Dr. Christophe Le Touze
Project Manager
Hometown: Nice, France
My time here in Taiwan began when I came to visit my wife’s country back in 1997 after a PhD in Physics. I discovered ITRI by accident through people I met and took a postdoctoral research position in the field of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) at ITRI’s Materials Research Labs (MRL) for two and a half years before returning to France to gain more experience. There, I became a MEMS’ Failure-Analysis Manager for a French company as well as a consultant for the French Space Center. In 2004, I started a job as an Assistant Professor of Physics at National Chiayi University in Taiwan. Afterwards, I wanted to continue doing research and completed a second Postdoc in Physics at National Chiao-Tung University before joining finally ITRI/NTRC as a Project Manager.
There are several things that I enjoy about conducting my research here at ITRI. First of all, there are many opportunities here. The campus is big and there are lots of top of the line instruments and also many experienced people to work with. There are no restrictions on collaboration – I am free to collaborate between departments or even with people outside of ITRI. But most important is that ITRI allows me to propose and conduct my own research projects, as long as their application can be justified. There are clearly established targets to be met, and, so far, I have encountered no restrictions as far as budget.
Currently I am working on applications of nanotechnology and nanomaterials for energy harvesting. The idea behind this is to convert energy, readily available in the environment, into electrical energy so that tiny, battery-free, electrical supplies can be used in biomedical applications for instance. My project is long term and I hope I am able to design and produce a prototype by next year.
As far as living in Taiwan, I personally enjoy traveling and Taiwan has a lot to offer. There is a wide variety of foods, scenery, and culture, and I find that around every corner there are a friendly face and a surprise waiting to be discovered.
As for my long term career plans, I would like to stay in this position and hope to undertake more projects. This is my first experience as a Project Manager and I am very satisfied with it.
Note: Dr. Le Touze left ITRI in 2009 and currently works for a start-up in Hsinchu.