The 6th Global Views University Social Responsibility Awards were held at the Shangri-La Far Eastern Hotel in Taipei on April 8th (2025). National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) achieved its best result to date, winning three major awards and ranking third overall. It also won the most awards among all technical and vocational colleges in the country. NPUST’s president, Chin-Lung Chang, attended the ceremony represent the school at the conferral. Among the awards that were received, in the “Industry Co-Creation Group”, Professor Mei-Hui Chen from the NPUST Department of Forestry won First Prize for her “Satoyama Deep Economy 2.0 project for under forest economies, ecotourism alliance development, and agricultural & forestry carbon sequestration talent cultivation”. In the “Ecological Coexistence Group”, Assistant Professor Shiao-Yu Hong of the NPUST Institute of Wildlife Conservation won the Model Award with his project for “erecting perches in farmland and the wilderness to conserve endangered barn owls”. Adding to these, in the “Sustainable Course Group”, which was new this year, Assistant Professor Liu Fangyi Liu of the Department of Agribusiness Management won the Performance Award for her “Net Zero Carbon Inventory Cross-Domain Micro-Learning Program”.

National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) and the Taiwan Pig Veterinarians Medical Association jointly held an international seminar at the ICC Tainan on March 29, 2025. The event was hosted by Distinguished Professor Ming-Tang Chiou, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Chairman of the Taiwan Pig Veterinarians Medical Association. Scholars from related fields in Japan, Canada, and Taiwan were invited to give lectures on various topics. The seminar gave focus to research on the eradication of African swine fever, pig nutrition and health, and the application of AI and the Internet of Things in pig breeding and management. A total of 165 professionals in related fields attended the seminar.

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.