2022 NTU Engineering Special Contribution Award
2023/1/7
The NTU Engineering Special Contribution Award was established in 2018 to recognize significant contributions of public figures, institutions, and College of Engineering (COE) alumni toward either the construction of facilities or the academic development of the College. The award winners are presented with trophies at important annual events as tokens of appreciation for their contributions to the College.
The five winners of the 2022 “NTU Engineering Special Contribution Award” are 1) Professor Emeritus Dr. Kuo-Huang HSIEH of Chemical Engineering; 2) the three core companies of the G2C Alliance: C SUN Mfg., Ltd., Gallant Precision Machining Co., Ltd. (GPM), and Gallant Micro. Machining Co., Ltd. (GMM); 3) TECHMAN ROBOT INC.; 4) United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC); and 5) China Steel Corporation. The awards ceremony was held on December 29, 2022, in which COE Dean, Dr. Wen-Chang CHEN, presented trophies to all the award winners.
Some of the winners above have devoted themselves to improving the teaching, internship opportunities, and industry-academia collaboration projects within the COE to cultivate future talents, while others have provided scholarships to support outstanding students, and still others have donated soft- and hardware resources and/or academic incentives to facilitate teaching and research and to motivate faculty members to advance their research. All these kind efforts have contributed tremendously to the development of various affairs of the COE, and this special cover report is therefore dedicated to these important figures.
Brief Introduction of Professor Emeritus Dr. Kuo-Huang HSIEH's Contributions
Academic Achievements
For many years, Prof. HSIEH has been devoted to chemical engineering research in fields such as polymer chemistry, polymeric composites, conducting polymeric materials, mechanical properties of polymers, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials, etc. In addition, his research which focuses on polyurethane (PU) has secured numerous patents. Overall, it is certain that Prof. HSIEH has made outstanding contributions to the polymer industry.
Prof. HSIEH was also awarded Fellowship of The Polymer Society, Taipei (2015), as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award (2014) and the Polymer Research Award (2010) also issued by The Polymer Society, Taipei. All these important prizes are the recognition of Prof. HSIEH’s research accomplishments in the field of polymer studies.
Contributions to the COE
In 1994, the COE initiated the procedures to establish the Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering (IPSE), and Prof. HSIEH put in a lot of effort during this period of time. In 2001, the Ministry of Education approved the application, and the Institute was formally established in 2002 with Prof. HSIEH as the founding chair.
Over the past decades, Prof. HSIEH has cultivated a significant number of outstanding students. Even after retirement, he still pays great attention to the development of the Institute and donated the perpetual fund to set up a scholarship, through which he wishes to encourage students with outstanding academic performance to further pursue a PhD degree if they are interested in continuing their studies in the field of polymer science.
Brief Introduction of C SUN, GPM, and GMM's Contributions
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GMM Chairman Mr. Yu-Wen LIANG (right) accepted the trophy on behalf of his company at the ceremony.
C SUN Mfg., Ltd., Gallant Precision Machining Co., Ltd. (GPM), and Gallant Micro. Machining Co., Ltd. (GMM) all have years of rich experience in the industry of electronic precision machinery. In September 2020, the three companies decided to form the G2C Alliance (the name G2C is derived from the initials of each company). Afterward, the three companies’ subsidiaries and affiliated enterprises also joined the Alliance successively to form the G2C+ Alliance. Many industrial-academic cooperation projects have thus taken place since many of our alumni are now working in the companies under the Alliance. They are all willing to offer opportunities to students at their alma mater.
As the Alliance attaches great importance to the spirit of giving back to society, the three companies signed a contract on May 19 last year (2022) to donate the funding for the COE Academic Award to incentivize full-time faculty members to advance their research quality and academic achievements continuously. According to the contract, C SUN, GPM, and GMM will donate NT$400,000, NT$300,000, and NT$300,000, respectively (a total of NT$1 million) each year starting in 2022 to provide for the COE Academic Award bonus for ten years. The cumulative sum of donations is hence expected to reach NT$10 million. All the donation mentioned above is designated as the subsidy for three particular places in the COE Academic Award. The winners (of these three places) will not only be awarded an attractive bonus of NT$300,000 (instead of the standard bonus of NT$150,000), but they will also receive the honorary title of “C SUN Outstanding Scholar,” “GPM Outstanding Scholar,” or “GMM Outstanding Scholar” and have the chance to exchange their brilliant ideas in terms of industrial technologies.
The long-term donation model established by C SUN, GPM, and GMM has contributed to a win-win result for both the private sector and the University. The model will only bring forth more opportunities for further industry-academia collaboration or academic exchanges in the future.
