision medicine. These seemingly independent tasks collectively form a national-level network for environmental and infrastructure security capabilities, ensuring that research outcomes do not remain purely theoretical but can directly support public governance.

In the field of science and technology policy, the Science & Technology Policy Research and Information Center (STPI) provides technology trend analysis and policy evaluation, ensuring that technological development and the institutional environment connect and co-evolve. Additionally, the National Center for AI Robotics (NCAIR), scheduled to be established in April this year, will integrate key technologies such as AI, sensors, and control systems, promoting the deployment of cross-domain technologies into actual field testing and application optimization.

Dr. Hung-Yin Tsai points out that these capabilities together form a continuous chain from research and validation to design and real-world implementation. “The real key, besides the technical prowess of any single unit, lies in the stability of the collaborative rhythm between units. When capabilities complement rather than compete with each other, the research system gradually evolves from a collection of specializations into a platform capable of continuously delivering holistic solutions.” Under this framework, NIAR not only presents the unique value of each center but also integrates academic research resources with an overall strategic vision, playing a leading role for the “Taiwan Academic and Research Team,” and joining hands with domestic and international partners to create a new era of borderless science and technology.

Defining the Direction of Research in Times of Change

For any research system, the biggest challenges often arise when choosing a direction. When resources are limited, topics are diverse, and the pace of technological evolution is uneven, decision-makers must make judgments among different possibilities. Dr. Hung-Yin Tsai believes that one of the core tasks of research leadership is to set a clear time horizon for the organization.

“Some research projects can yield applied results within three years, while certain infrastructure developments require over a decade of investment before their value becomes apparent. Without a clear hierarchical plan based on timeframes, resources will be pulled by short-term pressures, making long-term deployments difficult to sustain. The rhythm of decision-making thus becomes a critical factor in the stability of research development.”

In practice, this approach is reflected in resource allocation and prioritization. For high-risk but potentially transformative advanced technologies, NIAR adopts a phased investment strategy, gradually scaling up after early-stage validation to avoid bearing excessive costs at once. For areas with a mature foundation, it strengthens system integration and cross-domain linkages, enabling existing achievements to be transformed into practical applications. “This dynamic adjustment method allows research directions to be corrected according to environmental changes without deviating from the overall development track. The decision-making process is a continuous calibration based on established principles.”

Furthermore, research decisions also involve balancing risk-taking and public accountability. When research involves the use of public resources and the deployment of international cooperation, transparent procedures and clear standards are particularly important. Through institutionalized evaluation and multi-party discussion mechanisms, major projects undergo multiple levels of scrutiny before initiation, making the decision-making process traceable. This governance approach does not pursue speed but emphasizes rationality and sustainability.

Dr. Tsai also stated that one of the core tasks of research leadership is to set a clear time horizon for the organization: “For me, the value of leadership lies in ensuring that every choice withstands the test of time, rather than frequently announcing new projects. Once a research direction is established, it should be advanced steadily, not constantly shifted due to external opinions or short-term trends.”

Hung-Yin Tsai: International Technology Cooperation Includes Computing Infrastructure and Cross-Domain Integration

Looking ahead to 2026 and 2027, Dr. Hung-Yin Tsai pointed out that NIAR will place greater emphasis  on AI computing infrastructure and cross-domain technology integration in its international collaborations. With the Cloud Computing Center at the National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC) now in operation, Taiwan possesses the capability to support large-scale AI model training and high-intensity simulations. The strategic significance of this infrastructure lies in providing a practical, shared platform for international teams, enabling collaboration to transcend one-off research projects.

“When international partners can conduct model training, data analysis, and test validation within the same computing environment, the efficiency and depth of cooperation naturally increase. Computing power thus becomes a substantive foundation for cooperation, not an additional condition.”

Additionally, in advanced fields such as next-generation semiconductors and silicon photonics, NIAR also plans to deepen cross-regional research alliances. These technologies involve material innovation, process optimization, and system integration, requiring the combination of multiple areas of expertise to advance. Dr. Tsai particularly emphasized that through long-term connections with European research institutions, both sides can form a division of labor and collaboration model at the design validation and application development levels, allowing research achievements to enter industrial testing phases more quickly. This type of collaboration emphasizes complementarity rather than competition, with the goal of jointly enhancing technological maturity, rather than vying for unilateral dominance.

At the end of the interview, Dr. Tsai also mentioned that the establishment of the National Center for AI Robotics (NCAIR) marks a new phase in applied integration. By bringing together AI algorithms, sensing technologies, and control systems, research achievements can be repeatedly tested and optimized in real-world environments.

