The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) promotes cutting-edge research, and at the foundation of scientific research are instrumentation technology and talented researchers. NARLabs' Taiwan Instrument Research Institute (TIRI), in implementing NSTC policy, has built an interdisciplinary, integrated R&D service platform for instrument technology to help develop custom-made, special instrumentation required for frontier research by institutes in various fields. At the same time, TIRI is also devoted to fostering talented instrument creators. Since the inaugural i-ONE Instrument Technology Innovation Competition in 2009, TIRI has never stopped nurturing instrumentation innovators, even when the COVID-19 pandemic got severe. The 15th i-One competition this year will mark a new chapter for the post-pandemic era, calling for young experts from all walks of life to form teams and submit their proposals. This year's registration period will run from now until Aug. 7, and registrants will be competing for a maximum prize of NT$100,000!
The i-ONE Instrument Technology Innovation Competition is a student-based competition that aims to promote self-made instrument concepts and encourage students to work hands-on. The competition allows students to stimulate their creativity and put basic scientific knowledge into practice. Since the competition's inception, thousands of young researchers have been nurtured with the enthusiastic support of the industrial, academic, and research sectors. For example, the 2017 high school division winner, who created a spherical motor, brought their original idea to fruition and established Tensor Tech, a company whose technology was carried on a SpaceX rocket in January 2022 for validation. Tensor Tech has sold its products in India, the United States, and Europe, helping Taiwan open the door to the space market, which has long been monopolized by Europe and the United States.
This year, TIRI has once again partnered with KYMCO, a major motorcycle manufacturer with 60 years in business which is also committed to promoting net-zero carbon emissions and sustainable development to encourage young students to develop creative solutions that integrate technology to realize convenient and environmentally friendly smart living. In addition, this year, some of Taiwan's leading instrumentation companies are supporting or assisting with the competition, including Syntec Technology, Gallant Micro Machining, Mitutoyo Taiwan, Contrel Technology, HIWIN, Calin Technology, ThinTech Materials Technology, and Astro Clean Technology.
The first-prize high school entry in 2022 was a multigraph automatic scraper made by a team from National Chiayi Industrial Vocational High School. Their work analyzed scraper trajectory and generated an automated mechanism design through 2D graphics to reproduce the trajectory. The work clearly showed the team's application of mechanism and automation theory and discourse of design concepts, and its overall degree of completion was high. Meanwhile, the college division winners, a team from National Tsing Hua University, developed a high-speed bulk photoacoustic brain connectome microscopic imaging system which used photoacoustic excitation and vertical light sheet techniques. Two-way galvo scanning and an original scanning misalignment correction system formed a photoacoustic microscopic system, also including metal dye and amplification technology. The technology successfully took bulk mouse brain connectome images and enhanced spatial resolution and penetration depth to perform bulk high-resolution microscopic imaging. Future applications of this technology are very promising.
If you also want to become an instrument maker, the i-ONE Instrument Technology Innovation Competition is a stage for innovators like you to shine. Creators from all schools are welcome to gather and show off their scientific ideas and hands-on applications. For more information, please visit https://i-one.org.tw/ and the i-ONE Facebook page.
