Prof. Hwung-Hweng Hwung, the Senior Executive Vice President of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) - Taiwan, on behalf of NCKU, signed a joint venture agreement with a privately owned Taiwan Nitride Material Inc. led by its chairman Mr. H.H. Chang, for the production of aluminum nitride (AlN). Both parties agreed to invest a total of NT$ 30 million (US$ 932,000) for research and development of AlN, a semiconductor material widely used for heat radiation and insulation in microelectronics and optoelectronics.

NCKU will have a share right of 18% resulting from technique transfer and expects to have a revenue of at least NT$ 100 million (US$ 3.1 million) over the next ten years. The AlN production technique was developed by Prof. Shyan-Lung Chung of the NCKU Department of Chemical Engineering under the support from National Science Council (NSC).

"Taiwan is known for its volume production of LED. The coverage and luminescence intensity in LED lighting is increasing, and backlight modules for LCD displays, made by LED, is prevailing. Moreover, AlN just solved the problem in heat dissipation, frequently encountered in LED devices and the main cause of failure to such devices, especially in lighting and large-size TV with higher energy efficiency and less carbon emission." said Mr. Chang, chairman of Taiwan Nitride Material Inc.

Prof. SL Chung from NCKU Chemical Engineering Department has been dedicated to researches on AlN for so many years. Prof. Chung has developed different techniques, for example, sintering and composite materials, in efficient production of AlN. AlN products are becoming more and more popular, as its production cost is reduced with these innovative inventions by Prof. SL Chung. Even more, these innovative inventions have been protected under various issued patents and expect to generate high revenue.