Since first establishing a sister school relationship, NPUST and KU have maintained close cooperation in key areas of mutual academic interest, such as agricultural science, food science, and veterinary medicine. They have also promoted dual-degree programs in the Department of Food Science and the Department of Biomechatronics Engineering, jointly cultivating students with international outlooks and practical skills. The itinerary for the current visit was diverse and substantial, with meetings, results sharing, and guided tours. The KU delegation first met with a number of faculty and students from the Department of Biomechatronics Engineering, during which time both sides shared some of their latest research results and had in-depth discussions on avenues that they would like to pursue for future cooperation. Later, the delegation visited several research laboratories at the Department of Biomechatronics Engineering and learned about their focuses of research. As they were introduced to the work being done, the visitors expressed high appreciation for the achievements that the department has made in the fields of agricultural technology, smart machinery, and bio-mechatronics.

In the past two years, with support from the university and Ministry of Education and the university, the Department of Biomechatronics Engineering has sent ten teachers and students to KU for overseas internships. This year, students from the KU’s Department of Genetics also participated in the Ministry of Education’s Taiwan Experience Education Program and studied at the NPUST Department of Biomechatronics Engineering. The signing of the new version of the MOU reflects the desire that both sides share to continue to work together to start a new phase of closer academic and research cooperation and joint talent cultivation.

Professor Chin-Lung Chang, who is also the president of NPUST, said that “this program originated from the 2017 Taiwan-KMUTT Internship Program (TKIP). In that year, under a Ministry of Education pilot program to send excellent young students to study abroad at renowned organizations, Taiwan University of Science and Technology Alliance members, including NPUST, NTUST and CSU jointly sent 18 students to Thailand for short-term summer internships at businesses in Thailand. The program allowed for enhanced mutual understanding between the young people on both sides and helped promote citizen diplomacy. In the following years, with the efforts of schools from both countries, more than 100 students from the alliance have been sent to Thailand for internships and training. After graduation, these students entered the workforce to become outstanding contributors to international industries in different fields”.

Professor Tien-Chien Chen, Dean of the College of Engineering, said that “internationalization is one of the development priorities of the College of Engineering. Through such overseas internship programs, the academic ties between the two schools can be strengthened. It will help expand students’ international perspectives and lay the foundation for their future development in the global field of engineering”.

The distinguished guests included Director Ming-Hsi Lee of the Department of Soil and Water Conservation, Legislator Lung Yang Tseng of the Pingtung County Government, Director Kuo-Feng Chiang of the Pingtung County Department of Water Resources, Chief Kuo-Feng Hwang of the Agency of Rural Development and Soil and Water Conservation, and Deputy Director Jui-Min Chu of the Tainan Branch of the Agency of Rural Development and Soil and Water Conservation. Event organizers also invited related agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture, local governments, the National Science and Technology Museum, the Water Conservation Cool-School, and relevant departments of the Pingtung County Government to come together to help convey the importance of soil and water conservation and jointly promote the goal of “creating a sustainable countryside”.

The 21 promotional booths were divided according to three major themes, including ‘Soil and Water Conservation Education”’, ‘Soil and Water Conservation & Disaster Prevention’ and ‘Environmental Friendliness’. The ‘Soil and Water Conservation Education’ booths helped the public understand the important role of soil and water conservation and sustainable rural practices through a variety of games. At the ‘Disaster Prevention’ booths, well designed props showed the types of slope disasters that can take place and explained the prevention methods which have been developed to avoid those disasters. Meanwhile, at the ‘Environmental Friendliness’ themed booths, visitors could explore such topics as net-zero green living, food safety, health protection, and workplace applications. In this way, the visitors were provided with a comprehensive look at multiple aspects of the environment and life, and were able to gain practical knowledge that is beneficial to themselves and to the environment.

A total of 126 elementary schools participated in the E-Sports Competition. The competitors included 377 students who were selected from 5,188 of their peers to participate in the county-wide competition. Based on the results from today, 10 students were selected to move on to the Taiwan semi-finals for the Environmental Education E-sports Competition PaGamO International Cup.

