Sustainable Technology Innovation Forum

Co-hosted by Cambridge Institute Sustainability Leadership's Innovation Team and the National Institutes of Applied Research (NIAR), Taiwan. This Forum focuses on the role of applied research and emerging technologies in advancing sustainable development, with particular attention to three priority areas: semiconductors, AI and edge computing, and smart healthcare. These fields are central to the next generation of resilient, sustainable, and competitive economies, and offer significant opportunities for international collaboration across research, innovation, and market development. 

Purpose 

This Forum is designed to provide an exchange and collaboration platform for research and innovation leaders, supporting them to better understand the opportunities. Through curated dialogue, expert insight, and networking, the Forum will help participating teams build relationships with relevant stakeholders, explore partnership opportunities, and strengthen their international visibility. 

The programme will connect leading voices from across the Taiwan and European research and innovation ecosystems, including academic scholars, industry experts, policymakers, applied research institutions, and startup communities. By facilitating exchange across industrial, academic, and research sectors. 

The event will provide a setting for discussion on how science, technology, and innovation can contribute to sustainable development and long-term systems change. It will support NIAR’s ambition to enhance its international profile, deepen research collaboration, and strengthen its role as a bridge between Taiwan’s innovation capabilities and Europe’s research, policy, and market ecosystems. 

Participants can expect a focused and high-quality programme that combines expert perspectives, innovation showcase opportunities, and cross-sector networking. The Forum will be of particular relevance to those working in research commercialisation, technology innovation, applied R&D, startup support, sustainable development, science policy, and international collaboration. 

Please click here to register your interest in the event

Programme

The day's outline includes:

09:30-10:00 Registration and welcome 

10:00-11:45 Opening remarks, keynotes, fireside chat and panel discussion

11:45-12:50 Innovation showcases

12:50-14:00 Networking Lunch & Entopia Building tour

14:00-14:55 Products Demo

14:55-16:05 Fireside Chat & Innovation Showcases

16:05-17:00 Networking Drinks

The following companies will exhibit at the Forum

• Microip Inc.
• Jmem Technology Co., Ltd.
• DEUVtek Co., Ltd.
• Light Momentum Technology Corp.
• Pedestal Inc.
• Smart Robotics program
• Organ-on-chip (OoC) program

Please click here to register your interest in the event

Confirmed speakers include (more to follow):  

Lindsay Hooper, CEO, CISL

Lindsay is CEO for the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership which activates leadership globally to transform economies for people, nature and climate.

She brings over 20 years’ experience at the forefront of business and sustainability, challenging, inspiring and supporting senior leaders from multinational businesses, financial institutions and influential organisations to accelerate progress to a sustainable economy.

Dr. Hung-Yin Tsai, President, NIAR

Prof. Hung-Yin Tsai is President of the National Institutes of Applied Research (NIAR), Taiwan, the country's largest non-profit applied research organization under the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). He received his Ph.D. in Power Mechanical Engineering from National Tsing Hua University and previously served as Dean of its College of Engineering.

Dr Agnieszka Iwasiewicz-Wabnig, Director of the Maxwell Centre, University of Cambridge

Dr Agnieszka (Aga) Iwasiewicz-Wabnig FRSA is the Director of the Maxwell Centre, Industrial Strategy Lead for the Cambridge Zero initiative, Fellow of Hughes Hall, Cambridge Enterprise Champion and Fellow of Chapter Zero.

Aga’s foundational training in science, with a PhD in Physics, is complemented by executive education from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she received the Impact Award for her cohort in the prestigious Stanford LEAD program.

Dr. Chien-Nan (Jimmy) Liu, Director General, Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute, NIAR

Chien-Nan Liu received his Ph.D. degree in electronics engineering from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, in 2001. He is currently a Full Professor with National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, and serves as the Director General of Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute, NIAR. His research interests include the behavioral modeling of analog designs, analog design automation techniques, and functional verification of SoC systems. Prof. Liu received the Outstanding Teaching Award granted by the National Central University, Taiwan, in 2006. 

Prof. Jiří Háze, Director of ACDRC & Head of Department of Microelectronics, Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic

Prof. Jiří Háze is the head of the Department of Microelectronics at Brno University of Technology, where he also teaches courses such as Analog Electronic Circuits and Theory of Analog and Digital Signal Interconversion. His scientific and research activities include design and development of integrated circuits in analogue and mixed mode and solutions for sensor applications, especially MEMS. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Czech National Semiconductor Cluster.

John Chang, CEO of Jmem Technology Co., Ltd.

John Chang is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Jmem Technology Co., Ltd. (JMEMTEK), which he established in 2022 after identifying the critical importance of chip hardware security during his academic research. Leveraging over 10 years of practical experience in the semiconductor industry across sales, operations, and project management, he has successfully guided the startup to secure major government awards and raise over 3 million USD within a year and a half. Currently a Ph.D. candidate in Electro Physics at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.

