Stay Simple to Express a Noble Aspiration: the RSC & AlChE Fellow—Prof. Chen Yu-wen

Professor Chen Yu-wen from the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, a person wearing retro glasses and looking like an artist, was honorably selected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) last year and a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) in this year.

As a scholar in the field of science and technology, he cannot hide his fondness for and interest in humanities and arts. The cultivation and affection of humanities and science have elevated his academic pursuit to the level of the art.

The thing about Chen Yu-wen that impressed people the most would be his experience of having taken charge of a huge technology project in the field of nanocatalysts sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. He was in charge of the project for two terms, which was a period of 8 years. This very long period of his taking charge of the project broke the record in Taiwan.

Chen Yu-wen regards the cultivation of talents as his responsibility, and his vision is to upgrade the traditional petrochemical industry. He found the methods to change the particular activity of metals—limiting catalyst particles under certain scale to increase the activity. His research in the past 10 years focused on metal catalysts and zeolite catalysts and the research results have been widely applied to the industries of energy and environmental protection. In 2010, Chen Yu-wen won the approval of the Ministry of Economic Affairs for his achievements, and he was awarded the Deep Plowing Award by the Ministry.

When Chen Yu-wen was studying as a student at the University of Pittsburgh, he met Professor Charles Beroes, a scientist that he greatly admired. Professor Beroes was a British Poet Laureate and violinist. For a lover of humanities and arts as Chen Yu-wen, Professor Beroes was undoubtedly a role model. Professor Beroes’ existence made Chen Yu-wen’s love for literature even stronger while Chen Yu-wen stood out in the field of science and technology.

Chen Yu-wen appreciated his family’s support that had left him almost no worries on his academic path. In addition, without the burdens of administrative obligations, he could focus more on his teaching and research. Chen Yu-wen has devoted himself to the research of catalysts for more than 30 years.

He hopes to shape his students into first-class talents by teaching them to master all the fundamental knowledge and peruse the well-written textbooks. He expects students to find out their own interest and realize the fundamental way of research.

Source: NCU