Edited by Elysee Chung. Image credit to NCKU News Center
National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) secures 11 awards at the 2026 Future Tech Award. Out of over 650 submissions, only 84 technologies featuring both groundbreaking innovation and commercial potential were selected. This impressive achievement underscores NCKU’s pioneering capabilities in research and development, and its focus on bridging academic research with industry needs. The award-winning technologies will be showcased at the Future Tech Pavilion (FUTEX) during the Taiwan Innotech Expo (TIE), taking place from September 17th to 19th at the Taipei World Trade Center (Hall 1).
The Future Tech Award was established by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). It aims to identify research achievements with strong technical innovation and market potential, leveraging exhibitions and matchmaking platforms to connect research with real-world applications. To qualify, projects must be funded by government bodies such as the NSTC, Academia Sinica, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Sports, or the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The award spans eight key technology domains: Natural & Sustainable Technology Applications, Green Energy & Net-Zero Technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Applications, Advanced Materials & Chemical Engineering, Semiconductors & Optoelectronic Communications, Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, and Humanistic Tech Applications.
NCKU’s 11 winning projects span four categories: Natural & Sustainable Technology Applications (1), Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals / Medical Devices (6), AI Applications (3), and Advanced Materials & Chemical Engineering (1).
Natural & Sustainable Technology Applications (1)
1. Innovative Nanoporous Composite SERS Substrate for Preservative and Antibiotic Detection
Lead Investigator: Prof. Chen-Kuei Chung (鍾震桂)
Traditional SERS substrates rely on metal nanoparticles as hot spots to enhance Raman signals. This technology uses a specialized anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) nanoporous structure sputtered with metal to generate hot spots. It delivers superior signal uniformity, stability, and reproducibility, alongside a fast, low-cost, and scalable manufacturing process.
Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices (6)
1. Earpiece Vagus Nerve Stimulator for Improving Postoperative Ileus
Lead Investigator: Dr. Chou-Ching Lin (林宙晴)
This highly safe, non-invasive earpiece device utilizes proprietary electrical stimulation parameters and modulation mechanisms. By effectively addressing the un-met clinical need for postoperative flatus recovery, it accelerates bowel function restoration, enables earlier oral intake, and significantly shortens recovery time and hospital stays for surgical patients.
2. Deep-UV High-Entropy LED Light Engine: Precision Optical Medical System for Brain Tumors
Lead Investigator: Prof. Chuan-Feng Shih (施權峰)
By leveraging computational materials science to design high-entropy, highly reflective thin films, this team overcame key packaging bottlenecks for deep-UV LEDs. The prototype system integrates 230 nm UVC-LED modules, controllable dosage mechanisms, and advanced light-guided illumination to deliver precision optical therapy for brain tumors.
3. GelAtlas Micro-Well Organ-on-a-Chip Platform: 3D Organoid/Tumor Drug Efficacy Screening Integrating Static Culture and Dynamic Perfusion
Lead Investigator: Prof. Ting-Yuan Tu (涂庭源)
Featuring a reversible structure, this platform solves the mutual exclusivity between “stable positioning” and “non-destructive recovery” in 3D organoids, guaranteeing 100% recovery of rare specimens. Key innovations include precise 3D printing to define custom micro-well geometries for tissue positioning and polarity control, scalable configuration (1 to 18 chips), 30-day long-term culture support, and automated quantitative imaging, which provides a highly predictive alternative to animal testing.
4. MK53 Peptide: Innovative Translational Applications for Type 2 Diabetes and Comorbidities
Lead Investigator: Assoc. Prof. Hung-Yu Sun (孫宏羽)
MK53 is a proprietary therapeutic peptide designed to target metabolic dysregulation caused by ApoJ overactivation. By antagonizing ApoJ chaperone activity, it promotes the degradation of pathological lipoproteins and restores lipophagy. Preclinical studies show it significantly reduces blood glucose, improves insulin resistance, and alleviates fat accumulation and cellular damage in the liver and kidneys.
