National Formosa University (NFU) performed outstandingly at the "2025 IASE Education Impact Awards," securing the grand prize in the Teaching Innovation Group and two honorable mentions. The awards ceremony was held on October 23rd (Thursday) at the "2025 Edit Taiwan International Education Innovation Expo," where scholars, experts, and business leaders from both Taiwan and abroad gathered to witness NFU's achievements in implementing sustainable development through educational action.
The "IASE Education Impact Awards," established in 2024, is the first global Chinese-language ESG award with a core focus on "education." Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, it promotes educational innovation and sustainable practices to cultivate impactful talents and facilitate social co-prosperity and development. The "Teaching Innovation Group" award recognizes educational programs that respond to social needs through innovative teaching methods, evaluated based on four major indicators: "Needs Insight and Goal Setting," "Program Design and Innovation Practice," "Impact and Value Creation," and "Sustainable Development and Future Outlook."
The 2025 IASE Education Impact Award grand prize for Teaching Innovation was won by the project "Establishing Agricultural Technology Talent Cultivation via Agricultural Dual-Track Mentorship," led by Professor Dai Shougu from NFU’s Department of Agricultural Science and Technology. This program uses a "mentorship system" where students acquire professional knowledge in school while collaborating with agricultural masters on-site in the industry to accumulate practical experience and develop problem-solving abilities. It also provides a solution to address the impact of local population outflow and aging on industrial development.
Two other projects from NFU were selected as honorable mentions in the Teaching Innovation Group: "Self-Adaptive Machining Machine for Bamboo Toothbrush Handles with Human-Machine Interface and Production Management" and "Local Connection of Sugar Industry Culture Path."
The project "Self-Adaptive Machining Machine for Bamboo Toothbrush Handles with Human-Machine Interface and Production Management" was led by Professor Hsiao Chun-ching from NFU’s Department of Mechanical Design Engineering in collaboration with Zhushan Yuantai Bamboo Art Society. By introducing smart manufacturing technology to improve bamboo craftsmanship, they successfully developed a bamboo toothbrush handle processing machine to replace and reduce the environmental damage caused by plastic handles. Professor Hsiao noted that the project introduced cross-disciplinary technologies like digital design and smart manufacturing, which not only injected innovative energy into a traditional industry but also allowed students to turn classroom knowledge into action, promoting eco-friendly bamboo products in daily life.
The "Local Connection of Sugar Industry Culture Path" project was led by Assistant Professor Yan Binfeng from the Office of Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility. Combining the school's social responsibility practice education courses, the project started from the three major sugar factories in Huwei, Suantou, and Xihu, connecting schools, communities, and cultural groups to create a "Sugar Metropolis Learning" action network. Assistant Professor Yan stated that through walking tours, guide training, exhibition planning, and AI guide system development, the project not only preserves industrial memory but also promotes youth engagement in the countryside, community co-learning, and cross-disciplinary co-creation with education as its core, allowing the century-old sugar industry culture to enter daily life in new forms.
Text and photos provided by: Office of Industry-Academia Cooperation and Services, Department of Agricultural Science and Technology, Office for Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility.
The "IASE Education Impact Awards," established in 2024, is the first global Chinese-language ESG award with a core focus on "education." Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, it promotes educational innovation and sustainable practices to cultivate impactful talents and facilitate social co-prosperity and development. The "Teaching Innovation Group" award recognizes educational programs that respond to social needs through innovative teaching methods, evaluated based on four major indicators: "Needs Insight and Goal Setting," "Program Design and Innovation Practice," "Impact and Value Creation," and "Sustainable Development and Future Outlook."
The 2025 IASE Education Impact Award grand prize for Teaching Innovation was won by the project "Establishing Agricultural Technology Talent Cultivation via Agricultural Dual-Track Mentorship," led by Professor Dai Shougu from NFU’s Department of Agricultural Science and Technology. This program uses a "mentorship system" where students acquire professional knowledge in school while collaborating with agricultural masters on-site in the industry to accumulate practical experience and develop problem-solving abilities. It also provides a solution to address the impact of local population outflow and aging on industrial development.
Two other projects from NFU were selected as honorable mentions in the Teaching Innovation Group: "Self-Adaptive Machining Machine for Bamboo Toothbrush Handles with Human-Machine Interface and Production Management" and "Local Connection of Sugar Industry Culture Path."
The project "Self-Adaptive Machining Machine for Bamboo Toothbrush Handles with Human-Machine Interface and Production Management" was led by Professor Hsiao Chun-ching from NFU’s Department of Mechanical Design Engineering in collaboration with Zhushan Yuantai Bamboo Art Society. By introducing smart manufacturing technology to improve bamboo craftsmanship, they successfully developed a bamboo toothbrush handle processing machine to replace and reduce the environmental damage caused by plastic handles. Professor Hsiao noted that the project introduced cross-disciplinary technologies like digital design and smart manufacturing, which not only injected innovative energy into a traditional industry but also allowed students to turn classroom knowledge into action, promoting eco-friendly bamboo products in daily life.
The "Local Connection of Sugar Industry Culture Path" project was led by Assistant Professor Yan Binfeng from the Office of Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility. Combining the school's social responsibility practice education courses, the project started from the three major sugar factories in Huwei, Suantou, and Xihu, connecting schools, communities, and cultural groups to create a "Sugar Metropolis Learning" action network. Assistant Professor Yan stated that through walking tours, guide training, exhibition planning, and AI guide system development, the project not only preserves industrial memory but also promotes youth engagement in the countryside, community co-learning, and cross-disciplinary co-creation with education as its core, allowing the century-old sugar industry culture to enter daily life in new forms.
Text and photos provided by: Office of Industry-Academia Cooperation and Services, Department of Agricultural Science and Technology, Office for Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility.
National Formosa University (NFU) won the grand prize in the Teaching Innovation Group and two honorable mentions at the "IASE Education Impact Awards," with Vice President Chen Ta-cheng (front row, fourth from left) representing the university to receive the accolades.