The scale of the event was quite grand with 42 promotional booths set up on site to promote the importance of environmental protection and disaster prevention education. One of the highlights of National Pingtung University of Science and Technology’s exhibition was the display on “Applications and Practical Observations of Weirs.” Here students and parents learned about water intake and measuring facilities by observing the hydraulic models the students had prepared for demonstrations. The other main attraction at the booth was the students’ display on “cocoa shell recycling” which presented ways to use innovative recycling methods to turn an agricultural waste product into products with value—such as building materials or renewable energy sources. By creating innovative resource recycling and carbon reduction techniques, the students are helping to further the goal of net zero carbon emissions.

Professor Huang was joined at the expo by three master’s students from his department. Huang hoped to give them an opportunity to witness some of the latest machines and tools, while also gaining experience communicating with and learning from some of the major machine tool manufacturers. During the exhibition, the students helped introduce Huang’s patented technology to the visitors.

Huang’s vibration-assisted technology for cutting tools is able to successfully improve processing efficiency when turning special carbide materials. Efficiency improvements are important for the manufacturing industry, as they are essential for achieving carbon reduction and carbon neutrality goals.

The organizers of the expo also invited Professor Huang to give a special presentation on his technology on March 13, asking him to introduce the technical principles, design background, industry trends, application models and other advantages of the award-winning patent. Professor Huang used an easy-to-understand approach to share the science behind his work, and provided an in-depth analysis of the patent’s feasibility and broad range of its applications. The presentation was well received by the audience, who also recognized the potential value of the new technology. In an atmosphere where academia and industry go hand in hand, TIMTOS has become an important stage for National Pingtung University of Science and Technology to showcase its innovative strengths and talent cultivate capabilities.

National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) was represented at the expo by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, with Professor Chi-Feng Lin and Research Fellow Chen Yi-Ling setting up a booth to showcase an industrial-grade collaborative robotic arm developed by the school in cooperation with Lichi Technology. Visitors to the booth were welcomed to try their hand in operating the robotic equipment, which the university uses for teaching purposes. Collaborative robot arms have been widely adopted in the manufacturing industry in recent years. Compared with general industrial robot arms that require safety fences to keep operators out of harm’s way, collaborative robot arms have built in detection functions, so that they will not injure people or damage property. Thanks to this feature, the visitors could experience mechanical operations for themselves without any worries.

Lichi Technology’s general manager, Ming Yi Lu and one of their engineers, Hsu-Hua Chen (an alumnus of NPUST’s Mechanical Engineering master’s program), were also present at the booth to help explain the applications of robotic arms in the industry. When Chen was studying his master’s degree, he chose to focus on a combination of robotic arms and machine vision for his thesis research topic, so he was able to provide the visiting students with quality insight. After experiencing the robotic arm for themselves, the junior high and high school students were able to get a better feel for the operating principles and the future applications of AI artificial intelligence. They also had a chance see how robotic arms are replacing human labor, and consider how they might plan their future studies and careers in light of current trends.

The morning session was moderated by Dr. Chien-Ho Lu from the NPUST Center for Agricultural, Forestry, Fishery, Livestock and Aquaculture Carbon Emission Inventory and Emerging Compounds (CAFEC). During the session, Carbon Manager Kai-Tse Hsiao shared on the topic of “Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Climate Change Response”, exploring the impact that global warming and greenhouse gases have on policy and economics. Dr. Chien-Ho Lu then used the topic of “Low Carbon and Carbon Footprint Industry Applications under Net Zero Trends” to explain the “2050 net zero policy” and look at ways in which local manufacturing industries can be transformed and upgraded. Finally, doctoral candidate Chih-Cheng Lin spoke on “Smart Meters and Power Safety: The Application of AI in Anomaly Detection”, illustrating the innovative practices of using artificial intelligence technology in low-carbon processes and carbon inventory.

For the afternoon session, the moderator was Dr. Rong-Fu Chen from the Division of Plastic Surgery at Kaohsiung Medical University. In his talk on “Exosomes and Regenerative Medicine: Frontier Technology to Promote Environmental Sustainable Health Industry”, he discussed the application of exosomes and regenerative medicine under environmental influences. Following this, Dr. Chia-Wei Liu from the National Center for Geriatrics and Welfare Research presented on “Microorganisms and Environmental Health Sustainable Industries: The Relationship between Intestines, the Environment and Social Behavior”. In his lecture, he analyzing the impact of environmental pollutants on intestines and social behavior. Finally, Dr. Anupama, also from the National Center for Geriatrics and Welfare Research, gave a speech in English, explaining how the government and businesses can work together to create a win-win strategy for the environment and health care by giving focus to drinking water, sewage and groundwater.

