About CMT

The membrane science and its technological development, in the past few decades, as increasingly emerged and plays an important role in many aspects of modern engineering of chemistry, energy, environmental conservation, bioengineering, medicine, foods, and electronics. Presently, an exceeding number of successfully developed applications can be seen in how the membrane has been adopted in desalination and water purification through ultrafiltration and osmosis percolation; the separation of oxygen from air for medical uses; hemodialysis found in artificial kidneys; the separation of proteins and microorganisms; membrane filtration in the clean room of semiconductor fabs, and the list goes on. And its future development is regarded as infinite as many countries have since infused substantial funds and manpower in dedicating to its research and development as seen in the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) – funded Center for Membrane Applied Science & Technology (MAST) at University of Colorado at Boulder & University of Cincinnati, the European Membrane Institute (EMI) at University of Twente in Netherlands, and the Institut Européen des Membranes (IEM) at the University of Montpellier II funded by the Centre National de la Recherche Scienti que (CNRS) in France.

A successful development of membrane module hinges not only how best to fully understand the physical, chemical and mechanical characteristics of a host of membrane materials; full grasp of the similarity and dissimilarity in the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of different compounds in mixtures that need for separation; manipulation of membrane formation technology that converts raw materials into unique membrane structure; but also the proficiency in the design and assemblage of membrane modules. To achieve higher separation yields or for adaption to more applications, at times it also requires the development of new membrane materials and surface modification technique. In light that the research and development of membrane technology are of high difficulties in a complex system to call for the joint participation of a host of researchers with varied backgrounds and expertise, there is a compelling need to launch a membrane research center.

Center founder, Chair Prof. Juin-Yih Lai, a renowned researcher in polymeric membranes, is a three-time celebrant of outstanding research and outstanding panel researcher awards by the National Science Council, a prizewinner of academic award by the Ministry of Education, and is currently awarded the 18th National Chair Professorship. He has realized the importance of integrating the membrane technology amid working closely with experts from all sectors over the years. Thus, he proposed the formation of a membrane R&D center that helps to integrate the up-, mid-, and downstream technologies. With a group of academically disciplined and skilled local scholars and experts in existence, the Center aims to develop its premises utilizing the seasoned professor groups from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Department of Bioenvironmental Engineering in Chung Yuan Christian University, and supported contacts and exchange with interschool experts as technical consultancy. The R&D Center for Membrane Technology (CMT) was founded in December 2000. CMT’s exclusive research building and lab facilities occupy a floor area of more than 3,500 square meters. At the current time, CMT has over 30 core professors and approximately one hundred permanent research staff members from Chung Yuan Christian University, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, National Central University, National Tsing Hua University, National Ilan University, Yuan Ze University, Chang Gung University, and Tao Yuan General Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, etc. Long-term collaborative relationships have been established with 50 more researchers from domestic and international research institutes.