5. Long-Acting Cerium Oxide Antioxidant and Immunomodulatory Therapeutic Platform
Lead Investigator: Dr. Wei-Chih Lien (連偉志)
This pioneering nanoceria platform features a self-regenerative Ce³⁺/Ce⁴⁺ catalytic cycle. It continuously scavenges reactive oxygen species (ROS) while inhibiting NF-κB/MAPK and MAPK inflammatory pathways, overcoming the short lifespan and rapid depletion typical of conventional antioxidants. Animal models demonstrate alleviated cystitis pain/frequency and restored muscle strength and structure in sarcopenia, highlighting its disease-modifying and cross-indication potential.
6. SpaRSA: Spatial Biology-Guided Liquid Biopsy and Dynamic Metastasis Risk Prediction Platform for Pancreatic Cancer
Lead Investigator: Dr. Yan-Shen Shan (沈延盛)
Combining spatial transcriptomics, single-cell sequencing, and liquid biopsy for circulating tumor cells (CTCs), the team developed SpaRSA—a spatial alignment algorithm. It precisely identifies high-risk signals at the invasive front of pancreatic cancer and translates them into clinical bulk-RNA assays. The platform enables early detection of metastasis and minimal residual disease (MRD). Achieving a chemotherapy response prediction accuracy of AUC = 0.8409, it significantly outperforms the standard biomarker CA19-9 (p = 0.0092), highlighting its strong potential for AI-IVD and precision medicine applications.
AI Applications (3)
1. Trustworthy and Fair AI for Digital Pathology Diagnosis
Lead Investigator: Prof. Jung-Hsien Chiang (蔣榮先)
The team introduced a fairness-centric AI framework for digital pathology diagnosis. By employing fairness-guided contrastive learning, the system effectively decouples disease characteristics from demographic bias signals, mitigating bias directly at the model's intrinsic learning level.
2. Multi-View Spatiotemporal Graph Fusion AI for Sensorless Regional Risk Prediction and Decision Support
Lead Investigator: Prof. Hsun-Ping Hsieh (解巽評)
The team pioneered the extension of dengue fever risk prediction to areas without ovitraps. By integrating multi-view spatiotemporal graph neural networks, the architecture enhances region-wide, fine-grained early warnings, high-risk hotspot identification, and cross-city scalability. The same framework easily extends to air quality monitoring, crime prevention, traffic management, financial branch layout, and urban infrastructure planning.
3. Unsupervised Quantum AI Multispectral Satellite Sensing Technology
Lead Investigator: Prof. Chia-Hsiang Lin (林家祥)
As a world-first framework combining QDIP with a quantum prism spectral division mechanism, this technology accurately reconstructs the spectral signatures and spatial distributions of materials using a single image frame, transforming standard satellite imagery into a high-precision, super-resolution sensing platform.
Advanced Materials & Chemical Engineering (1)
1. Self-Powered AIoT Defense Network: High-Precision Thermoelectric Sensing Linked to Smart Fire Prevention
Lead Investigator: Prof. Chia-Yun Chen (陳嘉勻)
Utilizing a “PEDOT:PSS/CNT” composite film, this system delivers self-powered monitoring to prevent power failures in extreme environments. By pairing 24-bit high-resolution data acquisition with a temporal AI model (TimesNet), it captures voltage waveform signatures for millisecond-level responsiveness and thermal runaway prediction. Integrating IoT connectivity and historical data tracking transforms fire safety from passive response to proactive prevention.
As global industries in AI, semiconductors, net-zero technology, and space rapidly advance, businesses require more than just technical upgrades. They urgently need to connect with high-potential technologies and innovation partners. NCKU’s strong showing at the Future Tech Award reaffirms its long-standing commitment to translating academic research into practical, commercial solutions. Moving forward, NCKU will continue to empower industry growth and contribute to the nation’s economic development.