NCKU Celebrates its 90th Anniversary with an Awards Ceremony for Outstanding Young Alumni

Written by and image credit to NCKU News Center.
 
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NCKU recognized 57 outstanding young alumni on the university's 90th anniversary
 
The year 2021 marks the 90th year of the founding of National Cheng Kung University, as this prestigious university has developed more than 200,000 alumni worldwide. Many graduates of NCKU are down-to-earth and hard-working people who have made an impact at home and overseas over the years. The selection of outstanding young alumni is once again included in the 90th anniversary celebration this year—five years after the first selection of outstanding young alumni of NCKU was conducted at the 85th anniversary. A total of 57 young alumni who are deemed as outstanding people in their undertakings or career paths received this award for their contributions. The awarded alumni are from eight colleges, namely, the College of Liberal Arts, College of Science, College of Engineering, College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Planning and Design, College of Management, College of Medicine, and College of Bioscience and Biotechnology.
 
NCKU President Huey-Jen Jenny Su gave a welcome speech for the ceremony, stressing the meaning of conferring awards to outstanding young alumni as NCKU celebrates its 90th anniversary while expressing her gratitude as she invites all young alumni to share their experiences and valuable insights with NCKU, their alma mater. “Their efforts, hard work, and experiences have made our society a better place, and therefore, they are worth collecting and put into archives and become a glorious page in the university’s history.”
 
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Huey-Jen Su, President of NCKU, gives warm encouragements to NCKU alumni
 
NCKU has selected a total of 57 outstanding young alumni to be award winners. The selection criteria include: having ever enrolled in undergraduate/ master’s programs (graduations not a prerequisite); no more than 45 years old in 2021; deemed as high performers in their domains of expertise or as established entrepreneurs; great philanthropists who help improve communities or make special contributions to NCKU or to the whole society that add glory to the university.
 
A host of candidates had been warmly recommended by the above NCKU’s colleges, Alumni Association Center, and various alumni networks. To facilitate the screening and selection process, NCKU intentionally set up the “Outstanding Young Alumni Selection Committee.” NCKU president acts as the convener, who is supposed to convene meetings where deans and department chairs shall be present and cast their votes. Candidates receiving two-thirds of the votes from attending members would be made outstanding alumni.
 
Huey-Jen Su gave awards to the 57 award winners in the ceremony in which a total of eight representatives from different colleges took turns delivering their heart-felt speeches. Chih-Yu Lin, representative of the College of Liberal Arts, earned a bachelor’s degree from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature in 2010. As a co-founder of Clubon, a virtual reality company, Chih-Yu Lin said emotionally about the solid education he received at NCKU. The training he received during his college years allowed him to possess both the logical thinking of linguistics studies and also the humanitarian eye of history and culture. All this helps him a lot in designing virtual reality games. In his speech, he also expressed gratitude for a wide spectrum of disciplines offered by NCKU as he was convinced that he has been greatly benefited from a diverse education when he studied at NCKU.
 
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Alumni from the College of Liberal Arts receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni Award
 
Andy Tsui, representative of the College of Science, is from the Mathematics Class 2007. He has worked as general manager at Straight Way International Ltd. He expressed a sense of honor by being recognized as an outstanding alumnus and was pleased to return to Taiwan after working and living in China for two years. His experience living away from hometown makes him appreciate the bond between alumni to a deeper sense and would like to share his experience and sadness and joy with them.
 
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Alumni from the College of Science receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni Award
 
Prof. Chia-Ling Chang, representative of the College of Engineering, earned a bachelor’s degree in hydraulic and ocean engineering in 2000. She is currently a faculty member of the Dept. of Water Resources Engineering and Conservation at Feng Chia University. Prof. Chang said emotionally about the four years she spent at NCKU and stressed that she was thankful to NCKU, as well as the teachers, peers, and upperclassmen for their unending support. As she has found her bearings and is able to successfully navigate the world, she will do her best to give back to society in the future.
 
