Academic News
![The opening ceremony of the Covestro Global Energy Curing Innovation Center was held at NCU. Photo by Kuo Shih-Sheng](../thumbs/1110519照片一.jpg)
The Covestro Global Energy Curing Innovation Center co-founded by National Central University (NCU) and Covestro Taiwan Ltd. was officially launched in May. Taking up 1322 square meters, the center has become the first global R&D center founded by a foreign company and established on a university campus in Taiwan. With the support from the industry-academia collaboration project—the Development and Manufacturing Process of Green Advanced Functional Materials sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, both parties collaborate to develop sustainable future products.
Covestro is one of the front-runners in energy curing technology. It has numerous patents and has ranked the top 1 company in the world in the field of optical fibers. Different from the solvent type of paint, energy curing technology applies light sources such as ultraviolet to instantly solidify paints without using any solvent. Energy curing technology, therefore, is an outstanding solution to the life cycle assessment (LCA) in the field of paints. Ultraviolet-cured resin has a broad range of applications in paints, including optical fibers, optical cables, solar panels, electrical materials, ink printing, and the protective coating for floors and top-notch wooden furniture.
Dr. Jou Jing-Yang, president of NCU, recognized the contribution of Dr. Lii Kwang-Hwa, former vice president of NCU, in facilitating the project of collaboration between NCU and Covestro. President Jou emphasized that materials science is an interdisciplinary subject that involves the characteristics of matters and the integration of applications. The subject is closely related to the development of people’s livelihood. Many outstanding teaching and research teams at NCU have devoted themselves to this field. NCU and Covestro will set a new paragon of collaboration between a top university and an international corporation. We hope this paragon could stimulate more international and domestic companies to conduct industry-academia collaboration with the teaching and research teams at NCU.
The fields of collaboration between Covestro and NCU include the development of photoinitiators, biomass materials, catalysts that are more sustainable, and the exploration of the possibilities to apply the above-mentioned matters in photoelectric materials. NCU and Covestro will integrate the academia and the industry’s strength and utilize the teaching and research teams’ endeavor to cultivate talent for the industry.
![Prominent guests gathered at the opening ceremony. The faculty of NCU and the precious guests from Covestro took a group photo, witnessing this extraordinary moment together. Photo by Kuo Shih-Sheng](../thumbs/1110519照片二.jpg)
![Taking up 1322 square meters, the Covestro Global Energy Curing Innovation Center is one of Covestro’s most important R&D centers around the globe. Photo by Kuo Shih-Sheng](../thumbs/1110519照片三.jpg)