Taiwan’s Leading R&D Hub in Critical Instrumentation

Since its establishment in 1974, National Center for Instrumentation Research (NCIR) has been known as a pioneer in optics and vacuum technology. In line with government policy priorities, NCIR executes to foster research, development and applications of high-end dominant instruments in Taiwan. Meanwhile, in view of the fact that scientific research and innovation rely significantly on instrumentation, NCIR has been devoted to developing in the areas of “cutting-edge optics”, “advanced vacuum technology” and “intelligent biotechnology”. NCIR is the only research organization in Taiwan that can provide customized services in specialized instruments for customers across domains including science, healthcare, engineering, agriculture and art.

As Taiwan's leading R&D hub in critical instruments, NCIR targets to build up service platforms for fundamental instrumentation, to refine our core technologies, and to become the key partner for academic research in response to technology development trends. NCIR continues to focus on assisting the academia and industry in developing customized and special instruments needed for state-of-the-art research. We also enthusiastically put effort in developing “No.1 in Taiwan” and “world-leading” advanced dominant instruments, aiming to enhance the independent R&D capabilities and applications of critical instruments for the next generation, to effectively use national technology resources, and to greatly benefit the society.

Core Facility Shop

1. Vacuum Technology and Nanofabrication — to provide advanced vacuum system development, thin film and micro/nano structure fabrication and measurement service.
2. Precision Optics and Machining — to provide precision optics and mechanic components, system construction service platform with over 30 years technical experience and remarkable optics polishing capability.

Innovative Research Teams

1. Vacuum Technology Group – to promote the localization of advanced process and equipment development for semiconductor industry
2. Optical Technology Group – to enhance the optical components and instruments development for academia, national defense and semiconductor industry
3. Biomedical Chip and System Integration Technology Group – to enhance the advanced organ-on-a-chip research and industry development

Human Resources

Instrumentation research and development have always been the major task for National Center for Instrumentation Research, with 70% of the current 160 staffs having master or PhD degrees. Among them, 70% are researchers and engineers, 14% are technicians, and 16% are administration employees.

Glorious Achievements

Since the establishment in 1974, NCIR has compiled a versatile portfolio within the realm of instrument technology. From the rooting of vacuum technology and optical fabrication in Taiwan, NCIR has built up a service platform for advanced instrument application. The purpose is to connect the industry with the academia, to provide innovative engineering prototype and customization, to support the prospective exploitation, and to assist the collaboration of featured academia and industry.

NCIR's innovative technologies are not only successfully transferred to local industries to improve their R&D capabilities, but have won NCIR itself various awards in significant international competitions as well.

Instrument Technology Infrastructure

Given that instrument technology is an inter-disciplinary issue, NCIR has differentiated each of its four core research domains, optics, vacuum, system integration, and nanotechnology into two ends: the research teams and the technical shops. The former concentrates on exploring and realizing innovative ideas while the latter focuses on upgrading the core capabilities and providing technical supports as coordination. Currently, the research teams include optical remote sensing instrument division, opto-electro-mechanical system division, applied optics division, and biomedical instrument technology division. As for the technical shops, one is vacuum technology and nanofabrication division while the other is precision optics and machining division.

In attempt to take the leading role in the technology trend, NCIR sustainably upgrades its core technologies, examines its integration, supports its researchers to implement their innovative ideas, and provides high-quality customer oriented services.

Total Quality Management

NCIR's tenacious endeavor to assure the best quality and performance of R&D can be seen from its introduction of the worldly-renowned ISO standards. NCIR has been devoted to building up some certificated calibration and testing items and sustainably maintaining the operation of ISO/IEC 17025 standards.

In an effort to serve its customers with high-quality measurement and inspection, NCIR´s laboratories meeting the requirement of ISO/IEC 17025, including vacuum, thin film measurement, electro-optical inspection, scanning probe microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy, have been certificated by TAF(Taiwan Accreditation Foundation). In the near future, NCIR will work on improving the quality and increasing the numbers of certification.

Meanwhile, NCIR has also passed the certifications of ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 to offer its customers better and more reliable services.

Technical Services

Aiming to make contributions to the society, NCIR has built cooperation agreements with and has provided technical services to the industry and academia. Through foregoing projects such as the implementation of various innovative instruments, the development of computer graphical user interface, and instrument calibration and testing services, NCIR has built close connections with companies and universities and has successfully accomplished a number of technology transfers.

Aside from the efforts devoted to research innovation and system development, NCIR also provides technical services ranging from professional training courses, cooperated projects, to service cases on instrument fabrication and maintenance. Through inviting graduate students involved in research projects and holding some scientific activities, NCIR attains to encourage the young generation to involve in the innovation, design and assembly of instruments.

For research dissemination and advocacy of instrument technology, NCIR weighs technical services no less than the development of research. Cooperation agreements of various kinds, technical consulting services, technical publications and lectures, international research exchange program, and the annual international scientific instrument technology workshop (ISITW) are the various channels how we approach and react to the real needs of the field, and how we voice our capabilities to the world.

Just like an innovation and creativity dream workshop, the core value of NCIR is to encourage and realize R&D creativity, searching for the unknown.

Prospect

With the rapid exploitation and extension of technology research and industrial development, the request for high-quality instrument has been dramatically increased as well as the complexity and precision of equipment. Instrument technology improvement has already become a major task of the nation.

In an attempt to promote national science & technology and fulfill economic needs, NCIR supposes its responsibility for continuously improving research infrastructure, supporting academic research and expanding high-tech industry. Its objectives are to construct instrument technology platform, to furnish with advanced techniques and equipment, to encourage international research, and to upgrade national research quality and high-tech industrial level. NCIR has gotten involved, with its core technologies, in FORMOSAT-5 project and other integrated programs such as biomedical instrument, , and technology of disaster precaution and handling. Meanwhile, NCIR will be sustainably dedicated to innovating the instrument service platform, serving with computer graphical user interface, and making progress to advanced instrument technology.