“In the next two years, NIAR will promote more field-oriented cooperation projects, directly connecting technologies with application scenarios like transportation, manufacturing, and energy. This cooperation model—supported by computing power, driven by cross-domain technology integration, and validated by real-world testing fields—will become an important feature of Taiwan’s participation in international technology cooperation. I hope that through these concrete deployments, NIAR can establish a stable presence in the global research network,  ensuring that Taiwan’s technological capabilities are not only visible globally, but also actively embedded in international innovation networks.”

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The discussions centred on critical themes including advanced materials, low-carbon technologies, energy infrastructure and next-generation semiconductor manufacturing. Leading research institutions and industry figures from across Europe and Asia gathered to exchange insight and explore new models of cooperation.

During the forum, Dr. Jiunn-Yih Chyan, Chief Operating Officer of DEUVtek, was invited to deliver a keynote address. He shared perspectives on the silicon carbide materials revolution, sustainable manufacturing and the future trajectory of advanced packaging technologies. His insights drew significant interest from European research bodies and global industry stakeholders.

As the forum’s media strategy partner, the London editorial team of the British publication The Icons conducted an in-depth interview with Dr. Chyan at the Entopia Building, capturing his views on the global semiconductor ecosystem, sustainable production models and the innovation pathways shaping the industry’s future.

The Turning Point in Materials Technology: From Industry Pain Points to Innovation Momentum

When discussing the founding vision of DEUVtek, Dr. Chyan did not shy away from the realities of the industry. Instead, he addressed the core issues with a distinctly strategic perspective. He noted that the rapid expansion of AI, electric vehicles, 5G and low-Earth-orbit satellites has pushed global expectations for semiconductor materials and energy efficiency into a new era.

Traditional silicon is no longer sufficient for the demands of emerging technologies. While silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) offer significant performance advantages as next-generation compound semiconductors, their extreme hardness, corrosion resistance and processing challenges have created structural bottlenecks for the industry—particularly in achieving mass production and reliable yield rates.

In the interview, Dr. Chyan outlined this technological inflection point with clarity: “Breakthroughs in materials do not automatically translate into value. If manufacturing processes cannot keep pace, material revolutions will never truly enter the industry.” His analysis reflects a growing consensus across the semiconductor sector: the next decade of competition will hinge not only on material innovation but also on whether manufacturing processes can accommodate new materials and build a stable supply chain.

“DEUVtek was established on the basis of these industry realities,” he emphasised. “What I want to highlight is that companies must begin with the structural pain points of the value chain and grasp the challenges shared across global markets. Only then can they define their position in the next wave of technological evolution.”

DeepThinning: A Technical Breakthrough Reshaping Silicon Carbide Manufacturing

When discussing DEUVtek’s core DeepThinning technology, Dr. Chyan spoke with the precision of a scientist, outlining both its technical significance and its broader industrial implications. He explained that while silicon carbide offers unparalleled advantages in energy conversion efficiency, voltage resistance and thermal conductivity, its extreme hardness and corrosion resistance have made traditional machining methods—such as mechanical grinding and gas etching—reach their limits in efficiency, yield and consumable costs.

DeepThinning replaces these consumable-intensive processes with an innovative optical-laser mechanism that enables entirely non-contact manufacturing. This dramatically reduces wafer breakage and significantly increases processing speed. “When a process no longer relies on mechanical force, the issues of material stress and wafer breakage can be solved at their root,” Dr. Chyan noted. “This is not just an improvement in efficiency; it is a fundamental redefinition of the logic behind silicon carbide processing.”

In measurable results, DeepThinning has reduced breakage rates from the industry norm of around 3 percent to below 0.1 percent, enabling stable mass production of ultra-thin wafers below 50 micrometres. With consumables essentially eliminated, overall manufacturing costs fall by roughly 20 percent. The process also removes diamond grinding wheels, oil-water cleaning and consumable waste streams—major sources of carbon emissions—ushering silicon carbide production into a genuinely sustainable model.

According to Dr. Chyan, the technology has attracted significant attention from research groups at Cambridge precisely because it delivers three forms of high-level global impact: a restructured cost model, enhanced industrial scalability and a practical pathway for embedding sustainability into next-generation semiconductor manufacturing.

