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NCKU ME Team Wins Two International Awards for Micro-Robotic Microfluidic Platform Improving Sperm Activation Efficiency
A research team led by Professor Chia-Yuan Chen from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) has, after years of development, successfully created an active bioanalysis platform integrating magnetically controlled micro-robots with a microfluidic biochip. The system has been applied to zebrafish—widely used in the pharmaceutical industry—for sperm activation studies. The team participated in the 2026 Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE) and received two major awards: a Gold Medal and a Special Award presented by the Malaysian Association of Creativity and Innovation (MACRI).
MTE is a well-known international invention competition held in Malaysia, dedicated to promoting innovation and creative technologies. Supported by the Malaysian government, the event has been established for over 20 years. The MTE Special Award is typically given to outstanding inventions with high levels of innovation, practical applicability, and market potential. Professor Chen noted that the team’s work received strong recognition from international judges and that they will continue to promote the developed biochip system across more global industry platforms.
Notably, during the award ceremony, the organizers specifically introduced Professor Chen’s team as a university research group from Taiwan. Professor Chen also took the opportunity to introduce himself again to Malaysia’s Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation at the exhibition opening, emphasizing that the team was representing Taiwan.
With the continuous advancement of medical technology, non-contact micro-robotic systems have been gaining increasing attention. The micro-robotics industry has rapidly developed in recent years, and medical applications continue to expand. In zebrafish sperm activation applications, sperm motility typically decreases significantly after freezing and thawing. To address this issue, the research team integrated their self-designed magnetic micro-robots into a microfluidic chip and developed a miniaturized external magnetic field control system for non-contact operation. This allows precise microscale flow manipulation, successfully increasing post-thaw sperm activation rates to over 80% while significantly reducing processing time, thereby greatly improving efficiency.
The technology developed by Professor Chen’s team has already been validated in animal models, confirming its reliability for biological applications. Future development will focus on potential human medical applications, as well as extensions into biomedical diagnostics, drug screening, and intelligent microfluidic systems, with the goal of enabling applications in home healthcare and related fields.
In addition, the team has successfully miniaturized the system from a large laboratory setup into a handheld portable device while significantly reducing operational power requirements, enhancing its practical applicability. In recent years, their SCI-indexed publications have been selected as journal covers or featured articles by four international publishers across more than six different journals, covering areas such as micro-robotic control, microfluidic manipulation, and biomedical applications—demonstrating the strong technological innovation behind their work.
Their internationally recognized research has also earned Professor Chen the 21st IIP International Outstanding Inventor Award in 2025. In January 2026, he and other awardees were received by President Lai Ching-te in recognition of their contributions to Taiwan’s technological development. Professor Chen’s team expressed sincere gratitude for the research support provided during development, including funding from the Engineering Division of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), the Heat Transfer Group of NCKU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Office of Industrial-Academia Collaboration and Technology Transfer, and other related institutions.
MTE is a well-known international invention competition held in Malaysia, dedicated to promoting innovation and creative technologies. Supported by the Malaysian government, the event has been established for over 20 years. The MTE Special Award is typically given to outstanding inventions with high levels of innovation, practical applicability, and market potential. Professor Chen noted that the team’s work received strong recognition from international judges and that they will continue to promote the developed biochip system across more global industry platforms.
Notably, during the award ceremony, the organizers specifically introduced Professor Chen’s team as a university research group from Taiwan. Professor Chen also took the opportunity to introduce himself again to Malaysia’s Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation at the exhibition opening, emphasizing that the team was representing Taiwan.
With the continuous advancement of medical technology, non-contact micro-robotic systems have been gaining increasing attention. The micro-robotics industry has rapidly developed in recent years, and medical applications continue to expand. In zebrafish sperm activation applications, sperm motility typically decreases significantly after freezing and thawing. To address this issue, the research team integrated their self-designed magnetic micro-robots into a microfluidic chip and developed a miniaturized external magnetic field control system for non-contact operation. This allows precise microscale flow manipulation, successfully increasing post-thaw sperm activation rates to over 80% while significantly reducing processing time, thereby greatly improving efficiency.
The technology developed by Professor Chen’s team has already been validated in animal models, confirming its reliability for biological applications. Future development will focus on potential human medical applications, as well as extensions into biomedical diagnostics, drug screening, and intelligent microfluidic systems, with the goal of enabling applications in home healthcare and related fields.
In addition, the team has successfully miniaturized the system from a large laboratory setup into a handheld portable device while significantly reducing operational power requirements, enhancing its practical applicability. In recent years, their SCI-indexed publications have been selected as journal covers or featured articles by four international publishers across more than six different journals, covering areas such as micro-robotic control, microfluidic manipulation, and biomedical applications—demonstrating the strong technological innovation behind their work.
Their internationally recognized research has also earned Professor Chen the 21st IIP International Outstanding Inventor Award in 2025. In January 2026, he and other awardees were received by President Lai Ching-te in recognition of their contributions to Taiwan’s technological development. Professor Chen’s team expressed sincere gratitude for the research support provided during development, including funding from the Engineering Division of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), the Heat Transfer Group of NCKU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Office of Industrial-Academia Collaboration and Technology Transfer, and other related institutions.
The research team led by Professor Chia-Yuan Chen
The research team led by Professor Chia-Yuan Chen won a Gold Medal for Invention at the 2026 Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE).
The research team led by Professor Chia-Yuan Chen was honored with a Special Award from the Malaysian Association of Creativity and Innovation (MACRI) at the 2026 Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE).
The research team has developed a palm-sized, portable microfluidic bioanalysis platform.
In recent years, the research achievements of the team led by Professor Chen have been repeatedly selected as journal covers and featured in international scientific news reports.
In 2026, Professor Chen and other recipients of the International Outstanding Inventor Award were received by the President at the Presidential Office Building.
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