Promotion of the Grand Challenge Scholars Program

The College of Electrical and Computer Engineering of National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) strives to improve the quality of its English-taught courses. To achieve this goal, the college has participated in the Grand Challenge Scholars Program (GSCP) of the US National Academy of Engineering, fostering student competencies in five major categories: talent, multidisciplinary, viable business or entrepreneurship, multicultural, and social consciousness competency. This enables students to face global challenges regarding environmental sustainability, health, safety, and pleasure of life. The GCSP focuses on global topics and challenges related to engineering and provides students from NCTU with opportunities to understand the latest international trends and become leaders in the engineering field with a global perspective. The program is currently recruiting the third cohort of students and is expected to admit 35 students. Regarding course planning for the GCSP, global engineering topics are introduced in the prerequisite course Global Engineering Leader Cultivation and Exploration Series (previously called Freshman Leader Cultivation and Exploration Series). GCSP core courses, which are taught in English, explore general engineering topics that have received attention in countries worldwide, whereas advanced courses focus on specific global topics related to engineering. In addition, these courses are integrated withInnovative Creative Technology Co-working Space programs , cross-disciplinary programs, GCSP workshops, and speech events hosted by NCTU. The goal is to help students develop an international perspective and foster their independent thinking and problem-solving ability. In the second year of the GCSP implementation, students from NCTU participated in the 2019 Grand Challenges Scholars Program Annual Meeting where they conversed and shared their experience with professors and students from other universities. The participating staff members also received suggestions from participants in other countries regarding the implementation of the GCSP, enabling them to return to NCTU with valuable experience. By aligning with international trends, NCTU continues to cultivate talented individuals in the field of electrical and computer engineering who can apply their knowledge to practice and provide solutions to problems worldwide.