Britons rely on Taiwan-made umbrellas to protect them from their notorious rain. Japanese housewives buy Taiwan-made rice cookers. Americans wear Taiwan-made blue jeans. And Germans compete in track and field events using Taiwan-made sporting goods.
Taiwan-made goods are popular for their acceptable quality and reasonable prices. Consumers are happy with the products, but manufacturers in foreign countries frown on them. They have urged their governments to limit imports.
As Taiwan's economy is based on trade, the government has to face the protectionist threat. One solution to the problem is to upgrade the industry by introducing new technology and modernizing equipment.
The government has therefore set up a non-profit organization called the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to apply basic research done by academic institutions and transfer imported technology to industry.
Midwifery: In other countries, this job is done by the industries themselves. But in the Republic of China, the midwifery of ITRI has reduced the risks of private industries and hastened technological advances. Whenever new technology is imported or a new manufacturing process is developed, ITRI, as a rule, first tests its usefulness. Only if it is theoretically and economically workable will it be introduced to local industry.
Ironically, the biggest beneficiary of ITRI so far is not industry, but agriculture. ITRI has developed a new material that is widely used on farms.
A few years ago, the government of the Republic of China had to discourage farmers from growing more rice, since there were not enough facilities to store the harvest.
At the same time, Taiwan's large-scale aluminum industry faced the problem of disposing of mountains of "red mud," a waste product from bauxite.
The sprawling plastics industry was also beset with the problem of how to dispose of waste PVC, which would cause serious pollution.
And finally, factories had difficulties in disposing of used lubricants left over from the increasing number of machines, motors and engines in use in the Republic of China.
Red mud: Now, all these problems have been solved at one stroke with the invention of red mud plastic－a composite of red mud, plastic and used lubricants. This new material has good tensile strength, is durable and can withstand the battering it takes during transportation. These attributes make it an ideal material for farm uses, in particular for making balloon-type methane generators.
Taiwan's farmers raise more than five million hogs a year. Their excrement can be used to make methane gas, which can go a long way to solving the problem of energy shortages in villages.
Many materials were tried for making the generator, including steel. But none could stand the wear and tear better than red-mud plastic. In addition, the plastic is resistant to dilute alkali and acid, and is much cheaper than steel and fiber-reinforced plastics.
A balloon-type methane generator made with red-mud plastic can be easily assembled in the field. The parts are trucked to the desired location and heat-sealed. The generator is portable, weather-proof and not affected by terrain.
Pollution: Since the generator is sealed, there is no air pollution. It is cleaned once or twice a year depending on the amount of use. No stirring is needed. Experiments show that a generator can be inflated and deflated 6,000 times a year without damage. The estimated life of such a generator is more than 10 years. If there is any physical damage to the generator, it can be repaired simply by patching the cut with the same material.
More than a thousand such generators are in use in Taiwan, and about 60 others in the Philippines, Tahiti, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Brazil and Paraguay for demonstration purpose.
The red-mud plastic storage used for preserving rice in Taiwan consists of a double-walled building with inert gas obtained from the burning of methane circulating between the two walls. This is an effective way to prevent the entry of rodents and insects, which caused great damage to crops in subtropical Taiwan in the past. The internal atmosphere is maintained at about 60 percent relative humidity, and temperature at about 20℃.
A 20-meter-long storage with a 3.5-meter radius can preserve 100 tons of dried rice for 22 months. A small amount of insecticide is needed for the first two days, but none has to be applied thereafter.
At the end of the period, no insects can be found in the storage area. There is no rodent damage to the building's exterior and the rice inside has maintained its quality. As there is no loss, this storage method is regarded as being far superior to conventional ones.
Patents: This new product has already been patented in the United States and applications for patents have been made in 16 other countries.
ITRI has five component research organizations: The Union Industrial Research Laboratories, Mining Research & Service Organization, Metal Industrial Research Laboratories, Electronics Research & Service Organization, Machine Tools Center and Energy Research Laboratories. Each of these has made a major contribution in its field, but none has been more decisive to Taiwan's industrial future than the Electronics Research and Service Organization (ERSO), which is charged with the responsibility for pushing Taiwan's industry forward to the computer age.
Established in 1974, ERSO has developed and implemented technology transfers to local electronics manufacturers and other industries.
Currently, ERSO has more than 500 employees and is engaged in the development of integrated circuit technology, micro and mini computer technology, and electronic testing, product inspection, instrument calibration, repair and other technical services.
In 1976, ERSO entered a technology transfer agreement with RCA to set up an integrated circuit demonstration plant, and succeeded in establishing IC design and manufacturing technology in the Republic of China. Since then ERSO has been manufacturing various CMOS IC products, designing special ICs, and providing technical services on semi-conductor manufacturing equipment and processing technology.
The Computer Technology Development Center of ERSO was contracted in 1979 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China to carry out the computer industry development project. In the four-year period, it is expected to establish technical capabilities for designing, manufacturing, testing and applying micro- and mini-computer systems and to assist local industries develop their capabilities in computer technology, manufacturing technology and application of computer-based systems.
[Picture Caption]
Located in Hsinchu, the Industrial Technology Research Institute is composed of the Union Industrial Research Laboratories, Mining Research and Service Organization, Metal Industries Research Laboratories, Electronics Research and Service Organization and Energy Research Laboratories. 1. Entrance to ITRI. 2. A pilot plant designed and erected by UIRL for making methlyketone, an important solvent. 3. Technicians busy studying the cores of rocks in the field.
Precision lathes developed by the Metal Industries Research Laboratories. 2. A computer-controlled machine made by MIRL. 3. A versatile Chinese data processing terminal developed by the Electronics Research and Service Organization. 4. An IC probing test conducted by ERSO.
Technicians busy studying the cores of rocks in the field.
Precision lathes developed by the Metal Industries Research Laboratories.
A computer-controlled machine made by MIRL.
A versatile Chinese data processing terminal developed by the Electronics Research and Service Organization.
An IC probing test conducted by ERSO.
