Walking for the green life

If I drive my Toyota to school, it takes me around 20 minutes to get there if there's no traffic jam. This Toyota will consume gasoline and cost me about NT$ 4000 for one month, that is, NT$1000 per week. And, this is how I commute from my house to school for the past 17 years.

For some reason, I needed to take a train to school yesterday, and it turned out to be quite good for such a change. I walked to train station and it took me about 6 minutes. I got on the train at 08:35 at Tainan Station and off the train at 08:42 at Baoan Station. Then, I spent 20 minutes to walk into my office. Totally, it will take me 33 minutes by train and walk, without worrying about the traffic jam. How much should I pay for this trip? It is NT$30 for this round trip. This means NT$900 for one month.

So, which one is a better choice of going to and from my office? The answer seems very obvious. It is only that I need to have a paradigm shift, walking for the green and leisure life!

Visits to Hoshi University, Tohoku Pharmaceutical University, and Tohoku University

The CNU's visits to Hoshi University (HU), Tohoku Pharmaceutical University (TPU), and Tohoku University (TU), Japan were arranged on December 17-23, 2011.

The CNU's delegates include Professor Chih-Hsiang Liao, R&D Office Head, Professor Kuan-Han Lee, Dean of College of Pharmacy and Science, and Associate Professor Tzu-Chueh Wang, Department of Pharmacy. The purpose of this trip to Japan was to strengthen bilateral relationship between CNU and HU, to revitalize partnership and renew the MOU between CNU and TPU, and to greet to Professor Yoshiteru Oshima, Dean of Pharmaceutical Sciences at TU.

The report on this trip Japan can be browsed here, and the short video clip is presented below. After this trip, there will be international conference to be co-hosted by CNU and HU this year. And the TPU's President and Chair of Board of Trustees, Dr. Katanagagi Motoaki, is planning to visit CNU in March 2012. So, good things are in store for this new year of 2012.

Board Chair Masato Murasaki's visit to CNU

After the visit of Dean Yoshiyasu Fukuyama of Tokushima Bunri University (TBU) in August, here was another visit of TBU's Board Chair Masato Murasaki with his other delegates on October 18, 2011: Professor Tateo Goto (Head of Office of Admissions), Professor Osamu Doi (Head of International Office), and Professor Kojun Setsu (Pharmaceutical faculty). The MOU between TBU and CNU was endorsed at TBU early this year in February 2011. So the visit of Board Chair Murasaki himself to CNU sends a strong message of the strengthening of bilateral relationship between both the parties.

During the reception meeting, the issues of future exchange discussed include short- and long-term visit of students, transferable course credits, Chinese course offering and joint research projects. As Board Chair Murasaki pointed out in the meeting, both the parties did not only sign a pieces of paper, but also we need to go further and deeper for the real and solid collaboration. In responding to this, I am sure there will be fruitful achievements in the near future because of bilateral efforts made by students and faculty of both sides.

Following the meeting, there're campus tour through Herbal Research Center, Taiwan Hot Spring Research Center, and Health Promotion Center. Due to his great personal affinity and humorous talk, we all had wonderful time touring around our campus.

The visit of Board Chair Murasaki and his accompanying delegates was concluded by the CNU-hosted dinner banquet and a brief historic tour of Chi-Kan Lou (赤崁樓).

Joint tour by the members of the CNU, USU, TBU and MetroBank

Note:

- For the technical activities in the morning, click here (TaiSugar Corp. visit) to see video clip in detail.

- For the cultural activities in the afternoon and evening, click here (Historic sites visit), here (Tea times), and here (Meal times) to see video clips in detail.

- Click the photo album to see all the photos taken in the past few days.

有朋自遠方來 不亦樂乎

As I mentioned in my previous two blog articles, the CNU was visited by the delegates of (1) MetroCorp Bancshares, Inc. (Mrs. and Chairman Don J. Wang), and Utah State University (Dean Noelle E. Cockett, Prof. Ron Munger, and Director Brandon Monson); and (2) Tokushima Bunri University (Dean Yoshiyasu Fukuyama). Since these two events happened to be in the same week. So, we decided to arrange a joint tour on August 27 to get more acquainted with one another. And it turned out to be a wonderful and enjoyable Saturday.

