Vice President Iain Watt Led UTS Delegation to Visit NCKU and Signed a Cooperation MOU

Written by Amy Lin. Image credit to Cheng-Ming Chen.

Led by Iain Watt, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (International) of University of Technology Sydney (UTS) delegation visited National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) On September 20, 2023. Based on fundamental academic collaboration on extreme climate research of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) in 2023, both universities will dedicate to extending research interests such as AI in healthcare, smart environmental monitoring, sustainable cities, disaster resilience, and cross-border entrepreneurship, to contribute research and innovations to sustainable development.
 
Meanwhile, represented by Dr. Woei-Jer Chuang and Mr. Iain Watt, NCKU and UTS have signed a memorandum on cooperation, announcing future promotions to collaborative research in focus areas, student and faculty exchanges, and credit programs.

NCKU Executive Vice President Woei-Jer Chuang believed that both universities, by the consensus of common research interests, have set four major areas of cooperation. He looked forward to effectively executing academic research programs and establishing a more significant and strengthened partnership. Exchanging academic research sources will benefit NCKU and UTS’s partner enterprises, economic development, and the cultivation of future global talents.
 
In his address, UTS Deputy Vice-Chancellor Iain Watt mentioned that, by comparing to NCKU's history in nearly a century, UTS, established in 1988, is relatively young. Through active development in specialized fields such as business management, law, and technology, as well as collaborating with local enterprises to implement technology in sustainable industries, over 60% of UTS research programs have been involved in partnerships with enterprises, making UTS as one of Australia's top-ranking universities. UTS is now ranked 90th in the QS World University Rankings. Having over 40,000 students, including over 9,000 international students, UTS has engaged in creating a friendly campus and welcomes students from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities.

Devoting to academic interchanges, NCKU and UTS are major partner universities of WUN. Both universities are currently collaborating on research program of “Health System Resilience for Extreme Weather Emergencies” through WUN academic network. Led by UTS Vice President Iain Watt, UTS delegation members, including Prof. Eryk Dutkiewicz, Head of School, Electrical and Data Engineering, and Prof. Chin-Teng Lin, the Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, visited NCKU and attended in-depth expert meetings.
 
During the meeting, Assoc. Prof. Chia-Hsiang Lin, Director of Division of International Relations, firstly introduced NCKU's academic environment. Prof. Pau-Choo Chung, Dean of College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (電機資訊學院詹寶珠院長) then presented an overview of NCKU's expertise in brain-computer interface and related fields of electrical engineering and computer science. Finally, Prof. Liang-Ming Whang, Director General of Innovation Headquarters (產學創新總中心黃良銘主任) introduced NCKU's status quo of industry-academia collaborations. After the meeting, UTS delegation visited NCKU's Innovation Headquarters and the applied Power IC Lab of the Department of Electrical Engineering.
 
Located in Sydney, Australia, the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) offers technological education and has evolved into a leading research university. UTS offers a wide range of disciplinary fields and has achieved significant accomplishments of education and research. Dedicating to enhancing technological innovation, social responsibility, and sustainable development, UTS aims to commit to a positive and considerable impact on society and the economy.