This week, the University of Illinois System and National Taiwan University awarded funding to four new interdisciplinary research teams and eight travel grants to strengthen academic connections, drive innovation, and advance collaboration between the institutions. These are the first awards since the partnership launched in August.
The initiative leverages both institutions' unique talents, pioneering innovations and robust resources to fuel economic advancement by fostering the development of state-of-the-art technologies. Funding for the program comes from NTU's Office of International Affairs and the U of I System's Office of the Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation. The newly funded seed grant projects will focus on 3D-integrated computer memory, mental health support for individuals with autism, urban-scale geothermal systems' viability, and fungicides' impact on antimicrobial resistance in foodborne pathogens.
The travel grant recipients will build collaborations around topics such as reducing osteoarthritis pain by using vibration, improving lake evaporation estimation through climatologic observation and artificial intelligence, a fast chemical reaction network simulator, creating a partnership between electrical engineering and social work, mastering the use of the Da Vinci surgical robot, the impact of esports in consumer brand identification in professional sports, and searching for optimal protocols for transcranial direct current stimulation.
“Our partnership with NTU and the joint program show a great deal of potential in both the immediate future and longer term,” said Jay Walsh, the U of I System’s vice president for economic development and innovation. “The researchers who have joined forces are doing leading-edge work in their respective fields, and we fully expect breakthrough discoveries from these collaborations. This program aligns with our strategic focus on growing the partnership with National Taiwan University, its faculty and its students.”
Project teams were required to have participation from National Taiwan University and from one of the three U of I System universities, and proposals required a focus on health and medicine, data science and AI, sustainability, quantum and semiconductor technologies, and social science – key areas of strength for both institutions.
“It is great to see this new program take flight,” said Hsiao-Wei Yuan, NTU’s vice president for international affairs. “These funded projects represent some truly innovative thoughts in their respective fields, and it is incredibly exciting to follow their progress.”
The research projects receiving grants are:
- iCubes: 3D-integrated memory and computing for cognitive motes at the edge. Co-principal investigators: Vita Pi-Ho Hu, College of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, National Taiwan University, and Amit Ranjan Trivedi, College of Engineering, University of Illinois Chicago.
- AACT-UP: adapted autism CATCH-IT unlimited possibilities. Co-principal investigators: Chengshi Shiu, College of Social Sciences, National Taiwan University, and Kristin Berg, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago.
- Urban-scale geothermal systems for sustainable communities. Co-principal investigators: Kuo-Hsin Yang, College of Engineering, National Taiwan University, and Tugce Baser, Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
- Assessing the global one health implications: impact of fungicides on antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity evolution in foodborne pathogens using a host-pathogen model. Co-principal investigators: Chia-Cheng Wei, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, and Helen Nguyen, Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The projects receiving travel grants are:
- Bridging innovation for social transformation: a holistic partnership between electrical engineering and social work. Principal investigator: Chi-Fang Wu, School of Social Work, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
- Promoting bilateral collaborations on using vibration to reduce osteoarthritis pain and improve functioning from lab to community. Principal investigator: Yih-Kuen Jan, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
- Better lake evaporation estimation using climatologic observations and AI. Principal investigator: Zhenxing Zhang, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
- Fast chemical reaction network simulator and probabilistic programming. Principal investigator: Xiang Huang, College of Health, Science and Technology, University of Illinois Springfield.
- Searching for optimal tDCS protocols. Principal investigator: Pei-Fang Tang, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University.
- Evidence on the feasibility and efficacy of exercise training combined with vibration therapy using an AI knee brace in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Principal investigator: Wei-Li Hsu, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University.
- Role of esports in promoting consumer brand-identification in professional sports. Principal investigator: Yu-Hui Lien, Department of Athletics, National Taiwan University.
- Master the use of the Da Vinci SP robot. Principal investigator: Shih-Chieh Jeff Chueh, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University.
