Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) annually announced national research awards belong to the most prestigious academic awards in Taiwan and are considered as highlights of a researcher’s career. This year, Rong Fung Huang, Chair Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has even garnered two prizes, the Merit MOST Research Fellow Award and the National Award for Distinguished Contribution to Industry-Academic Cooperation. This fact is even more remarkable as the two awards are bestowed for two different areas of research that are often considered to be incompatible: "pure" academic research, on the one hand, and applied research that is closely linked to the needs of the industry. 

Rong Fung Huang was honored with the 2020 MERIT MOST Research Fellowship Award for his research in fluid mechanics, gas dynamics, combustion technology, and ventilation. As much as in theoretical questions, Huang has always been interested in the actual applicability of his research findings, and thus built up close ties with the industry. For his achievements in this field of industry-academia collaboration, he received the Distinguished Contribution to Industry-Academic Cooperation award this year. 

In a ceremony on 18 October 2021, the MOST announced 10 winners of the 2020 Merit MOST Research Fellows, 80 Outstanding Research Awards, and 45 recipients of the 2021 Annual Ta-you Wu Memorial Award. Other Taiwan Tech award winners were Jinn P. Chu, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Material Sciences, and Jui-Sheng Chou, Chair Professor in Civil and Construction Engineering, who both received Outstanding Research Awards, and Chemical Engineering Professor Wei-Hung Chiang who was honored with the Ta-you Wu Memorial Award.