【Managing Director of the NCKUNAAFI visits NCKU for the "NOVA Scholarship"】

Mr. Tim Tung-Hai Cheng, Managing Director of the National Cheng Kung University North America Alumni Foundation Inc., visited NCKU on Feb. 1^st

Mr. Tim Tung-Hai Cheng, Managing Director of the National Cheng Kung University North America Alumni Foundation Inc. (NCKUNAAFI), also a Civil Engineering alumnus of the Class of ’78, visited National Cheng Kung University during his brief return to Taiwan from the United States on February 1st. The primary purpose of his visit was to discuss the mentorship program for the "NCKU NOVA Scholarship" on behalf of the NCKUNAAFI.

Managing Director Cheng shared that he created a prototype Line group of "NCKU NOVA Scholarship – Civil Engineering Mentor (Mantou饅頭) Group” in 2023. The main objectives of this Line group are to assist scholarship recipients in connecting with alumni sponsors, sharing working experiences in the U.S. workplace, providing information on job hunting in the U.S., and linking with NCKU alumni associations in their study locations. He specifically mentioned that "Mantou饅頭" not only phonetically sounds like "Mentor" but also carries the meaning of “solid and firm” based on the actual texture of the Chinese food.

Managing Director Cheng and representatives from NCKU discussed the mentorship program for the "NCKU NOVA Scholarship"

Currently, Managing Director Cheng serves as the mentor for two NOVA scholarship recipients from the Civil Engineering department who are studying in the U.S., Ms. Yueh-Ti Lee and Mr. Kuan-Yu Chuang. He invited five local mentors from Southern California to join the group and share various workplace and life experience insights with the two recipients. Mr. Kuan-Yu Chuang, who is currently pursuing the master degree at University California San Diego (UCSD) through dual degree program, also participated in " Young Alumni Event of the Cheng Kung University Alumni Association of Southern California (CKUAASC)" in September and "The 55th Anniversary Annual Meeting of the CKUAASC." in December last year.

In the future, the NCKUNAAFI will set up a professional talent database providing resources and pairing mentors to the scholarship recipients, which will be a great support to NCKU. Managing Director Cheng will be in charge of the liaison for the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and the Academy of Innovative Semiconductor Sustainable Manufacturing (AISSM). Prof. Pau-Choo Chung, Dean of the College of EECS, Prof. Yan-Kuin Su, Dean of the AISSM, and Ms. Wei-Li Teng, Associate Director of the AISSM also joined the inspirational meeting

(From left to right) Prof. Yan-Kuin Su, Dean of the AISSM, Mr. Tim Tung-Hai Cheng, Managing Director of the NCKUNAAFI, Prof. Pau-Choo Chung, Dean of the College of EECS, and Prof. Shu-Ying Wang, Director of Study Abroad