The Taipei-based National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST, 台科大) received a NT$200 million (US$6.08 million) donation pledge on Saturday from alumnus Zhuang Yong-shun (莊永順), chairman of Aaeon Technology Co (研揚科技), the largest single donation ever made in Taiwan to a tertiary vocational training institution.
Zhuang, who is also a co-founder of Advantech Co (研華), signed the donation agreement with NTUST president Chen Shi-shuenn (陳希舜) in a ceremony held at the school.
Zhuang will provide NT$200 million for the construction of a teaching and research building scheduled to be completed late next month, while the university promised to name the structure the Aaeon Building to build a bridge of cooperation between the business and academic sectors and a platform for collaborative development of power electronics and medical equipment technology.
The ceremony was witnessed by Mao Kao-wen (毛高文), a former minister of education and former NTUST president, and Tsai Duei (蔡堆), a former minister of transportation and communications.
Zhuang graduated from the NTUST Department of Electronic Engineering in 1979 and then worked at Hewlett-Packard. Along with two Hewlett-Packard co-workers, he established Avantech Co in 1983 and 10 years later set up Aaeon Technology.
Both companies, which are among the world’s premier manufacturers of industrial personal computers and related equipment, are listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Displaying a wallet that was given to him 30 years ago by his teachers at NTUST to encourage him to earn a lot of money and give back to society, Zhuang said he was pleased to be able to fulfill his teachers’ instructions and added that he hoped other members of the public would donate money for education.
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