The 2nd “ACT Dreamer ESG Impact Project” invited four companies, TSMC, Far EasTone, Advantech Co., Ltd., and American Mary Kay Corporation to propose and implement an executable and replicable ESG project and to invite young students to participate in it. Among them, the challenge for the TSMC group was “how to encourage female students to explore STEM fields courageously.” The student team “Forward, Beyond” from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, after undergoing rigorous selection and guidance from internal mentors at TSMC, stood out in the final selection on April 17th and became the “Best Proposal Project Team” of the TSMC group. Furthermore, at the 2023 National Achievement Presentation GALA and Award Ceremony, which took place on May 6, the team received acclaim and recognition from several judges and other corporate teams.
The “Forward, Beyond” project is composed of five female students from different ages and fields. They are Yun-Hsuan Su, a third-year master student from the Institute of Communication Studies; Chih-Ling Yeh, a first-year master’s student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering; Shih-Yu Hong, a first-year master’s student in the Department of Photonics; Li-Chun Wang, a bachelor’s student from the Arete Honors Program in the field of Electrical Engineering; and Szu-Yu Lai, a freshman in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Despite their diverse backgrounds, they were united by their common love for tennis and are now members of the women’s tennis team at the National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. Faced with the challenge of TSMC, they started with their own experiences and found similarities between “STEM” and “tennis”: both fields have a minority of women, high barriers to entry, and initial abandonment to give up. These aspects were integrated into their proposal and implementations, conveying the spirit of “not retreating to the face and becoming even braver in the future.”
They deconstructed the issue and collected information, presenting two main arguments: 1. A women ’s-friendly environment contributes to exploring STEM fields. 2. The integration of intrinsic motivation improves the effectiveness of STEM learning. On these foundations, they believed that by integrating STEM with engaging themes and hands-on activities, girls could confidently explore within a comfortable environment, thus sparking their self-directed learning abilities and establishing a supportive female network.
During the practical phase, which lasted less than two weeks, they took care of everything from planning, resource coordination, recruitment, and execution. Finally, they successfully organized a two-day camp titled “Mastering the Net: Playing Sports with Science,” in which nine students from grades 7 to 11 in Hsinchu participated. Through the integration of elements of sports, science, and entertainment, participants engaged in the creation of a tennis ball launcher using PVC pipes. This allowed them to learn and apply physics concepts in depth, while they gained a sense of achievement by participating in competitions in a female-friendly environment. During the two-day camp, they designed three main core elements: skill development, practical application of learning, and joyful education. Through workshops such as the “Torsion Catapult Workshop” from the Fun-maker Studio in Taipei and the physics class of Assistant Professor Chin-Han Chung from the International College of Semiconductor Technology at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, participants established basic concepts and acquired knowledge. They continually experimented, adapted, and learned through practical activities, finally achieving breakthroughs in knowledge exploration, problem-solving, and competitive play. This process has resulted in increasing confidence and self-discovery.
From cultivating strengths to applying their learning, this fascinating journey has transformed the impossible into the possible, allowing high school girls to capture the spirit of “not retreating from their faces, and becoming more courageous in the future.” Starting with their own experiences and reflecting on others, this inter-disciplinary collaboration and co-creation journey enabled the five girls of “Forward, Beyond” to incorporate TSMC’s fundamental philosophy that behind the challenging obstacles lies a promising future.
Team Members
Yun-Hsuan Su, a third-year master’s student from the Institute of Communication Studies
Szu-Yu Lai, a freshman in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Li-Chun Wang, a bachelor student from Arete Honors Program in the field of Electrical Engineering
Chih-Ling Yeh, a first-year master’s student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering
Shih-Yu Hong, a first-year master’s student in the Department of Photonics
