Having continued to devote time and effort in Taiwan, znt-Richter Group (ZNT), a leading German company focusing on IT solutions, works with many industries, including semiconductors, manufacturing, biomedicine, and electronics. Now, in order to nurture talent for different industries through the power of education, ZNT has begun to look for educational partners, and ISU, a hi-tech talent incubator, is the first university ZNT chose for industry-university collaboration. At the signing ceremony, not only the representatives from ZNT but the representatives from Siemens Taiwan, one of the long-term alliances of ZNT, were present, showing their support and high regard for ISU.
Through the collaboration with ZNT, ISU aspires to create a platform to nurture talent for the intelligent manufacturing industry in Taiwan and build industry-university collaborative relationships, expecting that ISU will play an important role in cultivating and training talent demanded during the development of the semiconductor corridor in southern Taiwan and makes contributions to innovation, upgrade, and sustainability of the manufacturing technology industry in Taiwan. ZNT donated the manufacturing execution and production scheduling software developed by Siemens to ISU and provided ISU with professional lecturers to give training. Meanwhile, several faculty members of the Department of Information Engineering under the College of Intelligent Science and Technology and the Department of Industrial Management under the College of Management, who are experienced in cultivating specialists in intelligent technology and management of technology, jointly designed and offered a range of professional courses.
Aaron Chou, ZNT’s general manager of Greater China, indicated that ISU has long dedicated itself to interdisciplinary innovation while ZNT has partnered with various manufacturers. With this collaboration, talent may be nurtured for many industries, and ISU students may become familiar with software that they may use in the future workplace before graduation. The headquarters of ZNT in Germany looks forward to this partnership and will give ISU full support. Hao-Chang Chen, deputy general manager of Siemens Taiwan, said this collaboration was unprecedented. With pioneering digital software and technical support from Siemens, professional solutions and consultation from ZNT, and interdisciplinarity innovative teaching and research software and hardware from ISU, students can be equipped with a competitive edge before seeking employment.
President Chen pointed out that a dramatic increase in demand for automation and smart factory was caused by a labor shortage. Through this collaboration with ZNT, talent can be nurtured, and the predicament solved. In the future, more corporations and universities will be invited to empower industries. Dr. Chen-Sen Ouyang, the Chair of the Department of Information Engineering, said that his department has long been devoted to nurturing specialists in technology research and development and applications in many industries, such as AI, big data, IoTs, and information security, and this industry-university collaboration just showed that the time is ripe, and the future achievement is promising. Dr. Huan-Chang Lin, the Chair of the Department of Industrial Management, indicated that ISU has established the Intelligent Manufacturing Development Center and nurtured interdisciplinary talent who are capable of using smart technology and digital tools to make decisions through industry-university collaboration in the hope of making sure its students are well-prepared for future employment offered by leading corporations, such as TSMC, UMC, ASE, and YAGEO.
