The Alumni Association of NPUST held its 2023 “Representative Member Conference and Joint Meeting of Directors and Supervisors” at the Golden Dragon Hall on the 7th floor of Howard Plaza Hotel Kaohsiung on April 15th. Many teachers and administrators of the school participated in the event, including NPUST President Chin-Lung Chang and his wife, former President Chang-Hsien Tai and his wife, Secretary Wenling Shih, Alumni Association Chairman Kuo-Sen Chen, College of Agriculture Dean Jue-Liang Hsu, and College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Yi-Yang Lien.
Delivering a speech, President Chin-Lung Chang said, “every time I attend an alumni group gathering, I find a special cohesiveness. As we coalesce our common convictions, the reputation of the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology becomes even more outstanding. The university will soon mark its 100th anniversary; and as the current president, I will continue to work hard to keep pace with the times. We also have good news that I would like to share with you all: NPUST has just won the first prize in the Green Campus group and the Welfare Symbiosis group in the 2023 Global Views University Social Responsibility Evaluation. Furthermore, we have ranked first in Taiwan on the GreenMetric University Ranking for 9 consecutive years. This shows that our school’s promotion and cultivation of a sustainable campus has been affirmed. These outcomes are not only a result of the hard work of our current teachers and students, but ‘thanks’ goes to all the alumni for their hard work and encouragement since the founding of the school. In the future, we will continue to strengthen teacher training and improve the quality of education, and use our actions to make NPUST shine.”
Wei-Po Kuo, chairman of the Alumni Association, remarked that “recently, the epidemic has slowed down, and the epidemic prevention measures have gradually opened up. So now, the annual representative members’ meeting can successfully take place. I want to thank the many teachers from my Alma Mater and the representative members from all over Taiwan for taking the time to participate in this event. Reuniting after the epidemic makes this time together even more remarkable and precious. The Alumni Association will be re-elected next year and so we thank all the alumni for their continuous dedication.”
At the gathering, NPUST President Chin-Lung Chang presented the honorary professor award to Professor Ching-Chen Hsieh. Professor Hsieh is an alumnus who graduated from the Agricultural Machinery Department which was formally part of the Pingtung Institute of Agriculture. After earning his PhD at the Tokyo University of Agriculture, Hsieh returned to teach at the school. Over his 42 years at NPUST, Hsieh served as the director of the Agricultural Machinery Department (now the Department of Biomechanical Engineering), and its Research Institute. He also served as the director of the Advanced Education Office. On top of this, Hsieh has served as general director for the NPUST Alumni Association, and served it in other capacities for 15 years. Wining the Second Agricultural Mechanization Contribution Award in 1994, the National Top Ten Outstanding Agricultural Experts in 1995, and the Lifetime Achievement Award Chinese Society for Agricultural Machinery, Professor Hsieh’s accomplishments are many. He has made great contributions to the development of agricultural and animal husbandry waste resources processing, agricultural machinery and other automation and labor-saving technologies, and achieved outstanding teaching and research results. Many agricultural machinery alumni have received guidance from Professor Hsieh over his career and his appointment as honorary professor of NPUST is well deserved.
Hopes are that as new blood joins NPUST Alumni Association in the future, the organization will be strengthened, alumni friendships will deepen, and cooperation between industries will result in strong support and backing for the school and her students.
