© 2016 The Industrial Technology Research Institute.ITRI Today is a quarterly publication reporting major events and achievements at ITRI.

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© 2016 The Industrial Technology Research Institute.ITRI Today is a quarterly publication reporting major events and achievements at ITRI.

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FEATUREMulti-Color Ecosystem to Propel Industry to New Heights

SPOTLIGHTHow ITRI’s LED Technology Creates New Value

for Agriculture

R&D FOCUSWater Technology to Quench the World’s ThirstHouse Hunting with Digital Home Staging

COLLABORATIONITRI Proposal Selected as a Google Solve for X

“Moonshot”Golden Asia Fund II Leads Startups to Capture Blue

OceansAsia’s First Fuel Cell Testing Lab Certified by UL

SNAPSHOTITRI’s Two New Centers to Bolster IoT and 3D PrintingNew Leader Appointed for ITRI International Center

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Feature

Multi-Color Ecosystem to PropelIndustry to New Heights

Looking back on 2015, economic recovery was sluggish worldwide. Although the U.S.Federal Reserve inspired some optimism by raising interest rates in December, growth inChina and emerging markets has waned substantially. The reduction in growth rates,increased global financial market volatility, terrorist attacks and geopolitical instability allcontribute to the unpredictability of world economic development.

Examining Taiwan’s recent circumstance, the so-called “red supply chain” is one of thebiggest threats facing industry. In light of this, ITRI’s Industrial Economics & KnowledgeCenter (IEK) has introduced an innovative concept, hoping that Taiwan can overcomecurrent constraints and establish a more commanding multi-color ecosystem. This will makethe red supply chain less of a fear, while positioning Taiwan to be able to face even greaterchallenges in the future and take hold of enormous business opportunities.

Below, IEK shares its view on the popularity of the IoT, and the development of the displayindustry, robotics, and green industry, identifying new opportunities around these emergingtrends.

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Staying Abreast of New Developments in IoT

New Opportunities for Panel Display Industry

Self-Driving Cars and Drones Taking Off

Green Industry Looks for Emerging Applications

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Feature

Staying Abreast of New Developmentsin IoTThanks to the advent of the IoT and associated developments such as the Internet ofVehicles, smart homes, and smart care, IEK predicts the global semiconductor market tocontinue to grow over the next five years, but at a slower pace than in the past. Taiwan’ssemiconductor output in 2016 is expected to exceed NT$2.3 trillion, an increase of 4.1%from 2015 and higher than global growth.

As the establishment of a multi-color ecosystem becomes animportant breakthrough strategy forTaiwan industry, the rise of the IoTis creating wonderful opportunitiesfor Taiwan. IEK General DirectorStephen Su further explained thateconomic data, the core of the IoT,will lead to industry changes causedby IT-driven lifestyle optimizationand production efficiencyimprovement. Su also pointed outthat Taiwan is home to over 100 ICdesign companies. It can take

advantage of its IC design sector and the integration of other supply chains, while alsointroducing international partners to hone its capacities, he said.

Mesh Ventures Managing Partner Sam Lam remarked that Taiwan’s ICT industry, whichwas so strong in the 1990s, seems not quick enough to take a leading position in theburgeoning IoT market. However, Taiwan still enjoys technical strengths that it has built upover the decades. Major electronics companies, so long as they find the correct entry point,will be able to attract international startups for cooperation, thus using IoT technology tocreate service models.

IEK suggests that the IC design sector continue to pay attention to various topics to meetthe challenges of the future, including:

In the course of China’s aggression in the semiconductor battlefield, what changes will beseen in cooperation and competition between Taiwan and the world?Amid the rise of China’s IC design industry and corporations merging globally, how will the

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tension in the industry be different?What changes will be seen in future development trends in advanced semiconductorapplications and will there be integration of new applications?

All of these questions will have a bearing on the semiconductor industry’s competitiveness.Given these challenges, Taiwan should strengthen its technology R&D prowess to be able todevelop opportunities associated with a new wave of applications, thereby paving the way togreater sales and profits.

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Feature

New Opportunities for Panel DisplayIndustryIn 2015, global panel display output was estimated at US$142 billion. In 2016, the aggregategrowth rate for the panel display industry is expected to slow to 3.3%, and global outputwill be US$146.6 billion. The slower growth rate is attributable to the weaknesses inmarkets that have traditionally supported the panel display industry, along with decreaseddemand in the U.S. and Europe and the saturation of the smartphone market in China.Under these circumstances, with a population over 1.2 billion, India has become the darkhorse most likely to sustain high rates of growth long-term.

The number of cell phone users in India exceeds 600 million, with fewer than 20% usingsmartphones, suggesting high potential for explosive growth. By 2017, India could surpassthe U.S. as the second largest smartphone market in the world. Additionally, in 2015,India’s television market reached approximately 14.5 million sets, 2 million of which wereCRT TVs that will eventually be replaced. In 2016, India’s LCD TV market’s growth rate isexpected to reach 20%.

In addition to local market factors, when considering the new applications of these products,the IoT is at the forefront, becoming a lifeline for this industry. Vertical applicationopportunities such as automobile displays, smartphones, head-mounted displays and digitalsignage will overtake hand-held devices as the new source of growth for the panel displayindustry.

