______

Students from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) are spending two months in Northern California this summer, conducting research at some of the world’s leading universities and gaining a firsthand look at Silicon Valley’s technology ecosystem.

The Department of Electrical Engineering selected outstanding third- and fourth-year students for research placements at Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Davis.

Their projects span artificial intelligence, robotics, integrated circuit design, satellite communications, biomedical microelectromechanical systems, sensors and particle physics. The program is designed to give students early exposure to international research environments while strengthening their technical, collaborative, and problem-solving skills.


Inside World-Class Laboratories

At UC Berkeley’s Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, or BSAC, Pei-Hu Chang is conducting research on BioMEMS and analog integrated circuits. The center brings together researchers in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and biomedicine — an approach Chang said showed him the importance of working across disciplines.

“At BSAC, integrated circuit design is closely connected with BioMEMS and biomedical sensing,” Chang said. “The experience has helped me better understand the interdisciplinary skills that the semiconductor industry will increasingly require.”
Yuan-Ting Lin, who works in AI and robotics research, said US laboratories place a strong emphasis on independence. Students are expected to plan their schedules, raise questions with faculty members and take responsibility for their results. The experience, Lin said, reinforced the value of stepping outside one’s comfort zone, communicating proactively and taking the initiative when entering a new field.

From Solving Problems to Asking New Questions

At UC Davis, Pei-Hsuan Li is working on satellite communications. She said NYCU’s rigorous coursework gave her a solid foundation in theory and hands-on engineering, while her time in the United States introduced her to a different research culture.

Rather than beginning with a clearly defined problem and a standard answer, Li said, research often starts with uncertainty. Team members are encouraged to question assumptions and propose new directions — shifting the focus from solving existing problems to asking questions that could lead to new knowledge.

At SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, operated by Stanford University, Yen-An Chen is helping develop a testing system for a large-scale particle physics experiment.

Working alongside researchers from different countries and disciplines has given Chen a close-up view of how major international science projects are organized. She said the experience strengthened her interest in pursuing international research in the future.