Conference: US-Taiwan Workshop on Deep Tech Innovation and Partnerships

The broader impacts of this workshop are to promote the creation of new deep-tech startup companies and to increase the probability that these companies will be successful in bringing new products to market. Deep-tech companies seek to commercialize technologies based on substantial scientific and engineering advancements and work to solve the largest challenges facing our society, namely the creation and storage of renewable energy, the advancement and development of new semiconductor technologies, and the development of new biological and medical technologies. By facilitating international cooperation on deep tech startup creation, the workshop will increase the economic competitiveness of the U.S. and encourage the development of enhanced infrastructure for research and education. Finally, the workshop will seek to identify strategies to encourage the participation of women, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in the formation of deep-tech startups. This workshop will advance knowledge in the formation and growth of deep-tech companies leveraging international collaboration between the U.S. and Taiwan. The U.S. workshop organizers are experienced deep-tech startup founders and academics who are advisors and board members of multiple deep-tech startup companies and who have a successful track record of bringing startup companies to successful exit. The goals of the workshop are to: (1) better understand the challenges and opportunities facing U.S. and Taiwan deep tech startup companies; (2) explore opportunities for U.S. and Taiwan deep tech startup companies to develop ecosystem partnerships; (3) discuss how incubation programs could better enable deep tech partnerships; and (4) share best practices to encourage the formation of early-stage deep-tech companies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.