Dean of Engineering Wen-Chang Chen Awarded SPSJ International Award

NTU hosted the 2019 Asian Engineering Deans' Summit (AEDS) at the International Conference Hall of the Institute of Applied Mechanics on campus from May 29-31. This was the first time the summit was held in Taiwan, providing an international platform for discussions on the improvement of engineering education and research.

The 2019 AEDS was organized by NTU’s College of Engineering, an active participant in and key facilitator of engineering education and technological innovations both in Taiwan and abroad. The co-organizers were the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST)’s Center for Global Affairs and Science Engagement (GASE), as well as the other five engineering-related colleges under the three member universities of NTU System, namely the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at NTU; the Colleges of Engineering, EECS, and Applied Sciences at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST); and the College of Technology and Engineering at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU).

This summit was presided over by NTU Executive Vice President Chiapei Chou (周家蓓), convened by NTU Dean of Engineering Wen-Chang Chen (陳文章), and co-convened by NTU Dean of EECS Yao-Wen Chang (張耀文), NTUST Deans of Engineering Jhy-Chern Liu (劉志成), EECS Chang-Fa Yang (楊成發), Applied Sciences Poki Chen (陳伯奇), as well as NTNU Dean of Technology and Engineering Chin-Pao Cheng (程金保). The executive coordinator and vice executive coordinator of the event were NTU Associate Deans of Engineering C. Robert Kao (高振宏) and Chung-Che Chou (周中哲), respectively.

All the presidents of the three member universities of NTU System, namely, NTU President Chung-Ming Kuan (管中閔), NTNU President Cheng-Chih Wu (吳正己), and NTUST President Ching-Jong Liao (廖慶榮) graced the conference and delivered their opening addresses. NTU’s Executive Vice President Ming-Syan Chen (陳銘憲) and Vice President for Research and Development Pai-Chi Li (李百祺) also attended the event. With the generous support of GASE Director Hsiao-Wei Yuan (袁孝維), the conference became a major success through the concerted efforts of the faculty members of NTU System, attracting over 130 engineering and EECS scholars to NTU from renowned universities in 13 countries around the globe. Of more than 130 attendees, over 50 were professors holding a deanship or a higher-level administrative position at a university.

Themed “Global Education and Innovative Technology,” the 2019 AEDS was a continuation of previous summits, aiming to examine engineering education and research at colleges and universities in the Asia-Pacific region, explore the influence of global engineering education on this region, and discuss how to continuously resolve the challenges confronting humankind through innovative technologies.

The summit invited Chair Prof. Norman C. Tien (田之楠), former Dean of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong, and Dr. Chih-Kung Lee (李世光), Chairman of Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), to deliver two keynote speeches, titled “Challenges and Opportunities for Global Engineering Education” and “Digital Economy: Exploring AI, IOT, Blockchain Technology in Various Engineering Applications,” respectively. Both speeches provided food for thought and stimulated a wide range of discussions among the attendees.

The conference featured six topics, each forming an individual session for all the attendees to discuss and exchange their opinions. These topics are global education program and student mobility; AI based educational technology; green technology and sustainable environment; innovative technology and entrepreneurship; international research center with industrial collaboration; and recruitment of international students and/or female students. At the closing ceremony in the afternoon of May 31, NTU’s Dean of Engineering Wen-Chang Chen, the lead convener of 2019 AEDS, reviewed and concluded the topics discussed at the summit, and announced the University of Hong Kong to be the next organizer of AEDS in 2020.

AEDS is a conference jointly convened, with the support of the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC), by engineering deans at leading universities in Asia to enhance engineering education and research in the Asia-Pacific region. This influential conference is aimed to provide a platform for professionals and scholars across government, industry, and academia to exchange views on engineering education and research and keep themselves updated with the latest news and trends. Each of the past AEDS drew engineering and EECS deans, experts, and scholars totaling over 100 from universities and colleges in Europe, the US, Japan, Korea, China, Australia, and Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and Sri Lanka.