Ex-TSMC Chair Mark Liu founds academic center at UC Berkley

Taipei, Feb. 18 (CNA) Mark Liu (劉德音), the former chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), has founded an academic center at the University of California, Berkeley to enhance U.S. tech competitiveness.

The Technology Competitiveness and Industrial Policy Center (TCIP), founded and supported by Liu, was announced by the university in a press release on Feb. 13.

"Over the past several decades, globalization has decoupled upstream research from downstream manufacturing of high-technology products. As a result, new innovations do not necessarily translate into wealth creation," Liu said in the statement.

"With the ever-increasing dependence of society on technology, this separation is eroding our nation's technology leadership, the cornerstone of economic power and security," Liu said.

"A national strategy is needed to strengthen the pipeline from research to product development and manufacturing, and to ensure end-market access," he said.

The TCIP will provide "expert, independent scholarly advice to policymakers and lawmakers on technology policy development" to ensure U.S. leadership in areas such as tech R&D and advanced manufacturing, according to the press release.

The new center was established under the university's College of Engineering and will convene experts in technology, economics and policy from academia, the industrial sector and non-profits, the press release said.

After the recent "disruption" from China's introduction of DeepSeek, it is "increasingly imperative to restore U.S. leadership in advanced technology -- including AI -- and this center will accelerate progress toward this goal," said S. Shankar Sastry, a computer science professor at the university who will serve as the center's faculty director.

Liu, who was born and raised in Taiwan and attended graduate school at UC Berkeley, served as chairman of TSMC from 2018 to 2024.