President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of May 8 with Dr. Dan Shechtman, the 2011 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and Mrs. Shechtman. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan), extended a cordial welcome to the couple on their visit to Taiwan.
In remarks, the president stated that Dr. Shechtman has made outstanding contributions in the fields of mechanical engineering, materials engineering, and other basic sciences. In particular, he noted that Dr. Shechtman used electron microscopes to observe the crystal structure of aluminum-manganese alloys, and came up with the concept of the "quasicrystal." While Dr. Schectman's research was initially not widely accepted, the president commented that the scientist was unrelenting in his work and his theories were ultimately proven and accepted by other scientists in his field. President Ma said that Dr. Schectman's work has helped to promote new developments in the fields of mathematics, physics, and materials science, adding that Dr. Schectman's persistence and determination is worthy of admiration.
President Ma commented that Dr. Schectman is visiting Taiwan at the invitation of National Taipei University of Technology, which has made a name for itself in recent years at many international invention and design fairs. The university is one of Taiwan's top polytech universities, the president said, expressing his hopes that this visit will help to further encourage young people from both sides to engage in scientific research, thereby further bolstering interaction among students in Taiwan and Israel.
Dr. and Mrs. Schectman were accompanied to the Presidential Office by Israeli Representative to Taiwan Mrs. Simona Halperin to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Academia Sinica President Chi-Huey Wong (翁啟惠) , National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General John C.C. Deng (鄧振中), Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Shen-Yeaw Ko (柯森耀) , and National Taipei University of Technology President Leehter Yao (姚立德) .