With the double purpose of encouraging exchange in the field of engineering and promoting the Tang Prize, Tang Prize Foundation CEO Dr. Jenn-Chuan Chern, joined by Director of Taiwan’s National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering Kuo-Chun Chang, and Professor of Civil Engineering at National Taiwan University Hui-Ping Tserng were met in Russia on May 13 by Representative Chen Jun-xian of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Moscow and group chief Chuan Zhao-ming of the Science and Technology Representative Office of the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology.
Dr. Chern and company visited the Russian Academy of Engineering on May 14, where they met with academy president Boris Vladimirovich Gusev. Their visit included discussion over future cooperation between the two organizations, and participation in the presidium of the International Academy of Engineering.
On the next day (15), the group participated in the 2015 annual academy members’ assembly. Dr. Chern was invited to speak at the event about the Tang Prize to an audience of academy members from Russia and from states of the former Soviet Union. His discussion of the importance of the four fields to the 21st century and the rigorous selection process was received with approval by the audience.
President of the Engineering Academy of Armenia Sergey Ashotovich Minasyan and the President of the Udmurt Branch of the Russian Academy of Engineering V.A. Nikulin, along with a number of vice presidents from academy branches, proposed a plan for cooperation in the coming years. The plan centered on two fields of the Tang Prize—Sustainable Development and Biopharmaceutical Science; specifically on five topics—energy, ecology, information and robotics, biopharmaceutical science, and industry cooperation and exchange, which will be included in the announcement event within the year. Within the next two years, a meeting on sustainable construction practices will be held. Both sides agreed to set up contacts for the cooperation and plan on using domestic publications to promote exchange in science and technology in both Russia and Taiwan. These events are promoted by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Taiwan Branch of the Russian International Academy of Engineering, and will work to promote the spirit of the Tang Prize.
Academy President Gusev, a member of the International Advisory Board of the Tang Prize in Sustainable Development, took special care to introduce the prize to his colleagues and encourage them to strive to one day win such a prestigious honor. CEO Dr. Chern, who is a member of the International Academy of Engineers, and Kuo-Chun Chang took part in the academy member selection process at the yearly assembly—a beginning to years of cooperation between the two organizations.
