The University of Illinois System and University Academic Alliance in Taiwan jointly launched five new interdisciplinary research teams that will drive innovations and advance collaboration between the universities. These are the second awards from an institutional partnership launched in 2023 and were selected from 41 applications.

Building on talent, innovations and resources from the two groups of universities, the initiative seeks to accelerate economic development through the development of innovative technologies. Funding for the program comes from Taiwan’s Ministry of Education through UAAT and the U of I System.

The newly funded seed grant projects will explore cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence across diverse domains. They include AI-enhanced hybrid 3D printing for customizable photonic couplers, federated multimodal learning for accurate detection of intracranial vascular malformations, smart crop monitoring systems to optimize indoor agriculture, postprocessing techniques for knowledge unlearning to improve model adaptability and privacy, and AI-guided design of lipid nanoparticles to advance gene therapy delivery.

“These grants and the research they will support really are the power of international partnership in action, bringing together researchers who are doing groundbreaking work that will impact food production, health care and much more,” U of I System President Tim Killeen said. “We are proud that our collaboration with the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan continues and look forward to important progress in these critical areas of AI and advanced semiconductor technologies.”

Project teams were required to have participation from at least two of UAAT’s 12 universities and at least one of the three U of I System universities, and proposals had to focus on either semiconductor (+ quantum) or AI and data across all fields — key areas of strengths for both groups of universities.

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with the University of Illinois System through the establishment of these interdisciplinary research teams,” said Wen-Chang Chen, president of National Taiwan University and convener of UAAT. "By combining the strengths of UAAT and the University of Illinois System, this collaboration builds a forward-looking global partnership that fosters innovation, advances societal goals and strengthens institutional ties through impactful projects in key academic fields.”

The research projects receiving grants are:

• Artificial Intelligence-Driven Hybrid 3D-Printing of Tunable and Robust Couplers for Next-Generation Integrated Photonics Packaging. UAAT principal investigator: Dian-Ru Li, department of mechanical engineering, National Taiwan University. UAAT Co-PI: Po-Han Huang, department of power mechanical engineering, National Tsing Hua University. U of I principal investigator: Azadeh Haghighi, department of mechanical and industrial engineering, University of Illinois Chicago.
• Federated Multimodal AI for Detection and Segmentation of Intracranial Vascular Malformations. UAAT principal investigator: Hsing-Kuo Pao, department of computer science and information engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. UAAT Co-PIs: Furen Xiao, Institute of Medical Device and Imaging, National Taiwan University, and Huai-Che Yang, department of surgery, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, and I-Chang Su, department of surgery, Taipei Medical University. U of I principal investigator: Ali Alaraj, department of neurosurgery, radiology, neurology and bioengineering, UIC. U of I Co-PIs: Baoxin Li, department of computer science, UIC, and Konstantin V. Slavin, department of neurosurgery, UIC.
• AI-integrated Crop Monitoring Solutions for Improved Control of Indoor Crop Production. UAAT principal investigator: Yan-Fu Kuo, department of biomechatronics engineering, National Taiwan University. UAAT Co-PI: Yao-Chuan Tsai, department of bio-industrial mechatronics engineering, National Chung Hsing University. U of I principal investigator: James Santiago, department of crop sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. U of I Co-PI: Tracy Lawson, department of plant biology, Urbana-Champaign.
• Knowledge Unlearning Through Postprocessing. UAAT principal investigator: Hsuan-Tien Lin, department of computer science and information engineering, National Taiwan University. UAAT Co-PIs: Shang-Tse Chen, department of computer science and information engineering, National Taiwan University, and Chia-Mu Yu, department of electronics and electrical engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. U of I principal investigator: Han Zhao, department of computer science, Urbana-Champaign.
• AI-guided Lipid Nanoparticle Design for Gene Therapy. UAAT principal investigator: Zong-Hong Lin, department of biomedical engineering, National Taiwan University. UAAT Co-PIs: Shang-Hsiu Hu, department of biomedical engineering and environmental sciences, National Tsing Hua University, and Chia-Chih Chang, department of applied chemistry, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. U of I principal investigator: Ying Liu, department of chemical engineering, UIC. U of I Co-PI: Subramanian Sankaranarayanan, department of mechanical and industrial engineering, UIC.

In addition to the jointly funded projects, eight bilateral personnel mobility projects focused on AI and semiconductors will be established, funded by UAAT. These projects aim to promote talent exchange and academic visits, with the goal of strengthening bilateral ties.

About the University of Illinois System: The University of Illinois System is the state’s flagship public higher education enterprise, dedicated to advancing discovery, innovation, health and opportunity in service of the public good. With more than 101,000 students, 30,000 faculty and staff, and universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield, and UI Health, the state’s leading academic health system, the U of I System is the largest and most influential educational institution in Illinois. Each year, the system awards more than 28,000 degrees, preparing the next generation of leaders and generating billions in economic impact for the state economy. Learn more at https://www.uillinois.edu.

About the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan: The University Academic Alliance in Taiwan (UAAT) consists of 12 universities in Taiwan, including National Taiwan University, National Cheng Kung University, National Tsing Hua University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, National Sun Yet-sen University, National Taipei University of Technology, National Chengchi University, National Chung Hsing University, National Central University, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei Medical University, and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. Learn more at https://uaat.ntu.edu.tw/