Dec
7
Lee foresaw the market potential of LED chips twenty years ago, and now Epistar has reached the No. 1 position in the field, said Pan Wen Yuan Foundation Chairman Shih Chin-tay (史欽泰).
Former Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) deemed the award ceremony the “Nobel Prize” of the country’s technology industry.
“Lee started from zero, and made Taiwan into the world leader in semiconductor electronics it is today,” said Siew.
Between 1991 and 1993, Lee and his team developed the first AIGaInP LED and LDs in Taiwan. In 1996, Lee co-founded Epistar, the first company in the nation to research and produce blue and red LED emitters. Today, Epistar ranks No. 1 in high-power LEDs and No. 3 in blue laser diodes.
“I want to thank my team, it has been a tough time for the industry and we do not know when the next LED killer application will appear yet,” said Lee. “And I’d like to thank my wife, who has always been my source of joy, my energy bar.”
When asked about his views on global lighting market, Lee expressed optimism in seeing rapid growth in the near future.
Within two years, energy saving light bulbs will disappear completely in the U.S., predicted Lee. “Reaching a market penetration rate of 30 to 40 percent shouldn’t be a problem (for solid-state lighting).”
Previous recipients of the prize include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) Chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀), Delta Electronics (台達電) Chairman Bruce Cheng (鄭崇華), Acer Inc. founder Stan Shih (施振榮), and Quanta Chairman Barry Lam (林百里), among others.
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