Growing numbers of Taiwanese designers are working in the country’s bicycle industry, although the majority of them are still focusing on consumer electronics, a local executive said on Thursday.
Shikuan Chen (陳禧冠), vice president of Compal Electronics Inc’s (仁寶電腦) innovation design and technology section, said that many young people at local design schools are attracted to electronics products, as that is where most resources are invested in design terms.
His remarks came in response to a question from Mark Sanders, a noted bicycle designer from the UK, on the sidelines of a workshop at the Taipei International Cycle Show, one of the world’s three largest bicycle shows.
During his presentation at the workshop, Sanders said that Taiwan has one of the best education systems in the world.
“Why are there so few engineering and design graduates in the bicycle industry?” he asked.
“Do they prefer the electronics industry? Is bicycle engineering seen as ‘low, old technology’?”
Chen said that more young people have been taking up bicycle design in the past few years since Taiwan’s bicycle industry began to enjoy a boom.
“However, people are still waiting to see whether it is a temporary phenomenon or a permanent one,” Chen said.
Chen and Sanders also shared their ideas on the difference between designers in the East and in the West.
Asked to elaborate on the differences, Chen said Western designers excel at innovation and originality, while their Taiwanese counterparts specialize in putting ideas into practice.
He attributed this to the differences in educational philosophies in Western countries and in Taiwan.
“We encourage less in the way of innovative thinking, while stressing practical experience,” Chen said.
He also said Taiwanese people pay more attention to saving on costs than creating added value through branding, for instance.
Chen added that designers from the East and the West would make good teams, with each playing to their own strengths.
Han Goes, the moderator of the workshop and a judge of the 2009 International Bicycle Design Competition, said he had observed that the performance of Taiwanese designers in the bicycle industry is “rapidly growing.”
“I think it’s not a coincidence,” he said. “It comes together with a bicycle explosion in Taiwan.”
Goes said he foresees even greater potential for Taiwan if the country’s bike industry and design schools can work together.
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
Nintendo Co hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its leveled-up new console hits shelves on Thursday, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget’s high price. Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third-best-selling video game console of all time. However, despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out. The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high”
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in artificial-intelligence (AI) chips, yesterday said that small-volume production of 3-nanometer (nm) chips for a key customer is on track to start by the end of this year, dismissing speculation about delays in producing advanced chips. As Alchip is transitioning from 7-nanometer and 5-nanometer process technology to 3 nanometers, investors and shareholders have been closely monitoring whether the company is navigating through such transition smoothly. “We are proceeding well in [building] this generation [of chips]. It appears to me that no revision will be required. We have achieved success in designing
RSS