TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — This year at the 13th annual International Warsaw Invention Show in Poland, Taiwanese participants took home an incredible amount of medals for their innovative creations.
In total, the Taiwan delegation snagged three bronze, 14 silver, 19 gold, and three special award medals, giving Taiwan the second most medals of any delegation at the competition after the host country Poland. One Taiwanese inventor that received lots of attention at the show was Professor Hsu Tzu-kuei (徐子圭) from the Air Force Institute of Technology, whose invention was dubbed the “Noah’s Ark of green energy technology.”
According to Liberty Times, Hsu, along with Professor Tai Chang-hsien (戴昌賢) from National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, created a system to convert water, sunlight, and air into a burnable fuel source. They proposed that the system be outfitted on a large ocean-faring vessel and claimed that energy from the wind and waves could be harnessed to transform the water into a kind of “diesel” fuel.
Hsu is a colonel in the Air Force and has been nicknamed the “Inventor King” of the Taiwanese military. According to his description of the invention, it can harness energy from air stored under high pressure and extract carbon dioxide. Then, in a process involving hydrogen extracted from seawater and heat from the sun, a chemical reaction can be initiated resulting in dimethoxyethane and methanol.
One Taiwanese invention that received the special award was from a National Formosa University team led by Lee Rong-Chuan (李榮全), which engineered a “smart herd-monitoring drone apparatus.” The invention reportedly involves outfitting livestock with smart devices connected to aerial drones and a computer system, allowing farmers to monitor their herd's location and condition and, if necessary, the drones can help manage and direct the movement of the herds.
Competing against delegations from 24 other countries, the Taiwan delegation, with its 48 submissions, was responsible for more than 10 percent of the 400 total inventions.
