*NTU Azalea Festival "Illusion Show": The art of science and the science of art Professor Shinzuke Shimojo's Special show with NTU faculty and students
(Event Organizers: Visual Perception Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center Event Co-organizers: NTU Library, Office of the Secretariat)

   Illusions are not only fun in nature, they can have an educational function as well. The origins of much visual perceptions research stem from the strong curiosity aroused by illusions. The 2007 NTU Azalea Festival Illusion Show is organized by the Visual Perception Laboratory of the Psychology Department in collaboration with the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center and Professor Shinzuke Shimojo of California Institute of Technology. This ingenious show integrates science and art, and utilizes the interactive method to lead the audience into the fascinating world of perception. The spectators are allowed to personally experience the illusions as they are led to seek "truth" from "illusion" and to cultivate "art" through "knowledge."

   Professor Shinzuke Shimojo was originally from the Tokyo University of Japan. A famous Erato scholar, his expertise lies in "visual research," and his published works appeared in journals like "Nature." In addition to profound academic attainments, Shimojo was adept at building illusion shows for museums. Through personal experience with all kinds of visual illusions, children and adults can have an acute experience with the function of the human brain. At present, Professor Shimojo has established a permanent displays of "illusionary experience" in the Tokyo Museum and the Science Hall of Shizuoka. Now faculty and students and the general public have a chance to appreciate his works at the 2007 NTU Azalea Festival. Everyone is welcome.

*Art Activities
(Hosting agency: NTU Workshop for the Promotion of Art Activities
Activity Website: http://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~ntuartpro/main.htm)

  With its long history and abundance of talents, NTU plays a important role in the society of Taiwan in terms of trailblazing, heritage, and innovation. In order to enhance the students' cultural attainments, create an artistic campus environment, and promote annual artistic events, the University administration specifically established a workshop for promoting artistic activities whose assigned duty is to launch a series of events and lectures in the areas of literature, music, dance and theatre with an aim toward guiding students to cultivate their inner soul, to appreciate diversified culture, to improve their humanistic quality, and to become professionals with strong liberal arts backgrounds. For this year's Azalea Festival, the Workshop provides the following activities: 1) "Cathay Ensemble" at Lu-ming Square, inviting National Kuo-kwang Operatic Troupe to stage a "dialogue between the classical and the modern, transcending time and space" series. With Professor Wang An-chi(王安祈) as the artistic director, and famous actors/actresses Wei Hai-ming(魏海敏), Zhu an-li(朱安麗), and Chen Mei-lang(陳美蘭) as the leading characters, this ensemble will take the audience into the exquisite world of Peking Opera. The performance date is set for March 29th. The bill: " Stories from The Water Margin: Black Dragon Residence—Sung Jiang Killing His Concubine." 2) "Noontime Free-flows", inviting off-campus groups or individuals to perform at Lu-ming Square during lunch hours. Pre-arranged programs include dialogues between the brass and the string, dialogue between the flute and the string, and dialogue between the steel string and the nylon string, etc.

＊Campus tours—NTU Azalea Festival Guided Campus Tours
(Hosting Agency: Visitors' Center, Office of the Secretariat
Activity Website: http://visitor.secretary.ntu.edu.tw/)

  In accordance with the original purpose of the Azalea Festival, which was to enable high school students to have a comprehensive understanding of NTU, the Visitors Center works with the Agricultural Exhibit Hall this year to tailor-make a guided tour of the NTU campus. Designed specifically for high school students, this guided tour not only allows participants to have a preliminary concept of the university through showing of video clips, but also lend them an opportunity to have a profound understanding through actual visits and interchange/discussions with the guides. For fixed tour schedule and itinerary please see "activity general guide." High school students who participate in the guided tours will be taken to the Departmental Expo at the NTU Dome where they will receive counseling services provided by the various departments to aid them in their career choices. For group visits, routes and duration details, please contact the Visitors Center at : (02) 3366-3810.

＊The Accidental Visitors of Nature—Special Exhibits of Exotic Species
(Hosting Agency: Exhibit Hall of Biological Resources and Agriculture
Activity Website: http://www.aeh.ntu.edu.tw)

  As pointed out by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United Nations:"The greatest environmental disaster of the 21th century is the invasion of exotic species." Prevention is better than cure; the responsibility for the containment of exotic species cannot be borne by the government alone. Rather, it is a task incumbent on all citizens. People must meddle in as busybodies to help so that the tragedy of "a magpie's nest being usurped by a turtledove" will not be repeated!! The Agricultural Exhibit Hall, in an attempt to play its role in the Azalea Festival, will host two special exhibits, which are: "Nature's accidental visitors—an Exhibit on Exotic Species", in which the exotic species in people's daily lives will be introduced in detail together with a discussion of the role humans play in nature and the influence of the exotic species. Exotic species that upset the ecological balance in Taiwan such as mikania micratha, the common lantana, the apple snail, and the bullfrog will be introduced through still photos, interactive games, live body displays, and multimedia games.
  The second exhibit will be a Chinese traditional paintings show by the faculty of NTU. For bookings and group visits, please log onto the website.

＊NTU Research Results and Poster Exhibition and "Venture Trilogy"Lecture Series
(Hosting Agency: Technology Transfer Unit of the Research and Development Commission, NTU)

  NTU's faculty abounds with energy for research and development, achieving innovative and advanced results every year. The Technology Transfer Unit of the Research and Development Commission invites several research teams of NTU to share their research achievements with the public. On March 17th, the Unit will stage a poster display in the arts corridor of the 2nd floor of the NTU Dome. The display will include research results which include: "the wireless communications technology," "medical applications technology," "advanced wireless health monitoring system for medical care," "green chemical process technology," "advanced materials technology," " the field of biological resources, " and "ultra-high desity information storage nano-technology," etc. In addition, in order to assure more space for development in faculty and students' career planning, the hosting Agency is also staging a "venture trilogy" lecture series, inviting the author of best seller "Patent is what technological competitiveness is all about" Mr. Miles Liao (廖和信) to speak on the topic "You yourself are the creative master", offering new food for thought on innovative thinking. Also, Mr. Liu Shueh-yu(劉學愚), managing director of NTU's Innovation and Cultivation Co., Ltd., will be invited to speak on "Starting up a Business and Cultivating it to Success" in which he will share his personal experience with the audience. Finally, in April, NTU research teams that were successful in starting up their own businesses will be invited back to campus to deliver lectures. All faculty and students are advised to pay close attention, and outsiders are also welcome to attend the lecture series.
  For the details of the activities, please refer to the following website:
  http://www.ntu.edu.tw/actives/azalea2007/allactive.htm