Overall, in order to improve the customer experience, new design solutions such as flexibledisplays, transparent displays and an emphasis on light and thin profiles will be introduced,redefining the human-machine interface. Players will be competing on value rather thanscale.

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Global Automobiles and automotive display market size, 2012-2020.

The size of the 2015 global automotive display panel market was valued at approximately US$5.5 billion and is expected to reach US$7.2 billion by 2020, making it a target for large global manufacturers. In 2012 each vehicle was equipped with an average of 0.6 automobile displays, but by 2020 the market penetration rate will double, and the average car will use over 1.2 displays. Automotive displays will become standard, while luxury cars will use more displays, e.g., Head-Up Display (HUD), console, dashboard, rearview mirror, rear seat entertainment system, and so on.

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Feature

Self-Driving Cars and Drones Taking Off

IEK notes that the era of self-driving cars has arrived, and as such, the percentage ofelectronic applications utilized in these cars will rise as much as 40%. Global output ofelectronic automobile equipment in 2015 was approximately US$238 billion, expected toreach US$301 billion by 2019.

Originally, driver information, safety features and electronic components in cars wereindependently developed, but with the next generation of intelligent cars, these products arebeing integrated. With the arrival of Google auto driving, Apple CarPlay, and Tesla’s 17”touchscreen display, we saw a new rise of global interest in automobile electronics, alongwith other topics such as connected vehicles and Tesla Model D driverless cars. Apple CEOTim Cook indicated that autonomous driving is set to become more important and will bringmassive changes to the automotive industry. IEK estimated that Taiwan’s production ofautomotive electronics in 2015 reached NT$165 billion, nearly equaling the value ofTaiwan’s total auto industry output.

In addition to engineering self-driving cars, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are alsogiving rise to many business opportunities. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)estimates that the 2015 global market size for UAVs is approximately 430,000, valued atUS$130 million, and could grow to US$1 billion by 2018. According to statistics from theAerospace Industries Association (AIA), in 2014, there were already 270 differentcompanies pushing out over 960 different models of UAVs. North America currently holds

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the largest percentage of the market for UAVs at 66%, with Europe coming second at 15%.

According to IEK, the advantage of UAVs is their ability to provide aerial images and quickdelivery. The former has the greatest potential, as analysis of aerial images can be used toprovide depictions of the earth’s surface, scan the safety of bridges, assess levels ofagricultural damage, monitor the movement of masses of people, and so on. With sensorsand algorithms, UAVs are carriers for visual information and can be utilized for lowcost/high efficiency applications, creating numerous business opportunities.

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Feature

Green Industry Looks for EmergingApplicationsTaiwan’s green industry hasencountered many challenges inpromoting energy savings and carbonreductions in recent years. Forexample, due to the cuts to the FIT(Feed-in Tariff) incentives in Europe,the solar photovoltaic sector isturning its market to developingcountries, where new customers andnew applications must be developed.In addition, while Chinesemanufacturers are aggressivelyengaging in tactics to increase market share, the price of LEDs has fallen drastically andprofits for LED manufacturers have taken a hit. Industrial output for these two large greenmanufacturing industries in 2015 was valued at US$8.5 billion, a 6% decrease from theprevious year.

Within this global economic slump, the green industry needs to be particularly innovative inorder to create new business opportunities. IEK notes that newly developing technologiesincluding bioplastics, permanent magnet synchronous motors and reluctance motors, allhave great market potential.

Meanwhile, global emissions regulations for factories and cars are becoming stricter andtechnologies to detect emissions will be required in environmental and industrial safety,making those technologies a part of the green industry. Global market demand is expected toreach US$6.2 billion in 2016, and in the next few years, the growth rate is expected to beabove 6%.

Overall, IEK believes that although environmental protection has universal value, theunstable international situation will greatly impact the green industry. For example, recentlow oil prices have caused fluctuations in the energy market, and manufacturers in the greenindustry are facing urgent pressure to reduce production costs. Stakeholders should monitorthese issues closely going forward.

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Spotlight

How ITRI’s LED Technology CreatesNew Value for AgricultureInsufficient sunshine during the winter poses a problem for farming in terms of both qualityand quantity. Many fruit and vegetable farmers in Taiwan install compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) or high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps for providing nighttime lighting tostimulate plant growth. However, this method results in huge electricity cost. To tackle thisissue, ITRI introduced an optimized LED lighting system that increases grape fruition yetreduces nighttime lighting hours, saving as much as 90% of the energy.

Dr. Tien-Fu Huang (far left) and Dr. Ivan Hua (far right) pose with grape farmer Li-Shen Wang(second right).

Li-Shen Wang, a grape farmer in Changhua County, is an example of someone who has

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benefited from this innovation. Looking for light fixtures that consume less energy, Wangsought out ITRI engineer Dr. Ivan Hua, who happens to live in the same township. The twobegan cooperation on developing nighttime LED lighting fixtures suited for use in grapeorchards. After three years of repeated testing, ITRI’s research team continuously improvedthe design and placement of the LED lights and ultimately introduced a module to replaceCFLs. “I was probably the first grape farmer in Changhua to employ nighttime lighting, andnow I’m again in the lead by trying LED lights,” Wang said with excitement.

Dr. Tien-Fu Huang, Director of the Greenhouse Systems Technology Center at ITRI’sCentral Region Campus, emphasized that LED lights do not emit light pollution and useonly 10% of the electricity of conventional lamps. Switching to LED lights not only ispoised to reduce production costs for farmers, but also will become an important step inTaiwan’s efforts to slash carbon emissions and eliminate light pollution.

ITRI’s optimized LED lighting system extends its value beyond energy saving. Study showsthat the anthocyanin concentration found in the LED-nurtured grapes is 10% higher thanthat of the grapes grown under CFLs. The sweetness level is also increased, creating 10%extra profit for the farmers. How on earth does the system achieve this?

The secret lies in the fixture and installation design.

Dr. Huang explained that Taiwan’s grape farms use trellis cultivation; therefore LED lightsmust shine from underneath upward to maximize economic benefit. This means that thelights must also have waterproof shades so as to prevent damage caused by the sprinklersystem. Researchers initially laid plastic tubing along the surface of the vineyards, and LEDlamps were affixed to the top of the tubes. Little did they realize that this would interferewith grape farmers in tending to the vines and walking through the farms. They thenswitched to suspended lamp houses, with the LED lights built into the houses. Wires couldhang off the trellis and would not impact farmers’ routine practice. Dr. Huang furthermoresaid that suspending the light houses at an angle would enable the LED lights to shine on allthe grape leaves and prevent wasting light that shone straight down, thus maximizing thecost-effectiveness of the LED light.

“Even more important is how to find the best spectral composition for the LED lighthouses,” Dr. Hua stated, adding that different combinations of LED wavelengths generatedifferent results in photosynthesis. He said that continued trial and error has helpedresearchers find an optimal ratio.

In addition, the intensity of LED light is different from that of CFLs and HPS lamps. Wangadmitted that the ITRI research team spent enormous amounts of time determining the mostappropriate distance in hanging the light houses from each other. Thanks to the advances inLED technology, the distance between the light houses has now been extended to fivemeters from an original three.

“In the future the price of suspended LED light houses will drop if modules can be massproduced,” said Dr. Huang, brimming with confidence. “This will make this lightingsolution even more attractive to farmers.” According to Dr. Huang, grapes grown at farmsusing the LED lights are plumper and sweeter, giving them a competitive edge in the

marketplace. The nighttime LED lighting can also be used in other lucrative cash crops,such as water bamboo and strawberries. Efforts will continue to be made to push the priceof LED lights lower and create the best combination of suspended light houses withdifferent wavelengths, helping to further enhance crop production value.

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R&D Focus

Water Technology to Quench theWorld’s ThirstThe 2015 UN World WaterDevelopment Report states thatwithin the next decade two-thirds ofthe world will be facing a watercrisis, and the 2015 World EconomicForum identifies a water crisis as thetop global risk in terms of the impactto society. Therefore, water resourcesand services have become moreessential than ever to achievingglobal sustainability. ITRI, with its innovative technology capabilities, has been dedicated toR&D in water conservation, treatment and reuse, attempting to find cost-effective solutionsfor a thirsty world.

We have seen the extreme climate change lead to widespread flooding and droughts inrecent years. To prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases and aid in the post-disasterreconstruction of potable water resources, ITRI has developed “Qwater” rapid purificationequipment, helping residents of disaster areas to have access to safe drinking water. Thesolution has proven successful repeatedly following typhoons in Taiwan, helping to provideareas impacted by storms and suffering from contaminated or turbid water with filtrationand purification, thus offering emergency potable water. The system has also beenintroduced to remote regions in the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, and India.

To satisfy the increasing demand for freshwater, we have also developed PolyE, a new cost-saving reverse osmosis technology for water desalination and filtration. It is the world’s firstcommercially viable nano-fibrous thin film composite membrane, which can desalinatewater with a much lower hydraulic pressure without compromising the level of waterfiltration.

Wastewater treatment is another important issue. Dr. Teh-Ming Liang, Division Director ofITRI’s Material and Chemical Research Laboratories, stated: “Taiwan industry uses 1.8billion tonnes of water annually, and only 40% of this is reused. Compared with Japan’swater reuse rate of about 70%, we have quite a bit of work to do.” Consequently ITRI isactively developing industrial wastewater reclamation technologies, for instance, itsFluidized Bed Crystallization (FBC) technology to treat fluorine- and arsenic-tainted

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industrial wastewater, and the Capacitive Deionization (CDI) technology for wastewaterrecovery. ITRI has established highly competitive wastewater treatment core technology,Dr. Liang said, adding that it has the ability to design water treatment modules and systems.ITRI’s water treatment technology has been recognized internationally and is currently inuse in Singapore, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and South Korea.

These innovations are creating a foundation for the water treatment industry in Taiwan andare making a significant contribution to the global effort to conserve resources and preventcontaminants from harming the environment. Let’s take a look at what they feature and howthey work.

Qwater, Mobile Treatment System for Drinking Water Supply

PolyE, Low Energy Consumption Membrane for Water Filtration

Next-Generation Technology for Desalination

Treatment for Arsenic-Containing Wastewater

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R&D Focus

Qwater, Mobile Treatment Systemfor Drinking Water Supply

ITRIs’ mobile water system provides clean water within a short period of time.

