ARTC and NCKU Tie Up in Visionary Auto Technology Development

The Automotive Research & Testing Center (ARTC), a key transportation-vehicle testing and R&D body in Taiwan, recently signed a cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU) with domestic National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), to develop automotive technologies of the future.

Dubbed "Vehicle Visionary Technology Strategic Cooperation Plan", the partnership claims to jointly map out investment targets, integrating mutual resources, with any R&D results and achievements to be transferred to local industries to further upgrade Taiwan's global competitiveness.

The two parties claim the strategic cooperation to focus mainly two facets: industrial and futuristic modes. The former to focus on researching new technologies related to consumers, aiming to develop technologies that can be rapidly commercialized or applied to other fields, so as to achieve practical benefits to the industry. The futuristic cooperation mode focuses on visionary or revolutionary technologies developed by testing, inspection and R&D capacity at ARTC, also tapping brainpower at NCKU, to set up a solid basis in developing automotive technologies in Taiwan.

H.T. Liu, ARTC chairman and H.H. Huang, principal of NCKU, jointly signed the agreement, with a strategic taskforce consisting of experts from the two parties also set up.

The partnership will first focus on vehicular electrification and intelligent vehicle. According to ARTC, the first R&D project will focus on developing technical deployment in wireless charging technologies and human detection techniques.

Both Liu and Huang are optimistic about seeing promising results of the tie-up, believing that initial contributions will be seen in the short term.