The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI; Chinese: 工業技術硏究院; pinyin: Gōngyè Jìshù Yánjiù Yuàn) is a technology research and development institution in Taiwan.[1] It was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hsinchu City, Taiwan, with branch offices in the U.S., Europe,[2] and Japan.
Since 1973, ITRI has been a significant driver of Taiwan's economy, especially its tech industry,[3] having contributed to moving Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive to innovation-driven. Its open lab and incubator have fostered emerging industries and startups including UMC and TSMC.[4]
In 2020, ITRI launched the 2030 Technology Strategy & Roadmap, which focuses on the development of technology to meet industrial and societal needs by working with domestic and international partners in academia, industry, and the government.[5]
History
In 1982, the new Materials Research Laboratories (MRL) was established under ITRI and Otto C.C. Lin was appointed Founding Director.
In 2002, ITRI partnered with Apex Medical and started the development of respiratory therapy product series. This was one of Apex Medical's first major collaborations.
In 2019, ITRI banned all smartphones and computers made by China's Huawei from their internal network for security reasons.[6][7] China's Taiwan Affairs Office reacted negatively to the decision with their spokesperson saying that the decision “jeopardizes the mainland and Taiwan’s regular economic cooperation for political purposes".[8]
Innovations and applications
Self-driving cars
As of 2019, self-driving cars designed by ITRI had accumulated more than 2,000 km of testing in the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park.[9]
Smart Living involves efforts to integrate technologies in information and communication technologies (ICT), cloud services, big data, etc., to develop smart services, logistics, and next-generation handheld devices.
Quality Health focuses on the development of innovative therapeutic biologics, composite medical materials and instruments along with healthcare assistance technologies.
Sustainable Environment centers on green energy, smart transportation, biomass, advanced green manufacturing, and disaster relief technologies.
Intelligentization Enabling Technology includes AI, semiconductor, communications, cybersecurity, and cloud technologies to support technology breakthrough, and ensure data privacy and information safety.
2024 - Edison Awards for Novel Dual-Targeted Therapy for Glaucoma, Key Functional Cell Identity (KFCI), PureTex Sustainable Decolorization Solution, and the High Resolution Full-Color Micro LED Display
2024 - Globee Awards for Customer Excellence: Achievement in Brand Strategy and Development Gold Winner
2022 - R&D 100 Awards for High Resolution Full-Color Micro LED Display for AR Glasses, Point-of-Care AI-DR, and GreenTape™ 9KC LTCC and Ag Metallization for mmWave 5G Wireless Devices
2022 - Edison Awards for BioMS-Ti and Portable Edge AI-DR
2022 - Clarivate Top 100 Global Innovator
2022 - CES Innovation Awards for RGB-D AI Robot, iPetWeaR, and All-in-One Thermal Sensing System
2021 - Communication Excellence Awards: Best Technology Gold Winner
2021 - Communication Excellence Awards: Marketing Campaign of the Year Silver Winner
2021 - Public Relations & Marketing Excellence Awards: External Marketing Campaign of the Year
2021 - NYX Marcom Awards: Digital Marketing Campaign Grand Winner
2021 - NYX Marcom Awards: Marketing Material Gold Winner
2021 - R&D 100 Awards for Software-defined Augmented Robot Joint (SARJ), 3D Printing Biomimetic Materials and Structures for Tissue Integration (BioMS-Ti), and Ubiquitous Water Wand (UWAW)
2021 - HR Asia Best Companies to Work for in Asia
2021 - Edison Awards for AI-Based High Density Shuttle Rack Service System and MetabColor
2021 - Clarivate Top 100 Global Innovator
2021 - CES Innovation Awards for iDarlingWeaR
2020 - R&D 100 Awards for Dye-sensitized cell (DSC) as Energy source of Sensors, Networked Amide Epoxy Polymer Electrolyte for Solid State Lithium-Ion Batteries (NAEPE), and A Smart-Care Solution for Chronic Wound, iSCare
2020 - Judges' Choice of the SCF Awards
2020 - Edison Awards for iKNOBEADS and Celluad
2020 - Derwent Top 100 Global Innovator
2020 - CES Innovation Awards for PECOLA (Personal Companion Robot for Older People Living Alone) and iStimUweaR
2019 - R&D 100 Awards for Reconfigurable and Regulatable Battery Array System (RAIBA), Bionic Knobby Magnetic Beads Manufacturing Technology (iKNOBEADS)
2019 - CES Innovation Awards for Hybrid Power Drone with High Payload and Duration
2018 - R&D 100 Awards for Automatic Police UAV Patrol System, Functional Dyeing Synchronized with CO2 Supercritical Technology, and Portable UVC LED Water Sterilizer System
2018 - Edison Awards for Fluid-Driven Emergency Rescuer (FDER)[13]
2018 - CES Innovation Awards for Intelligent Vision System (IVS) for Companion Robots and Handheld Pesticide Residue Detector
2018 - Clarivate Analytics Top 100 Global Innovator[14]
2017 - R&D 100 Awards for CoolSo, ChemSEI-Linker, The LCD Waste Recycling System, CINmat, BESTAI, CyperEpi, Power and Thermal-Aware Electronic System Level Platform (PT-ESL), and Prognostic and Health Management Software in Semiconductors (PHM)
2017 - R&D 100 Special Recognition Award in Green Tech for The LCD Waste Recycling System
2017 - Edison Awards for Ultrafast Rechargeable Aluminum Battery (URABat)
2016 - ITRI wins Grand Prize and Design Recognition Award at Taiwan OpenStack Hackathon for a wearable sensor device that measures muscle signals of violinists
2015 - R&D 100 Awards for Plasmon-Coupled Organic Light-Emitting Diode (PCOLED), Fluid-Driven Emergency Lighting, Higher Sensitivity Tactile-Film System for Wearable Orthosis (HSTS) and PolyE Membrane Technology
2015 - Frost & Sullivan Best Practices New Product Innovation Award for In-Line Compact Thermal Analyzer (ICTA)
2015 - Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators
2014 - R&D 100 Awards for In-Line Compact Thermal Analyzer (ICTA) and High Efficiency Calcium Looping Technology (HECLOT)
2013 - R&D 100 Awards for iAT Technology, FluxMerge, and ButyFix
2012 - The Wall Street Journal's 2012 Technology Innovation Awards for SideLighter and aePLASMA
2012 - R&D 100 Awards for Lignoxy, TEMM, SideLighter, aePLASMA, Light&Light, and AVA-Clamp
2012 - Aviation Week's A&D SIC Award for REDDEX
2011 - The Wall Street Journal's 2011 Technology Innovation Awards for i2R e-Paper and Spray-IT
2011 - ITRI as Excellent Organization, Solar Industry Awards, UK for Solar Radome
2011 - R&D 100 Awards for i2R e-Paper and HyTAC
2011 - Silver Award, The Society for Information Display (SID) Display of the Year Awards (DYA) for ITRI Flexible Substrate for Displays
2010 - Overall Gold, The Wall Street Journal's 2010 Technology Innovation Awards for FlexUPD, Runner-up for MDPS
2010 - R&D 100 Awards for FlexUPD, i2/3DW and REDDEX
2009 - R&D 100 Awards for STOBA
2009 - The Wall Street Journal's 2009 Technology Innovation Awards for FleXpeaker
2009 - iF Design Award for Fluid Driven Lighting System
In order to recognize outstanding individuals for their contributions to technological advancement, industrial development, and the betterment of humankind, ITRI inaugurated the honorary ITRI Laureates.