Taiwan, like many other countries, is vulnerable to natural disasters which can endanger theaccessibility of clean water resources. ITRI’s Qwater is designed as a solution for mobileand quick drinking water supply in emergency situations, addressing the needs of peoplesuffering from water shortage in remote villages or disaster-stricken areas.

Qwater is a modularized water purification system which includes ITRI’s porous bio-carrierBioNET and membrane filtration. It can effectively screen out the suspended particles andbacteria from contaminated water. The letter Q in its name stands for quick, quality andquantity, representing the three essential properties of this technology.

Quick installation: Can be assembled in less than 20 minutes by two technicians with nospecial tools. For untrained people, 90 minutes would be enough.

Quality water: Can purify high-turbidity influent (up to 3,000 NTU) and generate highquality effluent conforming to drinking water standards.

Quantity supply: To supply abundant drinking water of 15 CMD in a small space (2.5 m3).

With a compact design, Qwater is easy to assemble, disassemble, and transport. The one-touch automatic operation is also user-friendly. The system featuring high efficiency and

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stability is able to purify a huge volume of water in a short period of time, providing cleanwater for 5,000 people a day. With a parallel module installed, the water production can bemultiplied. In addition, the modular design can tackle different influent water content andeffluent water quality for various needs. This system has been embedded in different kindsof devices, such as umbrellas, hiking canes, and boats, for emergency use.

Qwater was used to provide on-site water treatment in Wulai, Taiwan in August 2015.

Qwater has been employed for disaster relief several times to ensure drinkable water supplyin the stricken areas. The latest was in August 2015, when Typhoon Soudelor devastatedTaiwan. The video above shows how Qwater provided on-site water treatment in Wulai atthat time. Qwater has also been introduced to places such as the Philippines, Myanmar,Cambodia and India, where there is a lack of adequate water and sanitation utilities. It isbelieved this technology will help more people across the world by offering clean and safewater.

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R&D Focus

PolyE, Low Energy ConsumptionMembrane for Water FiltrationReverse Osmosis (RO) is a water filtration technology widely used for meeting ourfreshwater needs; however, it requires high hydraulic pressure and thus high energyconsumption to ensure its production rate. To combat this problem, ITRI has developed thenano-fibrous composite membrane PolyE, which can desalinate water with a much lowerhydraulic pressure without compromising the level of water filtration. This innovation haswon the 2015 R&D 100 Awards in the Mechanical Devices/Material category.

PolyE, a new cost-saving RO technology for water desalination and filtration.

The key component of PolyE is its mat layer, a non-woven web with hydrophilic and strongelectrical charge characteristics, in place of the conventional porous polysulfone sheet layer.The conventional polysulfone layer faces a dilemma, as it needs to be highly porous withlarge pores for a large flux, but if the pores are too large the hydraulic pressure will bereduced by too much. The innovative mat layer of PolyE is highly porous, but still allowsthe polyamide filtration film to form, creating an improved out flux of filtered water at areduced hydraulic pressurization energy consumption. The use of ITRI’s proprietary PolyEpolymer enhances the hydrophilic and electrical charge on the surface of the polyamide thinfilm, resulting in an increased contaminant rejection and increased out flux.

In comparison to other RO technologies, PolyE possesses the advantage of having a lowoperating energy cost. It is especially useful for large facilities, as it not only is very cheapto mass produce, but can also lower energy consumption by 30-80%. This energy

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conservation can in turn contribute to carbon reduction on a larger scale. It is the most cost-effective RO technology available today and has been transferred to New Micropore Inc.along with ITRI’s research team.

PolyE membrane modules of various sizes.

The principal application of this high-performance, low-energy-consumption membrane isfor desalination, producing freshwater from seawater. With PolyE, utility-scale seawaterdesalination can be implemented at a lower energy cost. Additionally, with minorengineering adjustments using the same fundamental technology, PolyE will be able toperform brackish water treatment, water softening and purification for domestic andindustrial purposes.

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R&D Focus

Next-Generation Technology forDesalinationAs accessible water sources across the world decrease rapidly and the demand for freshwater is on the rise, Capacitive Deionization (CDI) is receiving much attention globallybecause it provides an alternative to energy-consuming membrane processes such asReverse Osmosis (RO) or Electro Dialysis (ED). CDI is considered a next-generationtechnology for energy-saving desalination.

CDI uses capacitive electrodes to generate positive and negative electrodes when operated atlow voltage in the water. Under the electrostatic force, the positive ions in the water areelectrosorbed to the negative electrode and vice versa. Through the electrical double layerelectrosorption, deionized water is obtained. After that, the potential difference between theelectrodes is reversed or reduced to zero, so that the absorbed ions can be released for theregeneration of the electrodes, thereby creating brine concentrate. Desalination is achievedby alternating the adsorption and desorption cycles, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The CDI process.

While traditional RO consumes 1.5-1.85 kWh/m3 and has a recovery rate of 40-50% whenused on brackish water, CDI consumes only 0.1-0.6 kWh/m3 and can achieve a waterrecovery rate of 65-75%. CDI’s low electrical energy consumption and high energyrecovery potential makes it a good candidate to become the Best Available Technology(BAT) for desalination. However, the high cost of electrode material is stopping CDI frombecoming a widespread process.

