Taipei, Feb. 5 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian vowed to develop Taiwan, which was named by Dutch sailors Ilha Formosa or "beautiful island," into a "green silicon island" cherishing humanitarianism and setting its sights on sustained development.
In a meeting with visiting Nobel laureate Alan Heeger, the president said the island will harness technology to transform itself into a "green silicon island" and he praised Heeger's research in converting plastics into conductors of electricity, which earned him the 2000 Nobel Chemistry Prize. Chen said Heeger's work will change the traditional method of information transfer and has thereby altered people's vision of the future.
Heeger said that although it is difficult to make scientific discoveries, the process of applying scientific research results to commercial production is more difficult, not least in the high-tech area.
Heeger, a physics professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, arrived in Taiwan Monday at the invitation of the Industrial Technology Research Institute.