There are 434 research proposals being submitted by TKU’s faculty to the National Science Council for 2004—12 proposals more than those for last year. It accounts for 65.5 percent of the total faculty numbers. From these 434 proposals, 142 are submitted by 134 assistant professors from the College of Engineering (COE), which makes them the highest in terms of submission. Among them, Professor Hong Zu-chang of the Department of Mechanical and Electro-mechanical Engineering tops the list with 4 proposals this year.

Professor Hong is not only an outstanding researcher, but also an excellent teacher. He has won numerous awards for his dedication, for example, the Outstanding Engineering Professor Awards from the Chinese Society of Mechanical Engineering and the 2003 High Achievement Awards from the International Society of Manufacturing. In recent years, he has concentrated on research on satellite systems in Taiwan since 1991 when he returned from the International Aerospace Technology Conference for Domestic and Overseas Chinese. It is admirable that despite the fact that he is in his 60s, he is working hard on all research at hand.

Professor Hong aside, several teachers at the COE have multiple applications, ranging from 2 to 4 proposals, which demonstrates an impressive result in research. As for universitywide application, after Professor Hong, there are at least 7 faculty members from various colleges submitting 3 proposals. For example, Cheng Liao-ping from the Chemical Engineering Department, Sheu Shian-tsong, Chiu Chien-ching, Huang Tsong-liang and Guo Chien-hong from the Electrical Engineering Department. Those outside COE are Huang Wen-tao from the Management Sciences and Decision Making Deparment and Shaw Reuy-Shiang from the Information Management Department of the College of Management. Among them, Professor Cheng Liao-ping works on polymer research and his proposal deals with the synthesis and modification of porous membranes, whereas Professor Sheu Shian-tsong specializes in issues surrounding high-speed internet connection.

The institutes or departments that have not submitted any proposals so far are the Graduate Institutes of American Studies, Russian Studies, Latin American Studies from the College of International Studies and the Department of Management from the College of Technology. However, new results of application process will emerge from June to August this year, so there will be definitely some positive changes.