Bio
B.S. Physics, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan 1995M.S. Physics, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan 1999M.A. History, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan 2003Ph.D. History & Philosophy of Science. Cambridge University, United Kingdom 2010"My research and teaching focus on international standardization and global innovation. For me standardization provides a critical, interdisciplinary lens to examine the real-world interactions between technology, economy, laws, cultures, and global politics, as well as a commitment of engaging with diverse communities to facilitate cross-cultural understanding in science/policymaking."
Sharon Tsai-hsuan Ku, Assistant Professor
Sharon Ku joined the University of Virginia in 2017, after her faculty position at Drexel University and research fellowship from National Institutes of Health. She has a dual academic training in physics and STS, specializing in sociology and geopolitics of innovation and standardization. Her research focuses on multi-sited ethnographic investigation of international standardization and knowledge translation in both US and Asia. In addition, she developed intense collaborations with global academic, industrial and government scientists/policymakers through her involvement in standardization. She served as a nominated expert for the ANSI/ISO-TC229 Nanotechnologies Committee since 2012, and a member of ASTM E56 Nanotechnology Committee since 2010. She is actively involved in IEEE Global Initiative on Ethically Aligned Design of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems.
She teaches engineering history, ethics and responsibility in global context, including developing global classrooms with Chinese Universities to address the ongoing political, economic and technological interactions between US and China.