In the morning time, we visited Taiwan Sugar Research Institute, which is under Taiwan Sugar Corporation. We were warmly received by Deputy Director Jeremy Ming-Hong Jean and his colleagues when we arrived at TSRI. There we had panel discussion and walked through fermenting lab, sugar production museum, greenhouse for orchid, cucumber, and tomato cultivation. The final stop was the research lab for orchid cultivation.

In the afternoon and evening time, first Miss Fanni Wang toured us around Taiwan Literature Museum and Confucius Temple. As a citizen of this oldie city, I would say these two historic sites are the ones all visitors have to go and see. Also, you may stop by the Lily's Ice&Fruit House, and cool down a little bit after a long walk under the strong sunshine, and hot and humid weather. Then, Miss Wang brought us to another private garden house, where we all really enjoyed a very relaxing tea time and beautiful garden of dwarf potted plants. At the close of this day, we had "National" banquet dinner at Chou's Shrimp House. There you may taste all dishes of very traditional meals of this oldie city. After the dinner, we went to another tea house to experience and taste the real tea especially prepared by the tea master.

So, that's the day we had, technically and culturally.

Distinguished guest from Tokushima Bunri University

After the endorsement of MOU between Tokushima Bunri University and Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science on February 21, 2011, frequent mutual exchanges are undergoing. First, the 22 students and 2 faculty paid a one-week visit to TBU on August 1-6, 2011. As described in the visiting reports written by the visiting students, the visit was exciting, impressive and unforgettable experiences in their life of study.

Now, we have another visit by our partner university. Professor Yoshiyasu Fukuyama, TBU's Dean of College of Pharmacy arrived at Taoyuan International Airport yesterday and was warmly received by Professor S.C. Wang of Pharmacy Dept. of the CNU.

Today, Dean Yoshiyasu Fukuyama gave a special talk to the faculty and students of College of Pharmacy and Science, after greeting to President Li-Jen Hsu of the CNU. The speech conference was hosted by Dean KH Lee of Pharmaceutical College. The talk was about plant-extracted natural products. I am sure there will be further joint research between both the parties because of Prof. Fukuyama's speech. For some reason, Professor Yoshinori Asakawa, the worldwide and well-known scholar form the TBU, could not make this trip. It's hoped that he will be here at CNU some day in the very near future. Maybe we can invite those who google-search "Yoshinori Asakawa" of different countries to come over and enjoy his talk on natural products.

Distinguished guests from Utah State University and Bank MetroCorp Bancshares Inc.

Through Chairman Don J. Wang, Bank MetroCorp Bancshares Inc., the Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science (CNU) has such a great honor to receive our distinguished guests from Utah State University (USU). This visiting team includes Prof. Noelle E. Cockett, Dean of College of Agriculture (CoA), USU, Professor Ron Monger, Nutrition Dept., and Brandon Monson, CoA Development Director.

Reception lunch banquet was hosted by Board Chair Chao-Hsiung Wang and President Li-Jen Hsu of CNU on August 25, 2011. Following this, there's MOU endorsement between College of Agriculture-USU and College of Human Ecology-CNU. Both Deans Professor Noelle Cockett and Professor Pin-Der Duh endorsed the official document and thus initiate the new beginning of bilateral collaboration between the USU and CNU. The singing ceremony was organized by Research and Development Office and presided by both President Li-Jen Hsu and Chairman Don J. Wang, along with the witnesses of all department chairs of CoHE of CNU. After a brief break, the campus tour was offered to our distinguished guests, including constructed wet land and health promotion center.