Given this situation, ITRI has been researching since 2011 to produce electrodes withmodified low cost activated carbon, as well as to establish a new, lower temperature two-step microwave-assisted ionothermal (sol–gel method in the presence of ionic liquid)

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synthesis method which can be used to rapidly produce the Anatase TiO2/Activated Carboncompound for CDI electrodes. Modified TiO2 is also used to decrease the irreversible ionadsorption of the activated carbon and increase the desalination volume. Recently, theresearch has moved from material modification to core module design, and has created aprototype CDI Desalination Machine (Figure 2), with specifications of TDS < 500 ppm,desalination rate > 75%, 65 L/day fresh water produced and power consumption of 0.3-0.6kWh/m3.

Figure 2. CDI material, module and prototype developed by ITRI.

CDI can be applied to both domestic and industrial water use. For domestic use, it canfunction as a replacement for RO by lowering the TDS (total dissolved solids) in fresh water(e.g. softening hard water) and reducing trace-level pollutants in water (e.g. removingresidual chlorine). For industrial or agricultural desalination, it can be used in post-processing to remove pollutants which are hard to eliminate (e.g. boron, arsenic and nitrate)or to recycle valuable substances via selective adsorption.

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R&D Focus

Treatment for Arsenic-ContainingWastewaterFluidized Bed Crystallization Technology Solves theProblem of Sludge Disposal

ITRI developed the Fluidized Bed Crystallization (FBC) technology to treat wastewater withhigh-level concentration of arsenic or fluoride. Using silica sand as carriers andcrystallization seeds, FBC recovers metal salts or inorganic ions from wastewater incrystalline forms. Unlike the precipitation process which results in huge amounts of sludge,the crystallization method is advantageous in its easy separation of solids from wastewater.

Different crystalline powder discharge from the FBC system from different wastewater samples.

In a conventional method using the processes of coagulation, flocculation generates somefine suspension particles, which is very difficult for sludge/water separation and de-watering. In ITRI’s FBC approach, silicate sands with size ranging from 0.2 to 0.5 mm areadded as carriers into the fluidized bed crystallization reactor. The addition of properreagents and the pH adjustment initiate chemical reactions to form low solubility products.Those precipitates are in turn separated from water, thus specific ions are removed fromwater.

When the wastewater and reagents are pumped into the bottom of the reactor, it creates anupward flow. The recycle loop is designed to control the appropriate super-saturation andoptimum up-flow velocity. Inorganic ions of interest form stable crystals of metal saltattached on the carriers. After growing to 1 to 2 mm in diameter, the crystals are discharged

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Wafer fab fluoride-containing wastewatertreatment with FBC.

and easily separated from wastewater. The water content in the specific crystallinecompounds is under 10 wt%, which is considerably less than sludge-cake with water contentover 50% produced by the conventional method. These high purity crystalline compoundsare easily transported, and can also be recycled as raw material, saving the cost of sludgedisposal.

The illustrative design layout of FBC.

In summary, the benefits of FBC include:Effectively removing inorganic ions from wastewater.Reducing sludge production by 75%, and hence lowering the cost of disposal.Recovering valuable resources in crystalline form, and hence making profit from residuetreatment, as well as complying with environmental regulations.

“The drawback of the conventional precipitationprocess to treat the arsenic- or fluoride-containingwastewater is it generates a large amount ofsludge,” said Dr. Teh-Ming Liang, DivisionDirector of ITRI’s Material and ChemicalResearch Laboratories. “ITRI’s crystallizationapproach is sludge-free, and the crystal productssuch as calcium fluoride can be recycled andreused.” Due to its high efficiency in wastewatertreatment, FBC has been introduced to over 20facilities in Taiwan. Moreover, a wastewatertreatment company from Singapore is workingwith ITRI to adopt this technology in asemiconductor foundry. FBC can also be used inother wastewater treatment such as watersoftening and heavy metal removal.

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R&D Focus

House Hunting with DigitalHome Staging

ITRI’s wide viewing angle AR technology enables new digital home staging service.

The advisory firm Digi-Capital recently predicted that augmented reality (AR) and virtualreality (VR) may generate a combined total of US$150 billion in revenue by 2020. Asinternational giants such as Google and Facebook lay out plans to invest in AR/VRtechnology in the hopes to tap into this burgeoning market, ITRI has also developed aunique wide viewing angle augmented reality technology utilized in real estate projects toassist businesses in enhancing their services. With the help of ITRI’s innovative digitalhome staging technology, real estate agencies have a better command of what is known asthe “experience economy” trend, while having the opportunity to target potentialhomebuyers from overseas through the cloud platform.

ITRI’s wide viewing angle AR technology is based on an advanced algorithm that tracksand identifies the characteristics of a specific environment. Exact calculations of the depth,size, and position of objects allow for a complete and proportionate simulation of the space.As the angle of the visual span has been increased to 150 degrees from 90 degrees, potentialhomebuyers are given an uninterrupted visual experience of the entire space and itsfurnishings. This is a breakthrough from the limitations of traditional augmented realitytours where buyers are only able to see a single piece of furniture in one simulated viewing.

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Through these virtual tours, buyers are no longer bound by their imaginations as they canvirtually furnish the property through the lens of a tablet device and alternate betweendesign styles of their preference. As a result, the digital home staging breaks new ground forthe showcasing of home goods, which is advantageous not only for property sales but alsofor sales of furniture and even interior design services.

