In the 2019 general assembly of the Russia Academy of Engineering (RAE) and the International Academy of Engineering (IAE) taking place on April 26th, Professor B.V. Gusev, president of the RAE, announced that in addition to the order of “Engineering Fame,” this year, the RAE and the IAE decided to create two more orders in honor of Dr. Samuel Yin, founder of the Tang Prize Foundation and the first vice president of the IAE, and Mr. Boris Evgenievich Paton, the legendary Ukrainian scientist, honorary president of the IAE and president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
Claiming 566 patents for his inventions in the field of building construction technology, Dr. Yin is especially lauded for developing an efficient and precise method for constructing earthquake-resistant structures, and Mr. Paton, who turned 100 in 2018, is a world-renowned figure in the field of welding, metallurgy, and technology of materials and material science. The “International Engineering Academy Star of Fame” order, with Dr. Yin’s portrait inlaid in the center and the Chinese characters of the Tang Prize in the background, was presented by Professor Gusev and accepted by Dr. Jenn-Chuan Chern, CEO of the Tang Prize Foundation and president of Taiwan Chapter of International Academy of Engineering (TCIAE), on behalf of Dr. Yin. As a token of recognition of the Tang Prize ethos “for the betterment of the world,” it can be awarded to scientists of outstanding achievements in engineering.
What was also on the agenda of the assembly was selecting the 2019 members for the academy. After careful assessment of the qualifications of the nominees, the IAE announced 12 new academicians and 19 new corresponding members, respectively hailing from Russia, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Kyrgyzstan, Taiwan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc. To the great delight of the Taiwan delegate, Dr. Kuo-Ning Chiang, chair professor at Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University, was named one of the academicians, while President Ching-Jong Liao of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology and Professor Shan-Hui Hsu, director of the Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering at National Taiwan University, were both selected as corresponding members.
Appointed one of the corresponding members in 2013, Professor Chiang specializes in power mechanical engineering, MEMS, and nano-mechanics. Successfully applying statistical mechanics and artificial intelligence to electronic packaging and to nanotechnology for semiconductor manufacturing, he has earned numerous international awards and also holds many patents for his research findings. Professor Liao is an expert in industrial management and intelligent manufacturing systems for production scheduling. Elected a fellow of Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Society (APIEMS), he has been repeatedly honored by Taiwan’s National Science Council for his distinguished research outcomes. Professor Hsu is a leading authority on biomedical engineering and polymer science, a brilliant female engineer, an elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), winner of 2015 Taiwan Biotechnology Foundation Chair Professor Award and recipient of many accolades from Taiwan’s National Science Council and Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Headquartered in Moscow, the IAE was set up in 1992, in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and as a way to retain the bond between the states of the former Soviet republics. It comprises 1300 academicians and members from 40 countries, including Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Slovenia, Greece, Belarus, Taiwan and some other central European countries.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of TCIAE, Dr. Chern went on a trip to Moscow, accompanied by other academicians of TCIAE, including Professor Yun Yen, Professor Kuo-Chun Chang, former Academia Sinica President Chi-Huey Wong, Secretary General of TCIAE Professor Hui-Ping Tserng, as well as members of TCIAE such as Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering at National Taiwan University Professor Shang-Hsien Hsieh. In the assembly, Professor Gusev made a special reference to Dr. Yin and the Tang Prize. Invited to deliver a speech to the assembly, Dr. Chern reflected on TCIAE’s contribution to the technological cooperation between Taiwan and Russian during the past decade, while also taking the opportunity to promote the Tang Prize in this grand occasion.
Dr. Chern’s time in Moscow was further enriched by meetings with several luminaries. Apart from discussing issues related to biotechnology, civil engineering and the improvement of healthcare systems, Dr. Chern also helped them gain an adequate understanding of the Tang Prize. One of these notable figures is Mr. Oleg Kotov, the 100th Russian cosmonaut and deputy director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of Russian Academy of Sciences. His illustrious career features three flights to the universe, one of which resulted in his a year and a half sojourn in space. In addition, Dr. Chern and other Taiwanese delegates spent some time in the Skolkovo Innovation Centre. They met up with Yulia Tolkishevskaya, who once came to Taiwan to visit the Foundation, and exchanged ideas with other biopharmaceutical scientists on technology development and sustainable industrial development. Moreover, they called on Ms. Olga Goncharova, president of Russian Women-doctors Association, to talk about the possible collaboration with Taiwan for the betterment of the healthcare system in the Russian Far East. Finally, this trip was rendered more fruitful by their visits to Moscow State University of Civil Engineering and Moscow Architectural Institute, in the hope of their signing an MoA with National Taiwan University’s Department of Civil Engineering, and with the belief that this international partnership will generate truly valuable research outputs.
