At 10 a.m. on July 12^th (Thursday), NTU held the ground-breaking ceremony for the second phase construction project of the new research building for the Department of Chemistry. Chairman of Taiwan Semiconductors Manufacturing Company, Mr. Morris Chang, and President of NTU, Dr, Si-chen Li, presided over the ceremony with many dignitaries from both inside and outside the university.

The new chemical research building is the first instance of an architecture donated by hundreds of alumni and people who are concerned about the development of the Department of Chemistry. The construction of the building is divided into two phases. The building is seven stories above ground, with a basement floor, and the total usable space is around 18,000 square feet. The first phase of the construction (now the Chemistry Department Building) was completed in December 2004 and launched for use in June 2005.

The Department of Chemistry received pledge from TSMC's Education And Culture Foundation for donation, and named the new building "The Cumulative Knowledge Building" in accordance with the by-lawsfor reciprocation to the donators. The second phase of the construction project is scheduled to be completed in 2009. The name "Cumulative Knowledge Building" derives its name from the combination of two Chinese characters: "Ji" and "shueh". The former is the middle name of TSMC, and means "to accumulate" or "cumulative.", whereas the latter has to do with the Chinese name of the Department of Chemistry, meaning "knowledge", or, "to study". Thus, by combining TSMC and the Department Of Chemistry, we arrive at the name of "cumulative knowledge".

In delivering his speech at the ground breaking ceremony, Chairman Morris Chang of TSC pointed out that, the social values of Taiwan needed to be improved; politics and democracy needed to be brought to a higher level, whereas economy and culture needed to have further development. He expected NTU to nurture future leaders of society. At the end of his speech, he raised two major expectations: first, he expects NTU to become a university par excellence, continually marching toward the pinnacle of academic pyramid; secondly, he expects NTU to foster talents who can become future leaders, thereby becoming a cradle for leaders of all walks of society.