National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) and Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s top research institute, have worked hand in hand to promote and expand the country’s capability to make high-end equipment, with the aims of making the island Asia’s second largest exporter.

The two institutes set up a program office on Nov. 20 at the Delta Building, NCKU Research and Development Center, located in the Southern Taiwan Science Park, which stakeholders believe is the first step for the country to make self-developed high-end equipment, such as innovative high-end analytical instruments, highly innovative mass spectrometers and photoelectric analyzers.

Such equipment can be applied to many fields, including the monitoring of air pollution, food security and Chinese medicine safety. In light that most high-end equipment is large-sized and fixed to the ground, the program will focus more on “miniaturization” so as to provide real-time, on-site measurements and services, the stakeholders said.

Take the particle accelerator as an example, the office said it aims to develop a better yet smaller version which can be applied to tumor proton therapy. Unlike the usually enormous size of at least 50 centimeters in diameter, it expected to develop accelerators with the size of as small as five centimeters in diameter, and an ultimate goal of one centimeter only.

The office inauguration was graced by many dignitaries, including NCKU President Jenny Su; Academia Sinica Vice President Fu-Tong Liu; Ming-Che Shih, Distinguished Research Fellow and Chair, Academia Sinica Southern Campus Commission; and Chung-Hsuan Chen, the leader of the program.

Taiwan imports equipment and instrument worth over US$5.5 billion each year, while the export of such is only about US$2 billion, with most of which are basic medical examination instrument like thermometers, blood pressure gauges and blood-glucose meters, according to government statistics.