Christine Martin, Head of Ventures, Cambridge Enterprise

As Head of Ventures, Christine oversees investment activities, with the team investing over £5 million each year in young companies.

With expertise in Life Science investment, Christine has a focus on drug discovery with a broad portfolio of technologies, including University of Cambridge spin-outs Carrick, STORM, Z-factor, PhoreMost, Qkine, and PolyProX.

James Taplin, Innovation Lead, Innovate UK

James leads cohorts of UK businesses on innovation and collaboration delegations with government and business partners in global markets. Helping UK innovators understand new market opportunities abroad, providing them with safe places to begin their growth journeys, rapidly identifying if a solution has, or can have, a successful market fit and what is needed to get there. Above all else, building cohorts of collaborators who can help them in their journey, and opening minds to new ways of addressing problems or recognising inbuilt constraints that strengthen them in all aspects of their operations.

Viola Jardon, Director of Innovation Programmes, CISL

Viola Jardon is the Director of Innovation Programmes at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), where she leads strategic partnerships with corporates to drive sustainability transformation through startup-led solutions. She designs and delivers tailored innovation programmes that bridge corporates, investors, and early-stage ventures, supporting over 400 startups to date. Previously, Viola was a founding member of the London Fashion Fund and has over 15 years of experience in the tech sector across the UK and Asia. 

Sammy Fry, Director of Climate and Nature, Tech Nation

Sammy Fry is the Head of Climate at Tech Nation, part of Founders Forum, focusing on accelerating the growth of the UK and Europe's most impactful climate and nature tech start-ups. Sammy has led its flagship programmes since inception, supporting the growth of 165 climate tech companies to date. Companies part of the programme have grown 2.5 times as fast as the industry average. Alongside this, Sammy is a founding member of the ClimateTech Policy Coalition, providing policy recommendations to the UK Government.

Min-Wei Hung Engineer & Division Director, National Center for Instrumentation Research of NIAR (Caregiver robot)

Mr. Min-Wei Hung is the Division Director of the Intelligent Automation Systems Division at National Center for Instrumentation Research (NCIR), National Institutes of Applied Research (NIAR) in Taiwan. He holds an M.S. in Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering from National Sun Yat-sen University, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from National Yunlin University of Science and Technology.

Kevin Hsu, CEO of Pedestal Inc.

Mr. Kevin Hsu is the Founder and CEO of Pedestal Inc., with more than 25 years of experience in the semiconductor and IC design industry. He holds an M.S. from the Institute of Electrical and Control Engineering at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and specializes in high-performance computing architectures for neural networks, low-power CPU and DSP design, and system-on-chip (SoC) development. 

Dr Atreyee Samanta, CEO, QuantarMed

Dr Atreyee Samanta is a medical doctor, public health specialist, and founder-CEO of QuantarMed Ltd and Q-Scan Centres, pioneering the convergence of Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence to make healthcare systems and services that could detect diseases earlier enabling prediction, prevention and intervention of diseases helping people to “live better longer” – The vision of her company, QuantarMed.

Dr. Spencer Brennan, CEO and Founder of Neutreeno

Spencer Brennan is the founder of Neutreeno, a Cambridge company building the first system to decarbonise industry at scale. Neutreeno works with L'Oréal, National Grid, General Motors, Sony, Danone and Specsavers, and is a nominee for the Earthshot Prize. Spencer spent 15 years as a sustainability scientist across environmental and chemical engineering, and holds a PhD in physics from the University of Cambridge on ultra-high resolution measurement and sustainable energy systems.

Han-Chi Pan, Associate Researcher, National Center for Biomodels of NIAR

Dr. Han-Chi Pan received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from National Yang Ming University, Taiwan, in 2015. He subsequently joined the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Nanomedicine at the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI), Taiwan, as a postdoctoral fellow, where he conducted research for two years. He is currently an Associate Research Scientist at the National Center for Biomodels (NCB), National Institutes of Applied Research (NIAR), Taiwan. 

Yu-Guang(Andy) Chen, Researcher, Arculus Lab (Microip Inc.)

 Dr. Andy Yu-Guang Chen received his B.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, in 2009 and 2016, respectively. He is an Associate Professor at National Tsing Hua University. His research focuses on aging-aware design optimization and AI for electronic design automation (EDA).

Dr Liucheng Guo, CTO, TG0

 Dr Liucheng Guo is an AI researcher and innovator specialising in AI software-hardware co-design, embedded AI, and high-performance computing. His work primarily focuses on developing sustainable and smart human-machine interfaces (HMI) for IoT, automotive, XR, and healthcare applications.