Media Coverage

Taiwan Tech, Taiwan-Paraguay Tech Hold Workshop to Train Drone Talent for Flood Solutions

2023/12/21

The Ministry of Education has been promoting the University Social Responsibility (USR) initiative since 2018. National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech) has consistently encouraged faculty and students to engage in social practices. For example, Assistant Professor Hsin-Yi Ruan from Taiwan Architectural Technology Center collaborated with Associate Professor Hsin-Chun Tsai, Lecturer Yu-Chieh Lin from the Department of Architecture, and Director Yao-Chung Chen from the Taiwan‑Paraguay Tech Program Office to lead a team to Paraguay. They conducted a workshop teaching students from Taiwan‑Paraguay Tech to use drones to document riverfront areas in the historic district of Asunción and create surface models. They also proposed solutions to reduce flood impact on local residents, addressing the recurring flooding challenges in the area.

Associate Professor Hsin-Chun Tsai guiding Taiwan-Paraguay Tech students to record the riverside environment of old Asunción using drones.

Associate Professor Hsin‑Chun Tsai, project lead of the university’s USR‑Hub initiative, guided Taiwan‑Paraguay Tech students in using drones to document the riverside community environment in historic Asunción.

 

In July this year, Santiago Peña Palacios, Paraguay’s Vice President‑Elect, and his wife, First Lady Leticia Ocampos, visited Taiwan Tech. During their visit, they met with Professor Hui‑Chun Wang, Associate Professor Hsin‑Chun Tsai, and Assistant Professor Hsin‑Yi Ruan from Taiwan Architectural Technology Center. The First Lady noted that Asunción’s historic district, located along the Paraguay River, faces seasonal heavy rains and flooding every year, threatening low‑lying areas and severely affecting residents’ living environment.

 

Taiwan Tech established its USR‑Hub in 2023, allocating its own budget to support seed‑funded projects via an internal selection system. Through this, more faculty and students have been inspired to participate in social practice. The USR project proposed by Assistant Professor Hsin‑Yi Ruan, Associate Professor Hsin‑Chun Tsai, Lecturer Yu‑Chieh Lin, and Director Yao‑Chung Chen received full support from USR‑Hub. They used drone technology to document the riverside living environment in historic Asunción and explored solutions to mitigate flood impact on local communities.

 

The initiative extended beyond Taiwan: the four professors traveled to Paraguay’s Taiwan‑Paraguay Tech University to conduct a one‑week workshop and put their ideas into action. The opening ceremony was attended by Ambassador Han Chih‑Cheng of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Paraguay. The workshop included professional presentations on USR project content, project philosophy and spirit, green infrastructure concepts, and drone regulations.

First Lady Leticia Ocampos (center) and Ambassador Han Chih‑Cheng (fourth from left) attended the USR‑Hub workshop in person, posing for a group photo with the Taiwan Tech team.

First Lady Leticia Ocampos (center) and ROC Ambassador to Paraguay Han Chih‑Cheng (fourth from left) personally attended the USR‑Hub workshop meeting and posed for a photo with the Taiwan Tech team.

 

The Taiwan Tech team also provided in‑depth training to Taiwan‑Paraguay Tech students on drone operation, including flight principles and safety, mission planning for automatic area coverage, photogrammetry software operation, and post‑flight data processing. Students used drones to survey the low‑lying Chacarita riverside area along the Paraguay River. They converted the collected data into Digital Surface Models using Autodesk software to create terrain maps for topographic analysis. On the workshop’s final day, the four student teams presented feasible flood mitigation proposals.

 

After the workshop, Ambassador Han, accompanied by the four professors, visited First Lady Leticia Ocampos to share the project results. Through collaboration between Taiwan Tech and Taiwan‑Paraguay Tech, students not only learned drone operation and environmental documentation, but also developed resilience‑enhancing analytical solutions. Associate Professor Hsin‑Chun Tsai expressed hope that such international collaborations will continue to inspire Paraguayan youth to contribute to society and strengthen Taiwan’s diplomatic relations, aligning with the university’s goal of cultivating “π‑type” talent.

 

Taiwan Tech is one of only two universities nationwide whose five projects across four categories—emergent, deep cultivation, international cooperation, and sustainability—were all approved under the Ministry of Education’s 3rd‑Phase USR program (2023–2024), highlighting its long‑term achievements and outstanding national recognition.

First Lady Leticia Ocampos hosted Associate Professor Hsin‑Chun Tsai, Assistant Professor Hsin‑Yi Ruan, and Lecturer Yu‑Chieh Lin at the presidential residence to discuss flood issues in Paraguay’s low‑lying regions.

First Lady Leticia Ocampos hosted Associate Professor Hsin‑Chun Tsai, Assistant Professor Hsin‑Yi Ruan, and Lecturer Yu‑Chieh Lin at the presidential residence to discuss flood issues in Paraguay’s low‑lying regions.

 

News coverage:

Related posts