Dr. Huang Kuo-jen from the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering (DCME) will depart to Japan on Tuesday, May 22 to collect his prize money of 100,000 Yen for his paper entitled “Effect of Particle Size on the Performance of Cross-flow Microfiltration,” that appeared in Advanced Powder Technology journal (APT) last year. His paper won the 2006 “Advanced Powder Technology Distinguish Paper Award” organized by the Society of Powder Technology (SPTJ), making him the first non-Japanese to have been awarded with this honor in the entire publication history of APT.

APT is a respected and well-established journal, which is indexed in both EI and SCI. It selects distinguished paper every three years, and as APT is approximately 15 years old, so Huang’s paper was selected in its fifth event that looked at papers published between 2003 and 2006. Dr. Huang is extremely pleased with this award and emphasizes that powder technology has a wide and practical application that ranges from food to cosmetics. He wishes to continue with his research in creating things that can enhance the quality of life. His achievement is indeed unusual, as confirmed by Dr. Cheng Tung-wen, the chair of the DCME. Dr. Cheng understands that to win respect from Japanese experts in this field is not easy as they are very proud of their technology. Giving this award to Dr Huang, a first non-Japanese, is extremely significant, said Dr. Cheng.

Dr. Huang will give a speech at the award ceremony. He will, of course, introduce Taiwan and Tamkang University. Because of this significance, he was received by Dr. Flora Chang, the President of TKU, who congratulated him personally. She also promised to provide full support for his future research. In this reception, Dr. Chang also mentioned the importance of publishing quality papers for all professors. Although there has been an increase in the number of papers published, as the Web of Science database illustrates, she believes it’s time to work on quality. A recent analysis of WOS reveals that the appearance of TKU papers in the category of Chemical and Materials Engineering stands at No. 9 among all papers produced by various departments and universities in Taiwan, but No. 11 among papers cited by others. These figures show that quality is still behind the quantity of TKU research papers; however, the award of Dr. Huang is a sign that the quality of TKU papers is increasing. Dr. Chang praised Dr. Huang for setting a good example for all the researchers at TKU. Researcher like him, she stressed, will be awarded accordingly by TKU. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )