It is particularly worth noting that in 2023, the team was even led by a student from the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. The team introduced the concept of “BioArt,” using engineered bacteria combined with the three primary RGB colors to create various patterns, and even organized an online art exhibition and expert lectures. “By combining soft elements into the rigid concepts of engineering and biology, the team completely overturned conventional notions of what biology and engineering can be!” Prof. Chen said with a grin.
Proactive Seeds Eventually Blossom and Bear Fruit
In addition, Prof. Chen observed that iGEM places great emphasis on the “Integrating Human Practices” aspect of its competition design, which is highly inspiring for education. “The concept of this competition design is to have teams demonstrate whether their technology makes a tangible contribution to society and industry.” He further explained that if participants treat their entry as a startup product, students must engage with other researchers and industry professionals during the R&D phase. This not only helps them understand the genuine needs of these stakeholders and adjust their R&D direction accordingly, but also enables them to gain recognition for their research concepts and value.
“We’ve had students ride their scooters all the way from Hsinchu to the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, in Taichung, to discuss the accuracy of predictive models with researchers. Some students had personally written letters inviting the director of the Academia Sinica to grant an interview. Students reached out not only to research institutions but even to businesses on their own initiative.” Prof. Chen recalled that if the content of a student’s invitation letter was insufficient, the process of securing an interview was bound to encounter setbacks. It was only then that instructors stepped in to guide students in refining their interview invitation process. “As long as we can plant the seed of initiative in students’ minds, the energy they bring to society one day will be truly remarkable.”
Before officially announcing the entry, he will help students continuously improve their spoken English skills, with the goal of being able to explain the key features of the entry in 3 to 5 minutes. “At the iGEM exhibition, students couldn’t just sit there waiting for people to come to them. I also told the students they must take the initiative to invite students from other universities or judges to visit the NYCU booth.” Prof. Chen’s strict demands on the iGEM team members finally bore beautiful fruit when the students used their award-winning theme to launch a startup.
Taking Bold Steps and Exploring Endless Possibilities
From cold-calling experts to pitching research like a startup product, NYCU students cultivate essential professional skills—initiative, resilience, and bilingual communication—equipping them to transform academic ideas into tangible social contributions.
Taking Bold Steps and Exploring Endless Possibilities
Since 2014, Prof. Chen’s team has won numerous iGEM grand awards and gained recognition over several consecutive years with their “Toxin-Free Smart Technology Agricultural System (AgriTalk),” which integrates technologies such as biotechnology, AI, and the Internet of Things to provide functions including pest control and environmental monitoring. Encouraged by Jason Yi-Bing Lin, the then Vice President of NYCU, Prof. Chen, and the iGEM student team refined their prototype concept into a commercializable system and established the startup “AgriTalk” in 2019.
This group of students, forged through the iGEM competition, brought the spirit of initiative and proactively promoted themselves from the competition into the business world. Early in its startup journey, AgriTalk successfully invited the CTO of a major international corporation to visit its booth at CES in the U.S. with a precise one-minute presentation. “That year at the event, we generated approximately 1 billion dollars in business opportunities, with companies from over 30 countries expressing interest in having us set up manufacturing facilities there.” Although we can only precisely partner with a few companies due to their limited scale, Prof. Chen remains immensely proud of his students’ achievements in their first entrepreneurial venture.
Another project previously recognized by an iGEM grand award and made by Prof. Chen’s team is the “Smart Disease Detection Platform,” which employs an innovative technology that combines engineered bacteria with chips. This approach has not only significantly increased the biochip manufacturing yield—from less than 10% to over 90%—but also enables high-precision, rapid testing service for disease markers in pets. This technology has already attracted corporate partners to jointly collaborate, and the team is poised to formally enter the semiconductor and biomedical sensor markets through technology transfer and mergers and acquisitions.
“Be brave enough to take the leap and give it a try. No matter the outcome, one will gain a wealth of experience, and that will encourage one to venture into new fields in the future.” Prof. Chen’s words of encouragement to students eager to take on the iGEM challenge were concise yet powerful. In fact, Prof. Chen and the NYCU members, who once underwent the grueling “ordeal” of iGEM together, are the living embodiment of these words. For them, winning an iGEM award is not the end goal, but rather a fresh starting point for entering the industry, solving social problems, and changing the human world.
