Recently, Tamkang PhD candidates Li Ming-xian and Li Jun-zhi from the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering teamed up with two students from the Taipei National University of the Arts to enter the 11th Golden Silicon Awards.

Their entry was based on a unique device that they collectively created: the ‘Musical Mushroom’. The Musical Mushroom is an innovative sensor which can distinguish subtle changes in the immediate environment, and play different kinds of music accordingly. Pedestrians who like the music being played can download the music file using the wireless internet function on their mobile phones. It was named the Musical Mushroom because it was designed in the shape of a curving mushroom. Out of 900 entrants and 315 groups, the TKU / TNUA team came third and won NT $80,000. Their cash prize was personally presented by Nobel Prize recipient, Yuan-Tseh Lee.

Project supervisor and TKU professor, Dr. Chih-yung Chang, noted that the group has already applied for a patent for the device in Taiwan and the US. Moreover, they recently signed an agreement with a Mainland Chinese company to have the device installed in as many as 32 parks across China.

The Director of the TKU Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Dr. Chin-Hwa Kuo, said that the competition showed that TKU’s strength in research is by no means inferior to that of major national universities, such as TNUA. “This is something to be extremely proud of”, he added.

Caption:

From left to right: TNUA students Zhou Shi-wu and Cai Qi-hong; TKU students Li Ming-xian and Li Jun-zhi.