The Taiwanese Model of Sustainable Manufacturing: Systemic Resilience Built Within Constraints

When speaking about sustainable manufacturing, Dr. Chyan analysed Taiwan’s position through a broad structural lens. He pointed out that Taiwan is not only a global centre for advanced semiconductor manufacturing, but also one of the first regions to confront the constraints of limited water, electricity and land resources, alongside intensifying international pressure on carbon emissions. The fact that Taiwan continues to maintain the world’s highest yield rates and the most complete supply chain under these conditions reflects what he describes as a form of “systemic resilience”: the ability to keep innovating despite multiple constraints.

During the interview, he emphasised: “Taiwan’s strategic importance does not rest solely on technological leadership, but on its ability to practise sustainable manufacturing under resource pressure.” This form of sustainability is not an optional add-on, but an embedded element of Taiwan’s entire production logic.

Dr. Chyan explained that DeepThinning fits squarely within this context. By reducing carbon emissions, eliminating consumables and improving production stability, the technology becomes a key component of Taiwan’s strategy for a sustainable global supply chain. It enables silicon carbide manufacturing to achieve both environmental benefit and industrial competitiveness—an advantage that will shape Taiwan’s role in the next generation of semiconductor development.

International Expansion: Europe as the First Proving Ground for Technology and Policy

When asked why Europe was chosen as the starting point for DEUVtek’s international expansion, Dr. Chyan offered a clear, strategy-driven explanation. Europe, he noted, is simultaneously the global architect of sustainability regulations, a major centre for compound-semiconductor research and the region with the most ambitious energy-transition policies. Just as crucial is the continent’s shift toward a “local for local” production model in response to geopolitical tensions and a fragmented supply chain. Under this model, companies that can demonstrate sustainable processes, high reliability and the ability to build localised operations gain trust and market access far more rapidly.

He also highlighted the pivotal role of the National Institutes of Applied Research (NIAR): “NIAR provides the practical mechanisms that connect Taiwan directly with Europe’s research institutions, policy networks and technological ecosystem.”

Through instrument-sharing frameworks, cross-disciplinary projects, international research agreements and overseas research hubs such as the ACDRC (Advanced Chip Design Research Center, established by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Czech Republic), Taiwanese companies can integrate swiftly into Europe’s technology system and validate their innovations under some of the world’s strictest standards.

According to Dr. Chyan, this approach is not only about expanding markets; it is, more fundamentally, about gaining “access to the arena of international technology governance.”

Becoming a Driving Force in the Global Reconfiguration of the Semiconductor Supply Chain, Not Just an Equipment Provider

Looking ahead, Dr. Chyan observed that the global semiconductor industry is shifting from a “process-scaling race” to a “system-performance race”. Heterogeneous integration, 2.5D and 3D packaging and the rise of chiplet architectures will define the next phase of industry development, and Taiwan sits firmly at the centre of this transition. With its dense technical capability and fully developed ecosystem in advanced packaging, Taiwan is uniquely positioned to shape the global chiplet landscape.

Against this backdrop, DEUVtek’s role is becoming increasingly distinct: to serve as a pivotal equipment provider in advanced packaging and new-material manufacturing, while using its R&D base in Taiwan to establish trusted technological footholds across Europe and the United States.

“Our aim is not to chase scale, but to become the most reliable technological partner amid the uncertainties of the global supply chain,” Dr. Chyan emphasised. “This strategic model will enable DEUVtek to act as a system-level force in the reconfiguration of the global semiconductor supply chain, rather than merely a supplier of individual equipment.”

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Euro–Asia Collaboration on Sustainability: Redefining the Global Order

Technology and Sustainability at the Core: Bridging Taiwan and Cambridge as Dr. Hung-Yin Tsai, President of Taiwan NIAR, Advances Asian Innovation into Europe’s Decision-Making Hubs

The post Dr. Jiunn-Yih Chyan, COO of DEUVtek: Building a Global Framework for Sustainable Semiconductors and Defining the Future Through a Packaging Revolution first appeared on The Icons.

The forum convened leaders from across the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Singapore, Czechia, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, and Finland. Entrepreneurs, industry pioneers, academics, and policymakers came together to craft what was, in essence, a knowledge symposium spanning continents and pointing towards the future.

The scale and stature of the gathering were evident in its participants. Global enterprises such as Nvidia, Intel, ARM, and Bosch joined forces with leading institutions including the University of Cambridge, the London School of Economics, the University of Helsinki, and the Czech Technical University. Professional bodies such as the British Standards Institution and the Royal Academy of Engineering lent further weight. For several days, the Entopia Building was transformed into a global stage, where the languages of technology, industry, academia, and policy converged to sketch a shared blueprint for sustainable R&D.

