The Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Engineering, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, recently held the 2020 National High School Vocational Chemical and Material Creative Science Camp, which has been held for 12 consecutive years. The students who participated over the past years have been very enthusiastic. This year, there were more students from all over the country, with a total of 80 students from 22 high school vocational schools participating in the North, Central and South regions. It has become an important technical information exchange activity for high school vocational students across the country.

[A group photo of 2020 Chemical Creative Science Camp: Academic Vice President Ming-Tsai Lai of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology (front row, third from left), Dean Zhen-Chian Wang (front row, second from left), Chairman Hong-Ru Lin of the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering (front row, fourth from left), together with the working team and participating students]

In order to give high school vocational students a deeper understanding of the contribution of chemical engineering and material science to human life, encourage them to experience the mystery of science, and motivate them to study science, the creative science camp, against the background of chemistry and physics knowledge, promoted science education related to chemical engineering and materials to high school vocational students through lecture courses, creative practice, and camp activities. In a simple way, high school vocational students can further develop their interests in chemistry and physics.

[In the 2020 Chemical Creative Camp, a student coach was helping students make buckyballs.]

Professor Hong-Ru Lin, Chairman of the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, expressed his gratitude to the Taiwan Chemical Engineering Society for sponsoring the camp. He hoped that through this activity, the students could have a preliminary understanding of the chemical industry and Taiwan’s chemical industry, both of which can be more helpful to the students. Interest in basic sciences can also serve as a reference for them to make choices from among colleges in the future.

[A scene from the solar fuel cell vehicle competition in the 2020 Chemical Creative Camp]

The two-day event was mainly led by Prof. Wen-Chang Wu of the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, led a team of 40 students and coached the participating students in creative practices, including: buckyball making, marshmallow tower creative challenge, solar fuel cell vehicles competition, electric power-aluminum-air battery production, “the unforgettable,” “Hydrogen Scream," etc.

In addition, in the lectures of the event, Dean Zhen-Chian Wang of the College of Engineering was invited to introduce "Solar/Fuel Cell Application;” Prof. Cheng-He Chen from the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering made an “Introduction to the Chemical Engineering Society of Taiwan and the Chemical Industry;” Prof. Mu-Yang Chen gave a lecture on “Creative Talk,” and Prof. Zhi-Yan Chen’s “Introduction to Features of Colleges and Departments” allowed students to have a better understanding of fields related to chemical and materials. All the participating vocational high school students gave great comments on this activity. They agreed that the camp team had a high CP value, and they gained a lot from it. They also expressed that they would recommend this camp activity to other high students.

Ming-Tsai Lai, Academic Vice President of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, said that basic science is the cornerstone of national construction, allowing students to get in touch with relevant knowledge as soon as possible and helping the cultivation of scientific and technological talents as well as the future development of the country. On behalf of the university, he welcomed students to participate in the camp with enthusiasm and learned happily in the camp activities of the day. He also hoped that the students would think about everything in life with new ideas and that through the training of the camp, they could encourage teamwork, cooperation, and independent study.