KAIST is a world-class research-centered university, but I understand it faces difficulties training physician-scientists because it lacks a medical school and hospital. If the clinical experience and research capacity of Formosa Group's Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine are combined, we will be able to make a greater contribution to society than we do now.
Wang Ruei-yu (Sandy Wang, 64), chair of Formosa Bio and executive member of the Management and Supervision Committee of Formosa Plastics Group, said this in an interview with ChosunBiz on the 20th at KAIST's main campus in Daejeon. Formosa Plastics Group, founded in Taiwan in 1954, is a conglomerate and the world's No. 1 producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the most commonly used plastic. It is expanding its business portfolio beyond petrochemicals to bio, electronic components and eco-friendly materials. The group's total sales in 2024 are about 2.1019 trillion Taiwan dollars (about 96 trillion won).
Chair Wang is the daughter of the late Wang Yung-ching, who founded Formosa Group and built it into a global petrochemical company. After majoring in accounting at New York University in 1984, Wang joined the group and took charge of major operations such as management and administration. Emphasizing "corporations' sustainability and social responsibility" as core values, she is credited with leading a structural transition into future industries including bio, clean energy, energy storage systems (ESS) and resource circulation.
On this day, Wang received an honorary doctorate in business administration from KAIST. The conferral was backed by cooperation between KAIST and Formosa Group. Formosa Group has decided to invest about 18 billion won in research at KAIST over the next five years. As a symbol of the partnership, the two sides established the KAIST-Formosa Bio Research Center (KAIFOC) and are pursuing multidisciplinary and international joint research.
Wang said, An honorary doctorate is not an honor for an individual but recognition of the efforts we have made together with KAIST so far, adding, I take it as both encouragement and a prod to carry on my father's intention to lay the foundation for social responsibility and contribution as a business leader.
The cooperation between KAIST and Formosa Group places emphasis on "clinical-research linkage." The plan is to broaden the foundation for training physician-scientists by combining KAIST's research capacity with the clinical experience, data and infrastructure of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Chang Gung Memorial Hospital is known to have about 12,000 beds. KAIST is currently conducting joint research based on clinical data from patient tissues accumulated by Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and is using tissues from patients with degenerative brain diseases to create Organoid (mini organs) and develop new drugs.
The scope of cooperation is expected to extend beyond bio. A Formosa official said Formosa Group's Ming Chi University of Technology, which it established directly, and KAIST have begun personnel exchanges and co-authored papers in advanced industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) and energy, and will support commercialization going forward.
Wang said, New research is necessary for corporations to be sustained. Therefore, meeting KAIST is both a stroke of luck and a pivotal moment that will determine the corporation's fate, adding, This collaboration can be a first step for South Korea and Taiwan to broaden friendly relations through science and technology.
Wang told KAIST graduates, Even if you learn the same knowledge, what ultimately determines success or failure is your attitude and passion toward the work, adding, If you regard work as just "work," it's not fun, but if you look at how your work helps society and provides value, your purpose changes.