Yet the true value of the forum extended well beyond the walls of Cambridge. Media outlets across multiple nations continued to track its outcomes, while institutions pursued follow-up discussions and new collaborations. Bilateral research projects, international talent exchanges, and pilot programmes in emerging markets began to take shape. What started as a forum is now evolving into a dynamic network stretching from Cambridge to Prague, from Taipei to Singapore, and onwards to Lisbon and Helsinki. This momentum has not only aligned Taiwan’s technological capabilities with Europe’s policy and research frameworks but has also elevated sustainability itself—from a technical subject to a diplomatic language, a cultural dialogue, and a strategic choice.

As the forum’s official media partner, The Icons subsequently held in-depth interviews with three pivotal figures: Dr Mei-Yu Chang, Director of the International Affairs Office at NIAR; Sam Laakkonen, Senior Director at CISL; and Professor Radek Holý, Director of the Advanced Chip Design Research Centre in Czechia. From the perspectives of science diplomacy, innovation culture, and strategic balance, each offered distinct insights. Yet all converged on a singular conclusion: when technology, diplomacy, culture, and strategy intersect, sustainability innovation becomes the driving force capable of reshaping the world’s future.

Dr Mei-Yu Chang: Science as Diplomacy, Innovation as a Global Responsibility

“We follow the principle of leveraging our national strengths to address global needs.” With this opening statement, Dr Mei-Yu Chang, Director of International Affairs at Taiwan’s National Institutes of Applied Research (NIAR), distilled the very spirit of the forum. For her, science is not confined to laboratory results; it is a language the world can read. And innovation is no longer just technical progress—it is an assumption of international responsibility.

She outlined three fields of collaboration that emerged from the dialogue. In the net-zero transition, Taiwan showcased capabilities in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and high-performance computing for carbon-negative research. These complemented Europe’s advances in cement-sector decarbonisation technologies, creating tangible opportunities for synergy. In built environment resilience, Taiwan’s expertise in seismic retrofitting, disaster early warning systems, and AI-driven smart city applications resonated directly with Europe’s pursuit of ESG-driven property data platforms. In semiconductors, Taiwan’s silicon carbide wafer processing and low-power AI chip design extend far beyond industrial gains, forming an indispensable cornerstone for global sustainable transformation.

She stressed that what underpinned these collaborations was not mere “technology transfer” but a deeper alignment of values. “Science is diplomacy, innovation is responsibility.” Examples from the forum illustrated this point: joint projects between Taiwanese startups such as Microip, DEUVtek and Light Momentum with the Czech Technical University, together with NIAR’s formal agreements with international partners and ongoing exchanges with global experts. “Through bilateral research programmes, technology transfer mechanisms, and participation in international forums,” she explained, “Taiwan’s scientific achievements are increasingly embedded into other countries’ systems and industries, becoming gateways to bilateral and even multilateral cooperation.”

Dr Chang also placed emphasis on the strategic importance of talent mobility. NIAR oversees seven national laboratories with a vision of “pursuing global excellence while creating local value.” It has long promoted professional training to help students bridge into industry, upgrade in-service professionals, and enable academic exchange through visiting scholars and overseas placements. “Talent is the true key to turning research into international influence. Only by enabling young people to cross borders can scientific cooperation move beyond paper agreements and endure through generations.”

At the close of our interview, Dr Chang elevated her perspective further: “Taiwan does not wish to be seen merely as a link in the global supply chain. We want to be recognised as a partner that stands alongside the world in addressing shared challenges. What we aspire to is not simply the demonstration of technology, but the assumption of greater responsibility.”

Sam Laakkonen: From Local Contexts to a Shared Global Destiny

“Cross-border collaboration is essential. We can not only learn from each other’s innovation cultures but also share practical experience.” Sam Laakkonen, Senior Director at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), began his reflections by lifting the value of sustainability innovation to the level of cultural context. For him, innovation is not merely a methodology—it is shaped by the institutions, geography and history of a place.

He drew particular attention to the power of policy. “In Europe, sustainability innovation is often policy-led.” For decades, Europe has led the world in drafting sustainability regulations and standards. Though sometimes seen as onerous, these frameworks provide innovators with foresight, signalling where global policy directions are likely heading. In his words, this “institution-first” culture defines the European innovation landscape.

By contrast, Asia—Taiwan in particular—faces different realities. “Taiwan’s environmental challenges are more acute, from extreme heat to natural disasters. The way Taiwan confronts these issues can inspire European innovators.” For Laakkonen, what Asia grapples with today may well foreshadow Europe’s future. Taiwan’s solutions are therefore not parochial but serve as rehearsals for Europe—and perhaps the wider world.

