AI application talents were arguably the most sought-after workers globally, and now this is especially true! National Formosa University of Science and Technology (NFU) is home to Taiwan's only Department of Aeronautical Engineering. By integrating the electrical and information fields and aligning with the government's 'UAV Industry Talent and Technology Cultivation Base Program' AI Empowerment Initiative and the 'UAV AI Rising Star' Program, the university has become a high-profile member of the 'National Aircraft Team.' The UAV AI application talents cultivated here are not only in high demand in Taiwan but are also being actively recruited by countries around the world.
National Formosa University of Science and Technology (NFU), also known as Huwei University of Science and Technology, has been a constant focus of discussion in recent years. In addition to cultivating burgeoning talent for the drone industry and elites in AI and technology applications, it is using its campus as a hub to integrate the Yunlin High-Speed Rail Special Zone, the National Long-Term Care Center, the NTU Hospital Yunlin Branch, and eight art and sports venues operated by the university. This approach merges education and life to create a "University Town" in Huwei, Yunlin, transforming the university into a vital force for regional revitalization.
The "University Town" Model: Fulfilling Future Talent Needs for Employment and Physical and Mental Health
"Small schools must have a big vision," emphasized Dr. Chang Hsin-Liang, President of NFU. "We not only expect students to gain strong practical skills in cutting-edge applications like drones, autonomous vehicles, and AI—securing their ticket to career success—but we also hope they are physically and mentally sound and happy."
"Within the 'University Town,' we provide various life resources and encourage students to create more positive interactions with others, making it a beautiful starting point for their future lives!" President Chang highlighted that the university is close to the Yunlin HSR station, allowing students to achieve a "one-day living circle" whether they travel north or south. Combined with the robust knowledge and skills students can acquire at NFU—earning the favor of industry-academia collaborations or internship companies even before graduation—he called on students and parents not to focus solely on universities in the north, but to consider NFU as a priority choice on their application lists.
NFU's highly renowned strength in UAV applications is a direct result of integrating the technical capabilities of Taiwan's only Department of Aeronautical Engineering with those of the electrical and information fields. This expertise is then fully implemented into the curriculum through the "UAV Industry Talent and Technology Cultivation Base Program," the "AI Empowerment Initiative," and the "UAV AI Rising Star" Program.
Image Recognition Combined with UAVs: AI Empowerment Programs Cultivate Cross-Disciplinary Talent
"Our cross-domain AI drone program includes AI system modeling and application, UAV intelligent autonomous flight technology, practical smart flight control systems, and UAV smart manufacturing applications. We have also added AI modules to existing courses such as Introduction to Aerospace Sensors and Experiments, UAV Design and Manufacturing, and Practical UAV Remote Sensing Image Analysis. Students can learn the most cutting-edge technological applications at NFU and will be fully capable of succeeding whether they enter the drone industry or other tech sectors in the future!" stated Song Chao-Tsung, Dean of Research and Development at NFU.
He pointed out that currently, only NFU has the capability to take a drone from component manufacturing to program design, completing the entire research and development process from scratch. In other words, this offers an excellent opportunity for interdisciplinary application learning, and more importantly, these technologies can be directly applied in real-world scenarios.
"In fact, the application scope of drones is much deeper and broader than we imagine!" noted Hsu Mao-Hsiu, Associate Professor in the Department of Electro-Optical Engineering at NFU. The demand for AI image recognition is ubiquitous, spanning daily life including food, clothing, housing, transportation, education, and recreation—such as meal delivery robots, crop harvesting and logistics, factory yield inspection, national defense applications, and preventing foreign object intrusion in MRT systems. When AI image recognition technology is combined with drones, the possibilities expand even further.
The Global Hunt for AI Talent: NFU Cultivates the Next Generation of " Taiwan Guardian Mountain" Elites
He gave an example: the maintenance of offshore wind turbines or the study of marine life, which are difficult to identify, dangerous, and lack sufficient manpower. He said that if a large number of AI image recognition robots on drones can be used to perform these tasks in the future, this gap can be significantly filled. "When our team from NFU participated in international conferences to share our technical capabilities in recent years, many executives from companies in different countries proactively sought cooperation and even recruited talent on the spot. This made us feel the global competition for talent and also confirmed that NFU's R&D and application capabilities are highly regarded."
Chen Yu-Kai, a professor in NFU's Department of Aeronautical Engineering, further explained that for drone applications to be widespread and sustainable, the efficient energy supply systems for unmanned vehicles must be emphasized. "The wireless charging technology that NFU has invested in already has practical application value and will create enormous output value in the next decade. More importantly, this cross-disciplinary technology can cultivate a new generation of talent with expertise in power electronics, AI control, and system integration, further enabling Taiwan to seize the initiative in the global competition for smart energy and aerospace power. It has become an invisible champion in industrial development!" In addition, by combining this with NFU's significant progress in climbing robot technology, students not only learn mechatronics integration, programming, and hardware assembly, but also develop cross-disciplinary practical skills and problem-solving abilities.
It is foreseeable that under the leadership of President Chang Hsin-Liang, who is building a "University Town" that combines technology and humanities, future NFU graduates will be able to demonstrate professionalism, combat readiness, and the psychological resilience to embrace challenges, whether in the drone field, AI applications, or in R&D and practical applications in various tech industries. They will become an important force in building the next generation of Taiwan's "guardian mountains."