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Alumni from the College of Engineering receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni Award
 
As the representative of the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Yu-Ting Chuang, who earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2001, is a co-founder and vice president of HYENA INC. In his award acceptance speech, he attributed his success to two factors. For starters, the university’s richly diverse learning environment had helped him to develop a fearless attitude when faced with challenges. Secondly, the solid curriculum created by the Dept. of Electrical Engineering enabled him to switch careers between transistors and the electrical grids. NCKU’s diverse and solid education has helped him to thrive in today’s world.
 
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Alumni from the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni Award
 
Wan-Jen Lin, representative of the College of Planning and Design, earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 2003. She is a co-founding architect of studio Hou x Lin. She was staying at the dormitory when the 921-earthquake struck, and she remembers vividly how helpless and panicked she felt at that time. Shortly after, she decided to join the relief team and went with upperclassmen to the disaster area. This has also led to modifications and rectifications of Taiwan’s building code. Even today, Wan-Jen Lin never forgets her responsibilities as a professional architect as she never hesitates to step up and help those in need.
 
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Alumni from the College of Planning and Design receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni Award
 
Kuo-Hao Chang, representative of the College of Management, got a bachelor’s degree in statistics in 1998. He serves as a professor of the Industrial Engineering and Engineering of National Tsing Hua University and the deputy director of the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction. He reminisced about his college days, especially the close, cordial relationships in the classroom and a wide array of college clubs that invited students to join. The college club experience has taught him to effectively negotiate and resolve conflict. These valuable abilities have prepared him to pursue advanced studies in the United States before returning to Taiwan and using his big data skills to help the authorities and emergency response teams with relief work.
 
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Alumni from the College of Management receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni Award
 
The representative of the College of Medicine Ney-Min Wu completed her medical studies in 2007. She is hired to be a doctor at Good Liver Clinic and devotes some of her time to writing. Ney-Min Wu believes that the FHLA, literary award in NCKU, became her starting point as a writer. The liberal studies courses proffered by the College of Planning and Design impressed her a lot at that time, and most of all, the mentoring and support of the professors of the medical school gave her expertise and confidence, both of which were cornerstones of her success. Ney-Min Wu also believes that NCKU owns an unparalleled advantage of setting up a broad range of colleges and departments that benefit students in many ways by effectively equipping them with interdisciplinary knowledge and cultivating them to be unique individuals.
 
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Alumni from the College of Medicine receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni Award
 
The representative of the College of Bioscience and Biotechnology Dr. Chi-Kuang Yao graduated in 1999 with a major in life sciences. He serves as an associate researcher at the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica. Dr. Yao attributes his academic success to NCKU’s learning climate, where he had been motivated to build a solid foundation as a researcher. Additionally, joining a sports club also helped him to make exercise a habit while learning to interact with peers. This award will serve as an encouragement that propels him towards larger goals as he continues to give back what he learned at NCKU to Taiwan and the world.
 
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Alumni from the College of Bioscience and Biotechnology receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni Award
 
In addition to holding an awards ceremony, NCKU Alumni Association Center has compiled a leaflet that contains information about the 57 outstanding alumni who have made unique contributions to society. As pointed out by President Huey-Jen Su, the core philosophy of NCKU since its inception lies in a well-rounded education which aims to help students to be clear-headed, broad-minded, and adroit individuals. A clear-headed person knows how to innovate in times of flux. An adroit person knows how to cope with challenges in times of crisis. And people become broad-minded in the environment with many resources and help over the decades. Many heartfelt thanks go to all alumni for making the right choice to be a part of NCKU and have all proved to be individuals that their alma mater is proud of. NCKU alumni are expected to continue collectively creating a better prospect for Taiwan in the years to come.
 
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The younger generation is the future for the world, NCKU recognizes the young alumni with outstanding contributions
 
Provider: News Center
Date: 2021-11-24