App of Company Q ITRI’s Wide Viewing Angle AR

EffectiveViewingAngle

- 90 degrees, providing view of a single piece of furniture.

- If the marker is out of FOV,tracking will fail (with jitter anderror accumulation) due toambiguous natural features inunprepared environments.

- 150 degrees, providing wholeroom view, including sets offurniture.

- Smoothening Camera PoseEstimation for jitter reduction.

- Automatically switching betweenvision-based trackers and inertialtrackers according to number ofdetected features for errorreduction.

Application

Extended tracking method, suitablefor AR games in which a marker canonly stay outside the FOV for a veryshort time.

Adaptive to time-varying camerapose, able to effectively reducetracking errors, and suitable for wideviewing angle applications.

Comparison between AR technologies with limited and wide viewing angle.

Dr. Shiaw-Shian Yu, General Director of ITRI’s Service Systems Technology Center pointsout that digital home staging service is a success story where technology innovation createsnew business value for both the real estate market and its periphery industries. According toDirectorate-General of Budget statistics, the service sector, which has the largest workforcein Taiwan, accounts for 64.05% of the nation’s 2014 gross domestic product (GDP). SinceTaiwan’s service industry has long been plagued by low wages and long working hours,ITRI’s innovation is important in that it can reverse the sweatshop phenomenon oftenassociated with the service sector as efficiency is vastly enhanced. Meanwhile, thedigitalization of property tours can also cut through the limitations of physical home stagingservices as it allows companies to export a complete realty project to the internationalmarket.

ITRI’s wide viewing angle AR technology has been transferred to the iStaging™Corporation and put into practical application by Taiwan’s largest real estate agency, Sinyi

Realty Inc. Statistics show that since its adoption, the time home hunters spend viewing alisting has grown from an average of 25 minutes to 40 minutes. The overall sales efficiencyhas also increased by 28 percent. This, according to iStaging™, is because homebuyers areexposed to the immersive reality experience where the visualization technology is providedto create a more convincing pitch. Any questions the buyer might raise about home stagingcan be addressed through this virtual service, resulting in a win-win-win situation for thehomebuyer, the broker, and the seller.

Homebuyers, brokers, and sellers can all benefit from the virtual service.

With ITRI’s technology, iStaging™ received the gold award in the Service InnovationCategory at the 2015 ECI Awards, which is also known as the Oscars of E-commerce.Moreover, the startup team stood out among a total of 31 teams from 16 countries inwinning the top prize of US$100,000 from Intel Corporation at the 2015 APEC GlobalChallenge, earning the chance to participate in the Intel Challenge Up! Summit Europe.iStaging™ was also selected by the Taiwan Innovation Entrepreneurship Center to travel toSilicon Valley where it can leverage resources to kick start its digital home staging servicein the international market.

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Collaboration

ITRI Proposal Selected as aGoogle Solve for X “Moonshot”

Dr. Alex Tong, GCC Founder and Chairman, was invited to deliver a speech at the SFX Asia-Pacific workshop in Beijing.

After winning recognition in the 2013 R&D 100 Awards, ITRI’s ButyFixTM solution,transferred to the startup Green Cellulosity Corporation (GCC), has been accepted byGoogle’s Solve for X (SFX) initiative as a “Moonshot”. This breakthrough technology,featuring the production of biomass butanol in a virtually carbon-free process, has onceagain made ITRI an innovation pioneer.

SFX was born out of Google with the mission of creating a global ecosystem ofbreakthrough Moonshot projects that can offer solutions to global problems facinghumanity. Projects that have been selected must dovetail with the Moonshot ethos: solvinghuge problems, providing radical solutions, and incorporating breakthrough technology.GCC’s selection as a Moonshot demonstrates Taiwan’s R&D prowess and its potential tocreate solutions for huge problems facing the world. Serving as the window and bridge forthe Moonshot proposals from Taiwan, ITRI hopes that this will help propel Taiwan’sinnovation-oriented achievements onto the international stage.

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ButyfixTM has been selected as a SFX Moonshot.

In November 2015, GCC Founder and Chairman Dr. Alex Tong was invited to deliver aspeech entitled “The New Generation Biofuel that Pushed the Boundaries – ButyFix” as anSFX Pioneer at the first SFX workshop in Asia-Pacific, which was held in Beijing. Over100 of Asia-Pacific’s best and brightest in the high-tech industry assembled to share theirMoonshot-related creative thinking. Dr. Tong also shared his company’s research successesand stated that his firm is proud to represent ITRI while proving that “our innovation valuecorresponds to future world trends and is quite groundbreaking.”

Stephen Su, General Director of ITRI’s Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK),which put together the Moonshot proposal, also attended the workshop. He stated that theGoogle SFX spirit of “huge challenge, huge risk, and huge value” is what Taiwan urgentlyneeds while innovating for its upgrade and transformation. “Taiwan will be able to findirreplaceable value by working to solve the problems facing humanity,” Su emphasized.

In addition to the GCC proposal, ITRI has submitted three other Moonshot proposals.Encouragingly, National Tsing Hua University’s proposal “Removal of Oils and OrganicSolvents from Water Using Graphene-Coated Sponges” has also been selected recently,making NTHU the first university in Taiwan to be a Moonshot pioneer.

