Contributions to the Global TFT-LCD Industry Again Internationally Recognized
HSINCHU, Dec. 21, 2010 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- AU Optronics Corp. ("AUO" or the "Company") (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO) announced today that Dr. Fang-Chen Luo, AUO's CIPO (Chief Intellectual Property Officer), was honored by the 2011 IEEE(*) Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal for his long-term contribution to the development of TFT-LCD. The IEEE Honors Ceremony will take place in August 2011, in San Francisco, Calif., USA to formally acknowledge the contributions and accomplishments of the recipients.
IEEE is the world's largest electrical and electronics engineering technical professional association, with currently around 400,000 members in 160 countries. The IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal commemorates Dr. Jun-ichi Nishizawa of Japan. Dr. Nishizawa is renowned globally for his outstanding achievements in the development of semiconductors, thus also known as "Mr. Semiconductor" and "Father of Microelectronics" from Japan. IEEE established the IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal in 2002 to recognize his lifelong achievements. This internationally known and acclaimed Medal selects its recipients on a stringent set of criteria, including quality and originality of the technical achievement; research effort and resources devoted; number of publications, patents and awards, and their significance; impact on the academia, industry, and benefit to the society. This year's IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal co-recipients include Dr. Peter Brody, who served at Westinghouse and was also a forerunner in TFT-LCD development, and Dr. Bernard Lechner, the creator of active matrix at RCA in earlier times.
Dr. Luo's pursuit of TFT began from his doctoral studies at Northwestern University. For forty years, Dr. Luo has devoted himself fully to TFT research and development. His leading innovations continually marked the history of the global TFT industry. In 1973 and 1974 respectively, Dr. Luo demonstrated the world's first TFT-EL and TFT-LCD panels at Westinghouse. For this TIME magazine published an article in Dec. 1974, which attracted significant attention in the industry worldwide. Dr. Luo was also the pioneer to have applied TFT-LCD to avionics. He made a successful attempt to develop TFT-LCD for military use when he served at GE and OIS. TFT-LCD panels were introduced to numerous avionics programs such as F-16, Apache helicopter, NASA spaceship, and cockpit TFT-LCD panels of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, replacing CRT successfully.
Dr. Luo has also committed thoroughly to the development of Taiwan's TFT-LCD industry. After the Taiwan TFT-LCD Association (TTLA) was established in 2002, Dr. Luo had been hosting the industry scientific projects of TTLA Advanced Technology Research Organization. Resources were pooled from the whole sector to significantly boost the Taiwan TFT-LCD industry's global competitiveness. Dr. Luo had served as AUO's CTO since 1996. In October 2010 he became AUO's CIPO, and led his team to develop various innovative technologies, manage and increase intellectual properties, and establish the Company's patent map. Due to abundant R&D energies, AUO rose quickly to become a world-leading TFT-LCD supplier, with the number of accumulated patents constantly exceeding its peers and innovations frequently acknowledged by awards around the world.
AUO will carry on Dr. Luo's passion and commitment and continue to develop diverse types of innovative products and technologies. Meanwhile, the fruits of research will also be supported by a robust patent map, so that an all-new green digital life experience will be created continuously through high value-added creations.
* IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) was formed by the merger of American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) in 1963. The organization is the world's largest electrical and electronics engineering technical professional association, and currently has around 400,000 members in 160 countries. IEEE's diverse representation makes it influential in areas such as aerospace, computer, telecommunications, biomedicine, and consumer electronics.
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ABOUT AU OPTRONICS
AU Optronics Corp. (AUO) is a global leader of thin film transistor liquid crystal display panels (TFT-LCD). AUO is able to provide customers with a full range of panel sizes and comprehensive applications, offering TFT-LCD panels in sizes ranging from 1.2 inches to greater than 65 inches. AUO generated NT$359.3 billion (US$11.2 billion) in sales revenue* in 2009 and now houses a staff of more than 42,000 employees, with global operations in Taiwan, Mainland China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the U.S., and Europe. Additionally, AUO is the first pure TFT-LCD manufacturer to be successfully listed at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). AUO extended its market to the green energy industry in late 2008. The Display and Solar businesses were established respectively as the Company's two core businesses in October, 2010. For more information, please visit AUO.com.
* 2009 year end revenue converted at an exchange rate of NTD31.95:USD1.
Safe Harbour Notice
AU Optronics Corp. ("AUO" or the "Company") (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO), a global leader of TFT-LCD panels, today announced the above news. Except for statements in respect of historical matters, the statements contained in this Release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements were based on our management's expectations, projections and beliefs at the time regarding matters including, among other things, future revenues and costs, financial performance, technology changes, capacity, utilization rates, yields, process and geographical diversification, future expansion plans and business strategy. Such forward looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including risks related to the flat panel display industry, the TFT-LCD market, acceptance of and demand for our products, technological and development risks, competitive factors, and other risks described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on May 11th, 2010.