From greenhouse gas inventory to innovative strategies used in health care and sustainable industries—the seminar was an opportunity for participants to share a wide range of practical experiences. The seminar was also a demonstration of National Pingtung University of Science and Technology’s foresight in the realm of environmentally sustainable and low-carbon technology, and another example of the way in which it is taking solid steps in cross-disciplinary industry-university cooperation.

President Chin-Lung Chang, expressed his gratitude to CMC for continuously supporting NPUST’s vocational education, and providing students with the opportunity learn on their vehicles in practical courses. In this way, students can improve their practical skills and quickly adapt to industry needs. Chang added that it was a great blessing for the school as it celebrates its centenary anniversary. CMC section chief, Hsiu-Hung Chang, said “not only have CMC and NPUST enjoyed a long and close industry-academia partnership, but many outstanding NPUST alumni are now serving in CMC. Through the donation of practice vehicles, we can help enhance teaching resources, and by actively arranging exchanges and dialogues between the specialists and the faculty and students of the department, we hope our industry-academia collaboration will promote the advancement and development of both parties so we can realize a win-win situation in the future.”

NPUST’s president, Chin-Lung Chang, accepted the donation from Kawasaki Heavy Industries general manager, Koji Ono. College of Engineering dean, Tien-Chien Chen, Department of Mechanical Engineering director, Sun-Li Wu, Smart Mechatronics Bachelor Degree Program director, Hudson Hsu, Intake Mechanical Power Corp chairman, Yung-Chu Chen, Kawasaki Heavy Industries plant director Akira Fukuhara, and manager, Hung-Jung Hsu, witnessed the event together with other distinguished guests.

NPUST will use the new equipment to conduct special projects with its undergraduate students and allow master’s students to conduct applied industry-academic research. The university also hopes to deepen its cooperation with Kawasaki Heavy Industries and jointly cultivate professionals in the field of automation.

NPUST President Chin-Lung Chang said: “on the 100th anniversary since the founding of our school, I am very happy to receive this donation of 3 dual-arm collaborative robot arms from Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries for our school to use for teaching and research activities. This is the best birthday gift; and we want to thank Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ General Manager Koji Ono who made every effort to bring about this robot donation, and also Intake Mechanical Power Corp’s Chairman Yung-Chu Chen for his help in building a bridge for cooperation between NPUST and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The school will make good use of these robot arms to cultivate domestic industrial automation professionals.”

General Manager Koji Ono, mentioned at the donation ceremony that “Kawasaki Heavy Industries hopes to grow together with Taiwan’s economy, very much in the manner of NPUST, which continuously cultivates outstanding talents and makes all types of contributions to Taiwan. In order to express our highest respect for your school, which stands on a century-old foundation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries has decided to donate these new robot arms, hoping that our modest token of respect can be of assistance to you, and that together we can cultivate better talents.

Director Jyh Jian Chen of the NPUST Department of Biomechatronics pointed out that the NPUST College of Engineering and the UB College of Agricultural Science and Technology signed a memorandum in 2023; and in October of this year, they led a team to UB for a student exchange and discussions on academic cooperation. At the time, they invited UB to Pingtung to take part in an exchange, hoping to strengthen the friendship between the two parties. They also took the opportunity to promoted the establishment of student internship programs while expressing hopes to see more international cooperation and joint projects in the future. Assistant Professor Dimas Firmanda Al Riza conveyed high expectations for interdisciplinary cooperation between the two parties in the fields of agricultural machinery, biological resources and artificial intelligence, and invited students of NPUST to take courses and participate in research at UB.

With this MOU in place, the two parties should see more in-depth cooperation in such fields as automatic detection, smart agricultural machinery, biological resource recycling, and optical electromechanical technology. Together they will promote R&D and the practical application of various technologies, while jointly promoting smart agriculture and innovation in the field of biotechnology.