Moonshot SubmissionEach Moonshot proposal involves a two-step process. First, a written proposal issubmitted, following which the review committee confirms that the proposal reflectsthe Moonshot ethos. Then, the applicant must produce a roughly 10-minute film forscreening, after which the proposal is formally placed on the SFX website, whereglobal innovators can interact to bring Moonshots to life.

Moonshot Submission:http://ieknet.iek.org.tw/ITRI/SolveforX.html

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Collaboration

Golden Asia Fund II LeadsStartups to Capture Blue Oceans

The Golden Asia Fund II, L.P. was launched in January 2016.

To enhance bilateral cooperation between Taiwan and Japan, the Industrial TechnologyInvestment Corporation (ITIC) of ITRI and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital (MUCAP) announcedanother collaboration on January 6th: the Golden Asia Fund II, L.P. The new fund, with asize of NT$2.5 billion, will address fields such as high-end materials, precision machinery,healthcare, cloud applications, and big data analytics. This effort follows the success ofGolden Asia Fund Ventures, which has facilitated the launch of the first Taiwan-Japan jointventure laser company and helped a Taiwan-based brushless DC motor control IC companybecome a supplier for Japanese business giants.

ITRI Chairman Ching-Yen Tsay stated that Golden Asia Fund Ventures has facilitatedcollaboration between companies in Taiwan and Japan, particularly in R&D, design,manufacturing and marketing. The fund has invested in seven companies in Taiwan andanother seven in Japan. Four of the Taiwanese companies have grown into listed companies,and one will soon be registered as a general stock company. In Japan, one of the companieswas merged and another is expected to enter Japan’s stock market this year. The overallinvestment portfolio value is estimated to be 1.5 times the size of the fund. The Golden AsiaFund II, according to Tsay, will develop based on the first joint fund and hopefully canassist enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region in connecting to the global market as a newforce in the blue oceans.

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Kei Andoh, President of MUCAP, pointed out that MUCAP is the biggest of its kind inJapan, with over 40 years of experience in venture capital. Cooperating with ITIC hasallowed MUCAP to further support Japan-based enterprises that stand out in technology,brand image and innovative operation in achieving win-win cooperation with Taiwaneseenterprises. President Andoh is confident about the future prospects of the Golden AsiaFund II, as Taiwan and Japan complement each other very well with respect to theirindustrial competence.

In addition to MUCAP, investors of the Golden Asia Fund II include Japan’s Akita Bank,and Taiwan’s Chang Chun Group, Super Electronics, Superior Plating Technology andAirich Investment. The first stage has seen a total investment of NT$1.5 billion to date, andan increase to NT$2.5 billion is anticipated. The fund is aiming to extend its influence andsupport startups to carve out a place in blue oceans, grabbing a considerable share of boththe Asian and global markets.

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Collaboration

Asia’s First Fuel Cell TestingLab Certified by UL

ITRI’s Fuel Cell Testing Lab has acquired the UL Witness Test Data Program certification,becoming Asia’s first of its kind.

ITRI has built Asia’s first UL Witness Test Data Program certified Fuel Cell Testing Lab.The lab is expected to help ITRI partner businesses save time spent on shipping its productsabroad for testing as well as avoid millions of dollars in testing fees, accelerating theprocess for international certification. As a result, the lab is considered a vital force to helpTaiwan industries become more competitive in the hydrogen and fuel cell energy market.

Dr. Robert Yie-Zu Hu, General Director of ITRI’s Green Energy and EnvironmentResearch Laboratories points out that ITRI built Taiwan’s first hydrogen energydemonstration site at its Southern Region Campus as early as 2008. As of the present, atleast 47 manufacturers have invested in the R&D and production of fuel cell componentsand systems.

While assisting its partner manufacturers in developing independent key components, ITRIalso provides expertise on how to integrate their systems. In addition to the lab’sdemonstration operations and testing standards, ITRI will also continue to promote the useof fuel cells as the backup source of energy for cell sites, which shall be produced inaccordance with Taiwan’s Chinese National Standards (CNS) as well as common standardsset up by both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Now, with the newly attained UL recognition,ITRI’s Fuel Cell Testing Lab can provide manufacturers with effective and professional

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world-class testing and certification services.

UL’s Taiwan General Manager Ralph Tang also noted that previously, manufacturers had totransport their products to laboratories in Europe and the United States to receive testing.Now that Taiwan has a professional fuel cell testing facility, which possesses the capacity togenerate stationary hydrogen fuel cell testing equal to that of the international verificationsystem witnessed by UL, not only is the certification process shortened, the risk oftransporting the samples is also reduced. In addition, the complete data of the tests can nowbe collected for immediate analysis, further facilitating Taiwan’s industrial expansion in theinternational market.

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Snapshot

ITRI’s Two New Centers to BolsterIoT and 3D Printing

From left: ITRI President Dr. Jonq-Min Liu , Dr. Fanghei Tsau , Dr. Chun-Hsun Chu, andITRI Chairman Dr. Ching-Yen Tsay.

ITRI announced in December 2015 the establishment of the Smart MicrosystemsTechnology Center and the Laser and Additive Manufacturing Technology Center. The twocenters will be led by Dr. Chun-Hsun Chu and Dr. Fanghei Tsau, respectively, both ofwhom currently serve as Deputy Executive Directors of ITRI’s Southern Region Campus.

