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National Taiwan University Selections for Training and Participation in the 5th APEC Future Scientist Conference deliver outstanding performances

Outstanding high school students selected by NTU for training to attend the 5th APEC Future Scientist Conference (known as AFSC 2013) delivered outstanding performances. The Taipei branch of the APEC Mentoring Center for the Gifted in Science (AMGS), hosted on the campus of NTU, selects and guides high school student participants in the annual conference. The program has earned many accolades and funding from the Polishing Plan, Department of International Cooperation, National Science Council. Building from the outstanding academic research and education capabilities of NTU, the program seeks to promote Taiwan as an outstanding scientific exploration and education hub platform amidst the economies of the Asia Pacific region, while also serving as an exemplary contribution of NTU to the community through this unique educational outreach.

Taiwan participated in the 5th APEC Future Scientist Conference alongside the Asia Pacific economies of Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Brunei, as well as this year’s special guest, Russia, for a total of 55 science projects. Taiwan was represented by Yu-Chieh Luo, a freshman in the Gifted and Talented Class at Jianguo High School, Taipei, who earned a Gold Medal for outstanding team performance and a Bronze Medal for outstanding individual performance. The event was hosted by the APEC Mentoring Center for the Gifted in Science (AMGS), which invited the Taipei branch at the NTU campus AMGS program to participate by selecting an outstanding high school student representative to compete. The selection was made by a panel of judges, NTU Physics Professor Chao-Ming Fu and NTNU Special Education Professor Kay Ching-Chih Kuo. After a period of intensive training at NTU, the project submission was revised and student report training provided.

This year’s conference was held in Changwon, Korea, from July 22nd through the 26th, with competitive activities in individual and team categories. Yu-Chieh Luo’s scientific work involved magnetic bearings combined with a novel electromagnetic coil structure design, serving for the production of solar energy and wind energy with motor and generator functions. The novel electromechanical design can significantly improve energy efficiency and the design features easy disassembly for use in real world applications. The judges effusively praised the work. The Conference Chairman, Professor Sang Chun Lee, remarked favorably about the solid fundamental science principles underlying Yu-Chieh Luo’s work, and noted that Luo answered all the judges questions with precision and clarity, while also performing with excellent leadership skill in the teamwork innovation project. As Jianguo High School Teacher Cheng-Ching Tseng, the co-coach for the Taiwan team noted, participating in the exchange events and observing Luo’s training and the process of his participation, have reminded him of the sound bases of Taiwan’s basic science education and of our outstanding success in mentoring for special projects.

The APEC Mentoring Center for the Gifted in Science was founded in Korea in 2006 at Busan, and was designed to promote science education for the gifted and talented throughout the economies of Asia and the Pacific, as well as offering a distance educational mentoring platform. The APEC Conference of Young Scientists is hosted annually to gifted and talented students across the economies of Asia and the Pacific to foster their knowledge of basic science and to stimulate their love for learning about emerging technologies, while also enhancing exchange and collaboration among science teachers. The Taipei Center selects each year’s participating high school student and teacher team representatives, and has enjoyed excellent results to date. Professor Chao-Ming Fu with financial support from the Polishing Project of the National Science Council, has been able to build on the outstanding academic resources and teaching at National Taiwan University, and secure a solid hub and platform for the promotion of Taiwan as a leading Asia and Pacific economy for outstanding science education. (contact: NTU Physics Professor Chao-Ming Fu).

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