Honorary Distinguished Chair Professor Trieu-Kien Truong, once known for his daring and aggressive demeanor resembling characters from Hong Kong gangster films, experienced a significant transformation in his life when he ventured into the field of education. His story has become widely known in the education sector. Dr. Truong made remarkable achievements in the field of digital coding, being the inventor of the RS decoder single-chip, earning him a distinguished academic position. He is also one of the inventors of the Da Vinci arm. Leading the faculty members of the College of Intelligent Science and Technology, Dr. Truong collaborated with Dr. Chen-Sen Ouyang from the Department of Information Management at Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology on the cross-school project “Medical Applications of Deep Learning and EEG Analysis.” Combining the fields of health medicine and intelligent technology, this project assists physicians in diagnosing and making treatment decisions for neurological disorders, significantly improving treatment outcomes.
ISU is one of the few comprehensive universities in Taiwan with a college of medicine. Leveraging this advantage, Dr. Truong led his team in integrating health medicine and intelligent technology to apply these techniques to EEG analysis in healthcare. This approach enabled more precise, objective, and efficient localization of lesion areas, aiding physicians in diagnosing and making treatment decisions for epilepsy patients, significantly improving treatment outcomes. Dr. Truong pointed out that the integration of medical care and technological advancements is a current trend in healthcare. The application of artificial intelligence in the medical field promotes the development of smart healthcare. Medical care benefits from advancements in various technologies, allowing for early diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Furthermore, big data analysis aids in treatment decision-making, enhancing medical efficiency and moving towards precision medicine.
Despite being in his seventies, Dr. Truong remains active in scientific research. He joined ISU in 1995 and, in 1997, co-founded the “Coding Group” with Dr. Yao-Tsu Chang from the Department of Data Science and Analytics, and two then-doctoral students: Chong-Dao Lee, now Dean of Library and Information Services, and Dr. Yan-Haw Chen, now Chair of the Department of Information Engineering. Dr. Truong led the Coding Group in collaboration with Professor Reed from the University of Southern California to develop coding theory and applications. They were pioneers globally, proposing decoding algorithms for the last six unsolved quadratic residue codes with code lengths within 113. This technology is now widely used in Wi-Fi, QR codes, space communications, and telescopes. The achievements of the Coding Group have been highly praised, even by renowned coding expert Professor Massey, one of the inventors of the famous Berlekamp-Massey decoding algorithm.
Dr. Truong, with his esteemed academic standing, has been honored as a Life Fellow by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He also had an illustrious career at NASA, earning 23 NASA Innovation Technology Awards for his outstanding contributions. Dr. Truong has published over 200 academic papers in international journals and is Taiwan’s first IEEE Fellow in the Signal Processing Society. He encourages ISU students to build a strong foundation through a combination of coursework and practical experience, fostering professional skills for future career development. The collaboration between the College of Medicine, the College of Medical Science and Technology, and the College of Intelligent Science and Technology significantly enhances teaching and research capabilities in health medicine and intelligent technology, making it a cradle for nurturing exceptional future talents.