Yet Laakkonen’s focus is not on high-level agreements or macro frameworks but on grassroots practice. “I firmly believe in the power of grassroots exchange. We must encourage direct interaction and engagement, so that entrepreneurs and researchers can collaborate and co-create across borders.” In his view, real innovation rarely originates in conference rooms or policy texts; it emerges from experiments by entrepreneurs and researchers on the ground.

That is why he sees grassroots exchange as decisive. “Entrepreneurs often take learnings from these exchanges directly into their solutions.” In other words, cross-cultural dialogue does not remain rhetorical but becomes tangible in the form of products, services, and market-ready responses to social needs.

In this process, Cambridge and NIAR play a catalytic role. “They are not arbiters standing above the process, but enablers who create the platforms where innovation can intersect.” For Laakkonen, their greatest contribution is to unlock spaces where grassroots energy can be sparked and amplified.

His concluding remark carried both clarity and urgency: “We cannot operate in silos. To understand another region’s context is often to understand our own future.” For him, the ultimate goal is to lift sustainability challenges from regional concerns onto the trajectory of a shared global destiny. And in that trajectory, cross-national innovation is not an option—it is an imperative.

Radek Holý: Semiconductor Collaboration Between Europe and Asia Must Transcend Technology

Professor Radek Holý, Vice-Rector of the Czech Technical University and Director of the Advanced Chip Design Research Centre (ACDRC), views technology through a strategic lens. “I see the role of ACDRC as a crucial bridge between Europe’s ambition for technological sovereignty and Taiwan’s global leadership in semiconductor innovation.”

For him, ACDRC is not merely a research institution but a hub connecting industry, policy, and geopolitics. “ACDRC has the potential to become a centre of excellence, linking Europe’s strong research capacities with Taiwan’s practical know-how and industrial expertise—particularly in chip design, where Taiwan clearly leads.” Such a fusion, he explained, will not only accelerate technological breakthroughs but also serve Europe’s geopolitical imperative: reducing reliance on external suppliers and strengthening strategic autonomy.

When speaking of collaboration with NIAR, his tone was both resolute and optimistic. “This cross-continental partnership marks a new era.” He elaborated: “Taiwan brings distinctive expertise and global market experience, while Europe contributes robust research infrastructure, a stable regulatory framework, and an increasing political will to invest in strategic technologies.” For Holý, this is the essence of European technological sovereignty—not isolationism, but the ability to build balanced and respectful partnerships with global leaders.

Yet what excites him most lies beyond the technical. “What inspires me most is the resonance of values: our shared commitment to research freedom, an openness to innovation, and a long-term vision of sustainable technological growth.” He pointed out that Czechia’s strong academic foundations, paired with Taiwan’s agility in technological leadership, offer the potential not only to advance semiconductors but also to educate the next generation of engineers and scientists capable of thriving on the global stage. “These new generations will not only compete internationally but will create new value globally.”

In his closing reflections, Professor Holý balanced the voice of an educator with the realism of a strategist. “From what we have witnessed at this forum, the future is not merely about cooperation across borders; it is about building a value-based research community.” In his vision, semiconductor collaboration between Europe and Asia will no longer be confined to technical coordination, but will emerge as a stabilising and enduring force within the global order.

The Collective Force of Sustainability Innovation Is Redefining Global Standards

The Cambridge forum opened a new corridor between Europe and Asia, bringing Taiwan’s science diplomacy, Europe’s policy culture, and the strategic imperatives of semiconductor cooperation into one shared conversation. Dr Mei-Yu Chang framed Taiwan’s role with her dictum, “Science is diplomacy, innovation is responsibility.” Sam Laakkonen urged that innovation must be grounded in lived context and grassroots practice. And Radek Holý combined education, strategy, and values to point towards a research community built on cooperation.

From different vantage points, the three leaders ultimately converged on a single truth: sustainability innovation is no longer optional—it is a global responsibility of our age.

As the official media partner of the forum, The Icons observed that this was far more than a gathering of experts. It was a living testament to how Europe and Asia can co-create the future together. From Cambridge to Taipei, from Prague to Singapore, and onwards across the globe, the momentum of sustainability innovation is crossing the frontiers of industry, academia, and diplomacy. This momentum is not only accelerating technological advancement but is also reshaping the very standards and principles of international collaboration.

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The post Euro–Asia Collaboration on Sustainability: Redefining the Global Order first appeared on The Icons.