NTU's Chu-Bei Branch School held forum on the "university/industry cooperation project" on August 2nd. The forum reaped bountiful results and produced a four win situation for the industry, the county government, the local people, and NTU. Powerchip Semiconductors Group, Etron Technology, and Advanced Semiconductors Inc., etc., all pledged to donate funds for ten consecutive years to aid in the cross-boundary integrated research and development of the region.

As the main campus of NTU is running out of available space, the Chu-Bei Branch School will become an important base for the development of NTU in the future. New departments and graduate institutes are likely to be set up in the branch school as well, but, in view of the necessity for internal discussion, co-ordination and communication which can be very time-consuming, and the meticulous, detailed discussion required of the setting up of university level courses and transportation routes, so the current focus is placed on university and industry cooperation projects.

In the areas of biomedicine, agriculture, information electronics, engineering, and management, the integration of technology and the development of new products will greatly affect Taiwan's competitiveness in the international arena. Therefore, in the month of September, the Planning Committee of the Chu-bei Branch School will invite the deans from the respective colleges to discuss the planning of the Chu-bei Branch School in four major areas: "biomedicine technology," "information electronics," "engineering technology," and "management technology." The purpose of the meeting is to strengthen exchange and cooperation, and to set up a cross-boundary research center.