As discussed in our panel discussion, future cooperation between the USU and CNU may begin with the short term training workshop during the period of summertime. In addition, joint research proposal may be proposed, seeking the possibilities of acquiring the grant from Taiwan National Science Council and US agent, respectively. In the long run, we need to raise the collaborative level from the college to university. Through the MOU endorsement at university level, we both the parties may further establish the dual degree program or mutual recognition of course credits. This can promote greatly mutual exchange of faculty and students.

So, let's see and think about how we the USU and the CNU can work together in a solid way. It's hoped that we may extend the multi-lateral relationship and connect to those prestigious universities in Southeast Asian countries.

Workshop on Taiwanese Architecture at National Cheng Kung University

台灣傳統大木丈篙傳習

Before I promote this workshop in this blog article, I wish Dr. Carpenter my father a very Happy Papa's Day. In Taiwan, the day of August 8 is commonly called Papa's Day because of the pronunciation of "88" in mandarin.

Starting from July 30 until November 19, 2011, the Dept. of Architecture, National Cheng Kung University is organizing a traditional workshop on Taiwanese Architecture every weekend of this period. This workshop is supported by Headquarters Administration of Cultural Heritage, Council for Cultural Affairs (行政院文化建設委員會文化資產總管理處籌備處). The invited instructors include Master Zhi-Der Liao (廖枝德 大木師阜; I call him Dr. Carpenter) for traditional Taiwanese house construction and Master Han-Tsen Hsu (許漢珍 大木師阜) for Taiwanese temple construction. 25 workshop members involve those from Historic Sites and Architecture Professionals Association (古蹟暨歷史建築匠師協會), construction engineering Inc., architect office, indoor maintenance individual, design workroom, and universities. The workshop opening was held on July 30, 2011 in Taichung, and will be closed with participants' achievement exhibition on November 19, 2011 in Tainan.

Inquire the details of this workshop to Professor Ming-Fu Hsu's office (成功大學建築學系徐明福教授研究室) with the phone of 06-2757575 ext. 54131.

Mission for MOUs endorsement at Ho Chi Minh and Danang, Vietnam

In November 2004, we, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science (CNU), first endorsed MOU with Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST). After almost 7 years, the mission for our Vietnam trip will be MOUs endorsement with Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT) and The University of Danang (UD), with Danang University of Technology (DUT) being a member of UD.

We made this trip on July 27, 2011. The CNU's delegates include:

- Professor Dr. Suen-Zone Lee, Vice President (李孫榮 副校長);

- Professor Dr. Chih-Hsiang Liao, Chief Officer, Research and Development Office (廖志祥 研發長);

- Associate Professor Dr. I-Ming Chen, Chair, Dept of Environ. Resources Manag’t (陳意銘 主任);

- Chair Professor Chung-Cheng Chang, Dept. of Environ. Resources Manag’t (張宗仁 講座教授);

- Associate Professor Dr. Meng-Wei Wang, Dept. of Environ. Eng. and Sci. (萬孟瑋 副教授).

After arriving at Ho Chi Minh City the first day, we made our way to HCMUT. We were received warmly by Rector Vu Dinh Thanh, External Relation Office Head Nguyen Danh Thao and its staff Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Tam, and Dean of College of Environment Nguyen Phuoc Dan. There're some talks and discussions before the MOU was signed officially. This MOU endorsement marks the endeavoring fruit of the past 2-year contact and collaboration, plus the upcoming forum to be organized by Dean Dan next year there at HCMUT.

The next day, we first attended the opening of "2011 International Forum on Green Technology and Management (IFGTM)" at Bamboo Green Hotel. This forum was organized by HUST, DUT, HCMUT, and CNU, with the Chairmen including Assoc. Prof. Huynh Trung Hai (Director of INEST, HUST), Assoc. Prof. I-Ming Chen (Chair of ERM, CNU), and Dr. Tran Van Quang (Dean of Faculty of Environment, DUT). Following the welcome speech by President Tran Van Nam of UD, opening remark by Dean Huynh Trung Hai, and IFGTM profile introduction by Chair I-Ming Chen, the official MOU endorsement between UD and CNU was witnessed by all participants. Right

after this, the MOU for the Environmental College Consortium was also endorsed by the four Deans from HUST, DUT, HCMUT, and CNU, respectively. This endorsement serves to pave the way for the future internationally inter-college collaboration focusing on green technology and management. More members will be invited to join such college consortium, in addition to the four core members of HUST, DUT, HCMUT, and CNU. Furthermore, it is aimed to invite the governmental agents and industrial sector as well to participate in the future activities. In other

words, the platform for the industry, government and university has been officially and strongly set up for the international cooperation.

