“Welcome Back to the Alma Mater” activity for the 45th anniversary of the Department of Chemistry was held at the TKU anniversary celebration on November 8th. Approximately 30 alumni from the Northern Taiwan region attended to discuss the possibility of establishing a company. A decision, which would transform the Departmental Office of Alumni Affairs from a casual, non-profit organization into a profit-oriented enterprise named Chung-ling Ltd. It would develop the ‘Chung-ling Monetary Project’ relying on the graduates’ entrepreneurial resources in both industrial and commercial sectors, and should work reciprocally for all parties involved.

Lin Yun-shan, the former President of TKU, Wei He-hsian, a professor from the Department of Chemistry, Chen Gan-nan, the Dean of College of Sciences together with other faculty members and alumni would participate in the scheme. Speaking of the inspiration for this company, Zeng Rong-hua, the Secretary in Chief of the Departmental Office of Alumni Affairs pointed out that “Department of Chemistry possesses many ‘number ones’ in TKU: The largest amount of funds ever raised; the highest number of graduates acting as university presidents; the most detailed contact information of graduates—a network that covers more than a thousand of them; the earliest-established Mainland China Alumni Association; and now, the first corporation combining business and academics, run by an office of alumni affairs.” The project, of course, sprung from the need for the Office of Alumni Affairs to step up its services to the members as agreed upon by him and other alumni unanimously. In merging the expertise of faculty and alumni, it will lend its unyielding support to the department and the university, and be a most loyal organization to deal with the public outside campus on behalf of TKU.

One of the main tasks of Chung-ling Monetary Project is to compile research results and awarded patents from both Department of Chemistry and Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering into a catalog. It will work as a reference to be available for people from the project and alumni from both departments who will be looking for patents.

Another task for this new company is to facilitate further cooperation between academic research and industry. According to a survey on universities, which were contracted by private enterprises and industries to develop research projects, the average number of cases of cooperation was merely 10.3 for each university in the year 2000. In light of this fact, Zeng Rong-hua hopes that Chung-ling, Ltd will soon develop into a sizable public listed company and make an impact. It will use the collective experience and human network of the alumni in business and industry to feel the pulse of the market demand, so as to maximize the cooperation between academic research and industry.

In order to build up a better network of contact to share resources, some of the alumni suggested that they should break away from the conventional way of classifying contact information that has always been according to the year of graduation. Instead, a new classification should be based on the nature of their profession, such as biochemistry, electronic chemistry and special chemistry, etc. In this way, graduates of the same field could interact easier through lectures and activities, and thus benefit one another professionally. By completing all the aforementioned steps, the Department of Chemistry, TKU might raise itself to even greater heights.