ITRI Chairman Dr. Ching-Yen Tsay remarked that the new generation ICT applicationshave sparked Industry 4.0 and the creation of smart factories. Coupled with 3D printing,which facilitates customized production, it is expected that these technologies will triggermajor changes in the global manufacturing sector. ITRI’s hope in establishing the twocenters, he said, is to drive industrial development and to enable Taiwan to rapidly securebeachheads in the international market. ITRI President Dr. Jonq-Min Liu also commentedthat the two centers will enable Taiwan to produce key modules and develop criticaltechnologies on its own, thus building an industrial cluster and ecosystem, and enhancingTaiwan’s competitiveness.

Dr. Chu, who obtained his PhD in Material

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Science and Engineering from Taiwan’sNational Cheng Kung University, joinedITRI in 1993. He formed a top-notch R&Dteam in the Southern Region Campus in2002, which has since yielded concreteachievements in the development ofMEMS platforms and research alliances.Dr. Chu indicated that with the focus onsmart manufacturing and the Internet ofThings, the new Smart MicrosystemsTechnology Center will forge industry linksand international R&D alliances. Bydeveloping critical applied technology inthe integration of smart sensing andmicrosystems, as well as innovativeindustrial-level and consumer-orientedsmart sensors, ITRI will assist industry inrapidly entering the market and enableTaiwan to become a world-class R&D hubfor smart microsystems technology.

Leading the team in laser and additivemanufacturing is Dr. Tsau. He received hisPhD in Aerospace Engineering fromGeorgia Institute of Technology and onceserved as the Executive Vice President andCTO for Young Green Energy Co., awholly-owned subsidiary of CoretronicsCorporation. In recent years he has playeda key role in bolstering the technologicalstandards of Taiwan’s laser appliedtechnology and the integration ofmanufacturing process hardware andsoftware. He stated that lasers can be usednot only in 3D printing, which is alsoknown as additive manufacturing, but insubtractive manufacturing as well for betterprecision and quality. In the future, the newcenter will focus its R&D on a high valuelaser process development platform,additive manufacturing process and

equipment, and laser application systems and modules. The center will also have acomprehensive manufacturing test laboratory for laser applications.

ITRI has for many years sought to support industries in southern Taiwan via the activedevelopment of smart MEMS, 3D printing, and laser applications technology. It built an 8-

inch MEMS base for R&D and pilot production, and also founded Taiwan’s first laserapplications pilot production plant and laser metal additive manufacturing laboratory,leading to the development of the “Laser Optics Valley.” The two new centers will continueto expand ITRI’s R&D capacities, with the hope of driving industrial upgrading andinnovation to generate greater economic value.

New Leader Appointed for ITRIInternational CenterITRI recently announced a new personnel appointment: Dr. Sean Shao-Hwa Wang wasappointed as the General Director of ITRI International Center. With his extensive overseasexperience, Dr. Wang is expected to enhance the international cooperation between industry,academia and researchers, while strengthening ITRI’s role as a global innovation partner.

Dr. Wang has been the representative of ITRI to North America and the president of ITRIInternational Inc. since 2005. He has been dedicated to linking with top institutions in NorthAmerica, recruiting talents, and facilitating ITRI and Taiwan to join the internationalstrategic alliance standards.

Before working for ITRI as the General Director of IEK in 2004, Dr. Wang was with SRIInternational/SRI Consulting, where he developed projects on technology evaluation,strategic planning, and investment decision for international clients. Earlier, Dr. Wang wasassociated with M. W. Kellogg (now KBR) and Morgantown Energy Technology Center(now a part of the National Energy Technology Laboratory) of U.S. Department of Energy.

Dr. Sean Shao-Hwa Wang, General Director of ITRI International Center.

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Copyright:::

ITRI is a technology R&D institutionaiming to innovate a better future forsociety. Based on its long-termpartnership with various industrysectors, ITRI offers a wide range ofservices, from technical to businessconsultation, to the internationalcommunity– such as contract research,product and process development, andpilot runs for technological upgrades;IP strategy and licensing, industrialanalysis, and talent training for hi-techbusiness; and the open lab andincubation for new ventures andemerging industries. The Institute hasalso incubated more than 240innovative companies since 1973,including well-known names such asUMC and TSMC. Headquartered inTaiwan, ITRI has five branch officesin Silicon Valley, Tokyo, Berlin,Moscow, and Eindhoven to extend itsR&D innovation across the globe.

Publisher: Jonq-Min LiuEditor in Chief: June LinExecutive Editor: Jenny ChaoManaging Editor: Irene ShihContributing Editor: Dan KingPhotographers: Hung-Mou Tsai, Fu-Sheng Tzou, Yu-Kai HsuSubscription:http://www.itri.org/itritoday/subscription

Inquiries:E-mail: itritoday@itri.org.twFax: +886-3-582-0494Archive:http://www.itri.org/eng/itritoday Published by:Industrial Technology Research InstituteRm. 210, Bldg. 53, No. 195, Sec.4,Chung Hsing Rd. Chutung, Hsinchu,Taiwan 310, R.O.C.Tel: +886-3-582-0100Fax: +886-3-582-0045Website: http://www.itri.org/eng

© 2016 All rights reserved.

© 2016 All rights reserved.

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