Following the MOUs endorsement, VP Lee and I took a brief tour at DUT's campus. We were received by Rector Le Kim Hung. Through the casual talk and campus tour, we understood each other more and more. This should help in our further binding between the DUT and CNU.

The dinner banquet marked the end of our mission for this Vietnam trip. Yet, it also means the beginning of challenging and adventuring works ahead in years to come.

Demo on building a wood-fueled cooking stove

Si-luo Bridge Art Camp (西螺大橋藝術兵營) hosted a field activity on how to build a wood-fueled cooking stove at Hsin-Kan-Dang, Tainan on July 23, 2011.

Again, Dr. Carpenter was invited by the Artist Chao-Cang Lee (李朝倉) for this special event. More than 20 participants of different cities really enjoyed this technical tour as they observed and leaned to build a small-scale cooking stove. As you can see from the video clip, the building materials required only the reclaimed bricks, and clay soil which was taken nearby at the site. In addition, you need a pan or frying pot to shape the opening of this cooking stove while you wall up the bricks with the slimy soil plaster.

Enjoy the video and learn how to make a Taiwanese style and biomass-fueled cooking stove.

ICONT 2011

I am doing something related to nanotech. So, I decided to attend this International Conference on Nanotechnology- Research and Commercialization at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, June 6-9, 2011. It was organized by SIRIM Berhad and supported by Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) of Malaysia.

After a brief opening speech by the Conference Chair Dr. Abdul Kadir Masrom, all participants stood up to pay respect to Malaysian national and local anthems. Then, there's a religious man praying for the successful conference. The special guest's speech was given by Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Minister of MOSTI, who was born in Sabah. Following his speech, MOU endorsement ceremony was held between SIRIM/AJou U., SIRIM/UST-Iran, and SIRIM/U. Malaysia Pahang.

In general, the conference themes cover nano issues related to quantum, synthesis/structure, characterization and technology. There were plenary session and parallel session in each day. The plenary session was delivered by prestigious keynote and invited speakers in the early morning time and the parallel session by oral presenters in the late morning and afternoon time. With the program schedule arranged like this, you may access knowledge of various nano issues in both depth and breadth from different speakers. This is the nice part of this conference.

The keynote and invited speakers involve those from Korea (Prof. Jae-Ho Kim, Ajou U.; Prof. Hanjo Lim, Ajou U.; Prof. Namkyoo Park, Seoul Nat'l U.; Prof. Takhee Lee, Gwangju Inst. of Sci. and Tech.; Prof. Yong-Hoon Cho, KAIST; Prof. Kihong Kim, Ajou U.), Japan (Prof. Koichi Sasaki, Hokkaido U.), Lithuania (Prof. Valentinas Snitka, Kaunas U. of Tech.), Iran (Prof. Ali Beitollahi, U. of Sci. and Tech.), and Malaysia (Prof. Ng Kwan Hoong, U. Malaya; Prof. Jose Rajan, U. Malaysia Pahang; Associate Prof. Mohamad Rusop Mahmood, U. Tech. Mara; Prof. Uda Hashim, U. Malaysia Perlis).

The conference was climaxed by banquet dinner with very colorful and cultural amusement. That was always the touching moment to bring participants of different nations and very diversified culture together. In brief, the ICONT was worthy of participation if there's the next one. Note that according to my conversation with Dr. AK Masrom, the ICONT 2013 may be held in Sarawak.