Hsinchu City

High-tech industry clusters in the bustling northern Taiwan port city of Hsinchu look set for an upgrade. Long a world-class hub of the semiconductor and optoelectronic technology industries, Hsinchu City is laying out plans to work with SEMI to attract more international companies, generate more jobs, promote Hsinchu’s development and help grow Taiwan’s microelectronics industry. High-tech heavyweights such as TSMC, UMC, MediaTek, Realtek, and AUO are all headquartered in The Windy City. The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), a leading Taiwan research center and incubator, also calls Hsinchu home, and the city boasts one of the highest concentrations of educational institutions in the region, a roster that includes National Chiao Tung and National Tsing Hua universities. Hsinchu’s thriving relations with these industry, academic and research partners have made it a hotbed of innovation, with numerous large Taiwanese and foreign companies having opened local offices. No less than these partners, the city – like SEMI – is committed to innovation.In a recent visit to the SEMI Taiwan office in Taipei, a Hsinchu City government team led by mayor Lin Chih-Chien, met with Terry Tsao, global SEMI chief marketing officer and president of SEMI Taiwan, to explore collaboration opportunities in areas such as technology subsidies, policy, education, and infrastructure. The meeting built on a relationship between the city and SEMI Taiwan that sprouted after SEMI executives and Hsinchu officials joined ITRI to host the Autonomous Driving System Platform in Open Fields kick-off ceremony – an initiative to accelerate Taiwan’s adoption of smart transportation technologies – at SEMICON Taiwan 2019.At the meeting, Mayor Lin highlighted that Hsinchu has long attracted high-tech companies by cultivating a business-friendly climate through incentives such as subsidies for infrastructure buildouts. He hopes to work with SEMI to promote to members the benefits of setting up local offices in Hsinchu City.With both Hsinchu’s high-tech clusters and SEMI’s global members deeply reliant on skilled workers for sustaining innovation and growth, Tsao and Mayor Lin agreed that inspiring students to pursue an education and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is vital to building a high-tech talent pool. One collaboration opportunity SEMI Taiwan is eyeing is to launch Taiwan’s first SEMI High Tech U (HTU) program in Hsinchu to spark the interest of school-age children through STEM educational activities at school camps or art and cultural centers. SEMI’s STEM discovery program offers hands-on activities and experiential learning led by industry volunteers. Since 2002, HTU has reached some 8,000 high-school students in 12 U.S. states and nine countries.Emmy Yi is a marketing specialist at SEMI Taiwan.

It’s official.The first autonomous vehicle has been verified for operation on the open road in Asia with no traffic restrictions. And this is no corner case, flash-in-the-pan technology. The white 4-door minivan’s modular software can be integrated into all manner of vehicles including cars, trucks and buses. More promising still, the minivan – proven roadworthy after more than 1,300 miles of testing – will lead not only to an upgrade of Taiwan’s automobile electronics industry but to groundbreaking smart transportation service models.Imagine, for example, hopping a driverless shuttle to the hottest attractions in Hsinchu City, Taiwan such as Big City, Hsinchu Cheng Huang Temple, 19 Hectares Grassland, 17KM Coastline Scenic Area and Siangshan Wetland. The autonomous ride could become another transportation option sooner than you think.“We have every intent to make available self-driving sightseeing shuttle services soon,” said Chih-Chien Lin, mayor of Hsinchu City. “The services will be our first step to substantially improving the traffic flow, highlighting the unlimited applications associated with autonomous vehicles.”Bearing the license plate number Taiwan No.0001 – the first issued for an autonomous vehicle in Taiwan – the minivan is an early but important advance in the region’s autonomous-driving technologies under a new initiative led by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), which developed the test vehicle’s software, and the Hsinchu City government. SEMI president and CEO Ajit Manocha joined Hsinchu City mayor Chih-Chien Lin and ITRI vice president Pei-Zen Chang to promote the initiative at SEMICON Taiwan 2019 in the run-up to its launch during an October 22nd press conference in Hsinchu City. Taiwan luminaries attending the press conference were (L-R in photo below) Terry Tsao, SEMI Chief Marketing Officer and SEMI Taiwan President; Jwu-Sheng Hu, Vice President and General Director, ITRI Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories; Der-Sheng Lin, Deputy Director General, MOEA Department of Industrial Technology; Chih-Chien Lin, Mayor of Hsinchu City; Pei-Zen Chang, Vice President, ITRI. ITRI and Hsinchu City government officials kick off the next phase of Taiwan’s smart transportation initiative in an October press conference near Nanliao Fishing Harbor, Hsinchu City. “This milestone in self-driving technology is a shining example of public-private partnerships in action to advance smart mobility and dovetails with SEMI's work building communities consisting of the automotive and microelectronics industries, government, and academia for collaborative innovation,” said Terry Tsao, SEMI chief marketing officer and SEMI Taiwan President. “We are thrilled to have joined ITRI and the Taiwan government in promoting the extraordinary power of technology to make automobiles and cities smarter.”Emmy Yi is a marketing specialist at SEMI Taiwan.