Brief Introduction of TECHMAN ROBOT INC.'s Contributions
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Chief Operating Officer Mr. Scott HUANG (right) accepted the trophy on behalf of his company at the ceremony.
TECHMAN ROBOT INC. was established in 2016 as one of the subsidiaries of Quanta Computer Incorporated. The Chairman of TECHMAN ROBOT, Dr. Shih-Chih HO, is an outstanding alumnus of the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and also teaches at NTU as an adjunct professor at the moment.
TECHMAN ROBOT INC. not only assisted the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering in establishing a robotics laboratory for teaching but also provided resources such as teachers, equipment, and teaching materials. What is more, the company also offers professional robotics courses at the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, and endeavors to enhance, at the same time, faculty members’ and students’ professionalism in robotics by implementing training programs to cultivate seed teachers and TAs.
Among the courses offered, Chairman Dr. Shih-Chih HO teaches “Application and Practical of Intelligent Robot” and invites professional lecturers to guide students to develop project-based learning (PBL) topics under the theme of robotic arms. In this way, students can bring their creativity into play while being introduced to the industrial mindset so that they can better understand the current status of industrial technologies at the same time. In addition, faculty members and students can also participate in the four-day seed teacher and TA training programs at the TECHMAN Education and Training Center, organized during winter and summer breaks, and the company also offers internship opportunities. All the measures above can significantly help our faculty members and students keep up with the latest trends and technologies in the industry.
Brief Introduction of UMC's Contributions
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Associate Vice President Mr. Michael WANG (right) accepted the trophy on behalf of his company at the ceremony.
UMC donated a total of NT$5 million to renovate the 1st Chemical Engineering (ChE) Building to improve its teaching, research, and learning environment, thereby making a significant contribution to the long-term development of NTU ChE.
The 1st ChE Building was built in 1962, and the more-than-60-year-old building urgently needed renovation as its external wall tiles had started to chip and fall. There were also water leakage and serious efflorescence problems inside the building. Thus, the “1st ChE Building Renovation Project” was initiated in 2020 to implement external wall renovation, roof waterproofing enhancement, and mold removal inside the building. With the total cost estimated at NT$39.41 million, the Dept. of Chemical Engineering created a special fund-raising project.
Upholding the spirit of giving back to the society, UMC responded to the fund-raising project at the end of 2021 and in early 2022 in order to improve the teaching, research, and learning environment at NTU ChE, and donated a total of NT$5 million to assist in the renovation project, which accounts for more than one-eighth of the total cost. The project tender was awarded in March 2022 and is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2023. It is also worth mentioning that, even after renovation, the building will still retain the design style adopted by the original architect Mr. Da-Hong WANG, known as the “first Chinese modernist architect” in the world.
Classroom No. 1 in the 1st ChE Building has been completely refurbished and now serves as a high-quality teaching space for both ChE faculty members and students. In order to recognize and commemorate the generous donation by UMC, the classroom was renamed “UMC Lecture Hall” as a token of appreciation.
Brief Introduction of China Steel Corporation's Contributions
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President Mr. Shyi-Chin WANG (right) accepted the trophy on behalf of his company at the ceremony.
Since its establishment over 50 years ago, China Steel Corporation has jointly implemented many industrial-academic cooperation research projects with COE professors from various departments. The company is undoubtedly one of the leaders in developing steel materials and products in Taiwan. In fact, Emeritus Professor Dr. Shun-Tai CHANG of Materials Science had served as the first director of the R&D Department of China Steel before he started teaching at NTU as the founding chair of the Dept. of Materials Science. Dr. Shyi-Chin WANG, the incumbent President of China Steel, is also an alumnus who graduated from the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.
In 2011, China Steel established the “Advanced Steel Microstructure Control Engineering Research Center” at the Dept. of Materials Science and, on an annual basis, allocates research funds to facilitate studies on the microstructure and performance optimization of advanced high-strength steel in collaboration with COE professors. In addition, to facilitate the implementation of the Circular Economy Project launched by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, China Steel set up a high-end metal research center in collaboration with COE professors in 2018 to jointly carry out interdisciplinary research on high-end metal materials with the lab members coming from various departments and universities. The total funding was approximately NT$7.5-10 million per year and the project spanned a total of three years.
Moreover, to support the development of materials science in Taiwan and explore the nano- and angstrom-structure of steel and high-end metal materials, China Steel invested funding to establish an advanced electron microscope center in 2021. The center is equipped with the world’s most advanced Spectra 30-300 STEM (scanning transmission electron microscope), the highest resolution and double spherical aberration-corrected STEM for all materials science applications. For this four-year collaboration project, China Steel invests NT$5 million annually, with the total investment expected to reach NT$20 million by the end of 2024. Such a kind gesture is significantly conducive to establishing precision instruments at the COE.