Hsinchu County-based Industrial Technology Research Institute’s newly inaugurated Dutch office will help strengthen cooperation between Taiwan and the Netherlands across a broad spectrum of key R&D areas, according to ITRI July 5.
“The office is responsible for promoting collaboration and networking between ITRI entities and their Dutch partners,” said Frank L. Chen, managing director of the ITRI Netherlands office.
“It will also initiate cross-disciplinary research programs, especially in the fields of green energy, health and life sciences, as well as high-tech systems and materials.”
Commencing operations June 28 from High Tech Campus Eindhoven, the facility is ITRI’s second in Europe after Berlin, Germany.
Chen said the facility is expected to play a key role in fast-tracking implementation of the Penrose Shared Research Program, a milestone initiative between ITRI and TNO, a leading force in Dutch applied scientific research.
Launched by the TNO April 10 at Hannover Messe, one of the world’s top trade fairs for industrial technology, the project provides participants with access to a unique innovation system for promoting the adoption of industrial additive manufacturing, or 3D printing.
Sources familiar with the matter describe additive manufacturing, or the production of 3-D objects from a digital model by layering materials, as the third industrial revolution.
Joining the project as a co-founder June 28, the ITRI said the three-year initiative will see research efforts focused on developing high-tech spare parts, embedded electronics and human-related elements.
“The program expands important collaboration between industrial partners in Taiwan and Europe while capitalizing on the complementary knowledge bases and experiences of ITRI and TNO,” ITRI Vice President Chang Shuo-hung said.
Arnold Stokking, managing director at TNO, said partnering with ITRI provides a strong foundation for the project and reinforces the relationship between the institutes. (JSM)
Write to Meg Chang at sfchang@mofa.gov.tw