From March 20th to 22nd, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) exhibited two cutting-edge technological achievements at the Net Zero Initiative Pavilion of the 2025 Kaohsiung Smart City Expo. The innovations on display included a portable real-time AI weather forecasting system and an energy-saving plant factory for cultivating vegetables. The exhibition was a chance to share the school’s cross-domain integration and innovative R&D capabilities in the fields of smart disaster prevention and smart agriculture, and to further its commitment to public safety, net zero sustainability, and healthy and smart lifestyles.

The 4th Tzu Chi Pingtung County and City Cup Environmental Protection and Disaster Prevention E-sports Competition was held on March 18 (2025) at the Pingtung County Sports Stadium. Assistant Professor Zhi-Mou Chen and Assistant Professor Chia-Jung Tsai from the NPUST Department of Civil Engineering led a group of 10 master’s and undergraduate students to participate in the exhibition. At their booth, the engineering students introduced visitors to “Applications and Practical Observations of Weirs” and the “Recycling of Cocoa Shells”, showcasing the results of their innovative research in practice. Their exhibit attracted a large number of visitors, ranging from primary school students to local VIPs. Their display also integrated important information on disaster prevention and environmental protection, which was presented in an interactive and entertaining way. At the opening ceremony of the event, Director Wen-Shinn Shyu of the NPUST Department of Civil Engineering received a letter of appreciation from the Pingtung County Magistrate Chou Chun-mi in recognition of the important cooperation between industry, government and academia which the department is party to. A total of 126 elementary schools participated in the E-Sports Competition. The competitors included 377 students who were selected from 5,188 of their peers to participate in the county-wide competition. Based on the results from today, 10 students were selected to move on to the Taiwan semi-finals for the Environmental Education E-sports Competition PaGamO International Cup. The scale of the event was quite grand with 42 promotional booths set up on site to promote the importance of environmental protection and disaster prevention education. One of the highlights of National Pingtung University of Science and Technology’s exhibition was the display on “Applications and Practical Observations of Weirs.” Here students and parents learned about water intake and measuring facilities by observing the hydraulic models the students had prepared for demonstrations. The other main attraction at the booth was the students’ display on “cocoa shell recycling” which presented ways to use innovative recycling methods to turn an agricultural waste product into products with value—such as building materials or renewable energy sources. By creating innovative resource recycling and carbon reduction techniques, the students are helping to further the goal of net zero carbon emissions.

The “Taiwan Patent Go” expo debuted this year (2025) at the Taiwan International Machine Tool Show (TIMTOS). Receiving an invitation from the Intellectual Property Office (Ministry of Economic Affairs), Professor Wei-tai Huang of the NPUST Department of Mechanical Engineering set up an exhibit to present the world’s first “vibration-assisted tool holder for cutting tools” with a built-in actuator. His invention, which won the Platinum Award at the 2022 Taiwan Innotech Expo (TIE), received a lot of attention, with major manufacturers showing considerable interest in its capabilities. The patent is a reflection of type of top level R&D taking place at NPUST—R&D which is bringing new solutions to issues closely linked to carbon reduction and smart manufacturing.

On March 11 (2025), the NPUST Department of Environmental Science and Engineering held the “Seminar on Industry Practices in Environmental Sustainability”, inviting experts and scholars from various fields for in-depth discussions on new trends and developments in environmental sustainability and health care industries. With about 350 teachers, students and representatives from industry and academia in attendance, the seminar put focus on the two major themes of “Environment, Carbon and Sustainable Industry Practical Applications” and “Environment, Health and Sustainable Industry Applications”, while giving attention to the low-carbon policies promoted by the Executive Yuan.

The Limited Liability Kaohsiung-Pingtung Area Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry Production Cooperative, which was jointly established by the residents of Liugui, Kaohsiung and Neipu, Pingtung, held an unveiling ceremony at 10 a.m. on March 3, 2025 for its facilities at No. 2 Fuxing Lane, Liugui District, Kaohsiung. While giving Liugui’s natural resources a new fragrance and creating a new “Scent of the Mountains”, the establishment of the cooperative is a major milestone for the “National Forest Byproduct Essential Oil Promotion Program” which was jointly developed by National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) and the Pingtung Branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency.

With 294 new participants this year, a total of 1,477 schools from 95 countries around the world competed together in the latest UI GreenMetric World University Rankings. On December 12, the winners were announced and an online awards ceremony was broadcast from University of São Paulo, Brazil. Despite the fierce competition, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) managed once again to achieve excellent results, coming 1st in Taiwan for the 11 consecutive year, while also taking the 2nd place in Asia and 23rd place worldwide!