There has been a great deal of good news around NTHU campus this past summer. Professor Chang Shih-Lin of the Department of Physics—currently also serving as Vice President of Academic Affairs — has won the Warren Diffraction Physics Award from the American Crystallographic Association (ACA) for his work in diffraction physics. He is recognized for his outstanding contributions to the fields of the X-ray phase problem, multi-beam diffraction, and X-ray resonance cavities. The Warren Diffraction Physics Award is one of the ACA's four major prizes, established in 1970 to recognize scientists for their outstanding scientific achievements. This award will be formally be presented during the ACA's annual meeting next year in Toronto, Canada.

Professor Chang's dedication to academic pursuits has been consistently recognized in various quarters. He has been the recipient of the National Science Council's Outstanding Research Award in Physics and was named a Distinguished Research Fellow and won the Ministry of Education's Academic Award in Mathematics and Natural Sciences. In addition, he is the lifelong National Chair Professor in Mathematics and Natural Sciences.

Professor Liu Ta-Jo of Chemical Engineering recently received the 2008 John A. Tallmade Award presented by the International Society of Coating Science and Technology (ISCST) in recognition of his contributions to basic research and the development of Taiwan's coating industry. The award is the highest honor offered by the ISCST biannually. Professor Liu is the first person from Asia to win the award.

When asked about his thoughts on winning the award, Professor Liu responded, "Even though my work is in research, I think of myself as an engineer. So I've always maintained a sense of curiosity wanting to understand whether the fruits of my research can be adopted by industry. Winning this award is an affirmation by the international coating technology industry of Taiwan's R&D capability, which is led by National Tsing Hua University and the Industrial Technology Research Institute's Material and Chemical Research Laboratories."