National Formosa University and HIWIN Technologies Corp. have partnered to establish the "HIWIN NFU Smart Manufacturing R&D and Talent Cultivation Center," holding an unveiling ceremony on 4/1 (Wednesday). The event was co-chaired by NFU President Chang Hsin-Liang and HIWIN Chairman Eric Cho, with Executive Yuan Policy Advisor Tsai Jung-Chieh and Executive Yuan Yun-Chia-Nan Regional Joint Services Center Deputy Executive Officer Chen Yi-Fan attending as witnesses. HIWIN will invest NT$50 million in the center, working with NFU to jointly build a real-world training ground for the smart manufacturing industry and promote the sustainable development of talent.
The center operates under a "government-industry-academia co-creation" model, integrating government resources according to R&D and talent cultivation needs. NFU and HIWIN have planned a ten-year collaboration roadmap, with HIWIN contributing NT$5 million annually to support the center's establishment, equipment maintenance, technical research, and talent cultivation. Going forward, through research collaboration, technical exchange, and jointly offered courses, faculty expertise will be brought closer to industry needs, and the latest technology trends will be introduced into the teaching environment, further enhancing students' competitiveness and alignment with industry.
NFU President Chang Hsin-Liang stated that NFU continues to serve as an important pillar of support for industrial development. He noted that the establishment of the center is not only about introducing advanced equipment for students, but also represents a substantive transformation of the educational model, shifting talent cultivation from classroom teaching toward a fully systematic, field-based, and practice-oriented approach. Going forward, the university will use the center to integrate curricula, equipment, faculty, certifications, and R&D capacity, building a complete talent pipeline spanning from learning to employment, and from skill development to innovative research.
HIWIN Chairman Eric Cho stated that HIWIN has long been committed to engineering education and the cultivation of advanced manufacturing talent. He said, "We believe that companies should not only seek talent, but should also proactively invest in cultivating talent." He explained that this collaboration to build the center with NFU aims to create a learning environment that closely mirrors real industry settings, enabling students to master a complete set of skills spanning components, systems, and applications, so they can become an important force leading Taiwan's smart manufacturing in the future.
Executive Yuan Policy Advisor Tsai Jung-Chieh stated that what NFU and HIWIN have built is precisely a base for cultivating cross-disciplinary engineering integration talent, one that is fully aligned with the government's national industrial and talent policies. Tsai pointed out that the key to Taiwan's future competitiveness lies in whether the country can cultivate strategic talent who "understand technology, can integrate systems, and dare to innovate." He noted that NFU has already moved beyond single-point technical training toward cross-disciplinary integrated talent cultivation, which not only aligns with
```html current industrial upgrading needs, but also carries important demonstrative significance within Taiwan's technical and vocational education system.Executive Yuan Yun-Chia-Nan Regional Joint Services Center Deputy Executive Officer Chen Yi-Fan stated that HIWIN, as a globally leading brand, has long been rooted in Yunlin and has demonstrated a high degree of corporate social responsibility. He noted that this substantial investment to jointly build the center with NFU represents not only tens of millions of NT dollars in capital investment, but also the building of a bridge and platform connecting young students to industry. He pointed out that when young people can connect with forward-looking companies for stable career development, families and society will naturally become more stable, and the nation will become more stable as a result.
Since 2012, NFU has engaged in long-term industry-academia collaboration with HIWIN Technologies, involving departments such as the Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, the Department of Mechanical Design Engineering, and the Department of Mechanical and Computer-Aided Engineering. Among these collaborations, the industry-academia joint training program has to date held more than 25 classes, cultivating nearly 700 students, with an annual retention rate of 70%. HIWIN's long-term commitment to engineering education has been widely recognized, and HIWIN Chairman Eric Cho has also been awarded an honorary doctorate by NFU, reflecting the solid and continuously deepening partnership between the two parties.
The center's design comprehensively presents the technical value chain, spanning key components, system integration, and robotics applications, and includes a dedicated area for robotic arm certification and credentialing. Combined with instruction from industry mentors, certification training, capstone research projects, and corporate visits, the center aims to strengthen students' hands-on capabilities and deepen industry connections. At the same time, the center will also serve as an important venue for senior high and vocational school visits and technology experience activities, helping to build interest in technical and vocational education from an early stage through guided tours and demonstration activities.
