In order to achieve the target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, Assistant Professor Tsu Che Lin of the NPUST Department of Plant Industry and his team joined up with researchers from the Taitung District Agricultural Research & Extension Station to promote the research and development of “Strategies to Optimize Rice Production Models in Tropical Environments under Climate Change”. The goal is to establish a strategy that is different from traditional, constant field flooding production method, which causes high greenhouse gas emissions. The old method is to be replaced by a water-saving model which alternates between dry and wet conditions and uses low-carbon rice varieties. Tests have found that this model can save water and reduce carbon emissions by more than 50%. President Chin-Lung Chang of NPUST and Director Hsin-Yen Chen of Taitung District Agricultural Research & Extension Station signed a strategic alliance agreement on behalf of both parties on October 17, 2023 in the Second Meeting Room of the NPUST Administration Building. College of Agriculture dean Jue-Liang Hsu and a number of colleagues from the university and Research & Extension Station were also present to witnessed the event.

The secretariat of the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings invited seven universities, including National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (Taiwan), Universitas Diponegoro (Indonesia), Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (Indonesia), and Mahidol University (Thailand), Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University (Turkey), University of Pécs (Hungary), and October 6 University (Egypt) to jointly organize the “Sustainable Universities: Global Practices on Sustainable Development Goals” online course. The course officially started at 6 pm on September 13, 2023 in Lecture Hall 113 of the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) International College. Around 70 students from NPUST are enrolled in the course together with more than 80 international students who joined online. The presidents of the co-organizing universities addressed the students remotely via recorded video messages, and Dr. Junaidi, Vice Chairman of GreenMetric explained the purpose of the course. Vice-Dean Yuh Tzean of the NPUST Office of International Affairs gave a course overview, and provided a detailed explanation of the classroom approach and learning obligations for the 17-week course.

A team from NPUST, including Professor Hudson Hsu, Professor Chang-Hsien Tai, Researcher Yaoyu Tsai, and student Yukai Liu have successfully developed a “Green Energy Wind Powered Air Compression & Storage Heat Pump System”, which serves as an environmentally friendly sustainable solution to the question of how to convert and store of renewable energy. This and other related technology were presented at the 2023 MTE Malaysia International Invention Exhibition, which is ranked by the Ministry of Economic Affairs as one of the top ten invention exhibitions in the world. At the exhibition, their inventions won one silver and one bronze.

National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) serves as the permanent secretariat of the University Network for Tropical Agriculture (UNTA), assisting the alliance schools in organizing annual membership meetings and facilitating exchanges and cooperation among global partners. This year’s (2023) UNTA annual assembly was held by the University of Brawijaya in Indonesia on August 8th/9th under the theme of “Innovation for sustainable agriculture production, ensuring climate-resilient and digital agriculture”. More than 250 people, including university presidents, vice-presidents, professors and students from 9 member schools in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan took part in the assembly.

NPUST, the A-Kong-Tien Rotary Club, and the Fund for Children and Families (FCF) jointly hosted an education camp for students from disadvantaged rural communities in Southern Taiwan. From July 17th to 21st the “Jingsi Lake Scientist’s Exploration Camp” was held to promote Industry 4.0, robot applications in industry, IoT, Green energy science and more. Combined with care activities for disadvantaged communities, the five-day science camp was organized for high school (vocational) students registered at Family Support Centers in Kaohsiung, Pingtung, and Taitung counties. The opening ceremony was held at 9:00 am on July 18th at the NPUST Data Center. University president, Chin-Lung Chang, A-Kong-Tien Rotary Club director, Sophia Hsu and former director Cheng-Kai Huang, former director of Fund for Children and Families, Cheng-bin Chen, and Professor Hudson Hsu were joined by teachers and students from the university for the unveiling ceremony.