Newsletter DEC 2015 NO

Newsletter DEC 2015 NO. “Reading of Tomorrow” 8 Program in Taiwan—the New Trend in Reading Spreading over Singapore NCU Satellite Image Calendar NATIONAL CENTRAL UNIVERSITY “Trace of Life” NEWSLETTER —A Witness of Our Land “International Environment Sustainable Development Program” of NCU Is Awarded Excellence in Postgraduate Program Accreditation 印刷品 Contents Newsletter Focus 01 NCU Satellite Image Calendar “Trace of Life”—A Witness of Our Land 02 “International Environment Sustainable Development Program” of NCU Is Awarded Excellence in Postgraduate Program Accreditation Academic Research and Development 04 Exploration in Jurassic World—Research into Serrated Teeth of Theropod Dinosaurs on Scientific Reports 05 The Youngest Brown Dwarfs Discovered by Graduate Institute of Astronomy at NCU 06 “Reading of Tomorrow” Program in Taiwan—the New Trend in Reading Spreading over Singapore 07 The Pride of NCU—Glorious Academic Honors and Awards Arts and Humanities 08 Master Li Tian-Lu’s French Disciple Jean-Luc Penso Exhibits His Puppetry Collections in Taiwan 09 The 1st World Sinophone Drama Competition for Young Playwrights— Inspiring Younger Generation to Write Featured Events 10 Westide at NCU—Introducing Hippie Culture 11 Multi-Ethnic Culture Month of 2015—Exploring Unique Cultures of Ethnics International Exchange 12 “Satoyama” Service Learning in Japan—Retrieving the Harmony between Human and Nature 13 International Arts Festival—Indian Festival “Diwali” on NCU Campus Focus NCU Satellite Image Calendar “Trace of Life”—A Witness of Our Land “Trace of life” means the traces left by creatures’ Taiwan. Our satellite image calendar observes biological activities on earth. It could be as large as Taiwan from a different angle—from outer a footprint of a dinosaur, or as tiny as a hole that space, which shows us different visions and an insect drills in the soil. The Center for Space and perspectives,” said Dr. Jing-Yang Jou, the Remote Sensing Research (CSRSR) of NCU makes president of NCU. the “Trace of Life” the central theme in the satellite image calendar of 2016. CSRSR selected six images The six pictures in the calendar are arranged in Taiwan seen by the SPOT satellites of France, ingeniously and tell the symbolic change in presenting the landscapes of Wusanto Reservoir sequence. The images start from humans’ in Tainan City, Laobei Farm at Neipu in Pingtung essential needs to the demand on changing County, Cieding Fishing Farm in Kaohsiung City, living environments, and from agriculture No.6 Naphtha Cracker Complex at Mailiao in and fish-farming to industry and larger-scale Yunlin County, the Permanent Housing Area at economic activities. People may observe from Shanlin District in Kaohsiung City, and the Port of these images humans’ change of living Kaohsiung. environment and the rise in quality of “The core value of the satellite image calendar is life in those man- the concern for humanity. The design concept for made landscapes this calendar is the reflection on humans’ activities in the natural on Earth. Through those images seen by satellites, environment. we would see the massive trace that humans have carved on the earth with the planned landscape- changing activities and man-made environment creation,” said Dr. Chung-Pai Chang, Professor in The pictures in the 2016 Satellite Image CSRSR and the curator of the calendar “Trace of Calendar “Trace of Life”: Life.” which is the satellite image of Laobei Farm at Neipu in Pingtung County. “The documentary film Beyond Beauty: Taiwan PHOTO: CSRSR from above observes Taiwan from the sky and presents the beautiful and the fragmented of 1 Focus IESD program is awarded excellence in the accreditation of postgraduate programs by TaiwanICDF for the second time. PHOTO: IESD program International Environment Sustainable Development Program of NCU Is Awarded Excellence in Postgraduate Program Accreditation nternational Environment program. Many IESD students Engineering. The program Sustainable Development return to their hometowns after aims to recruit students from I(IESD) program of NCU graduation and devote what Southeast Asia and partner is awarded excellence in the they have learned in Taiwan countries (in Central America accreditation of postgraduate to their countries, which also and Africa). The curriculum programs by International enhances Taiwan’s cooperation of the program contains three Cooperation and Development and interaction with partner major areas: Environmental Fund (Taiwan ICDF) in 2015, countries indirectly. Technology, Energy Technology and this is the second time and Policy, and Remote for IESD program to receive To comply with government Sensing and Geographic the award. IESD program policy and develop the Information Systems (GIS). was established in 2003, and characteristics of NCU, IESD All courses are instructed in 63 students from 18 different program was thus founded English, and faculty members countries have studied in the in 2003 under the College of are outstanding scholars from 2 various fields. The objective Nicaragua, the application of is responsible for the planning of IESD program is seeking Landsat imagery in the urban project of building a new sustainable living for a better development in Guatemala, airport in his country. Mr. Oscar tomorrow. the classification of forest tree Mauricio Rodriguez Corrales species in Mongolia and so on. from Honduras in Central Dr. Jiunn-Chi Wu, Director of From their thesis topics, one can America is now the coordinator IESD program, has been in the see IESD students’ strong sense of Resources and Information program since the pioneering of mission. System Center in Universidad stage and has witnessed Metropolitana de Honduras, the program’s development “Till this year, there are 45 and he is in charge of the “from zero to one.” “These alumni of our program around management and application of international students fly the globe, and many of them information and resources in the thousand miles away from are having influences in their university. We are pleased to their hometowns to study in own countries. For example, see that our alumni are making Taiwan. What they have faced Mr. Yacouba Siko from Burkina great contributions to their is not simply the challenges Faso in West Africa is now the people and hometowns,” said of academic performances. urban planner in the Ministry of Director Wu. They need more help in Interior of Burkina Faso, and he communication and life here. We really appreciate all faculty and staff of IESD program, who have made great devotions to the program as well as to the students,” said Dr. Wu. It is highly commendable that IESD students’ theses are usually related to their cultural backgrounds and concerned with the issues which their countries have confronted. Students’ theses examine the issues in their hometowns like wind power assessment for Bay Islands in Honduras, the feasibility of solar energy application in the villages in IESD students from different countries study and live together without border. Belize, the management of PHOTO: IESD program waste from slaughterhouses in 3 Academic Research and Development Exploration in Jurassic World—Research into Serrated Teeth of Theropod Dinosaurs on Scientific Reports and they were air-shipped to Taiwan last July. The team conducted research with Applied Optics and proposed Synchrotron Radiation Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (SR-FTIR) for further analysis at National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC) in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Researchers have investigated for two years and found that the “steak knife-like” cutting edges on most theropod dinosaurs’ teeth were formed inherently, and the cutting edges were crucial for those dinosaurs to tear through the flesh and chomp on the bones of their prays. The research further pointed out that the internal structures of the cutting edges were not “hollow” but solid. “Our study has rejected the previous hypothesis. We find that those internal structures, Why were theropod dinosaurs so powerful the interdental folds, are like springs that make and dominant in Jurassic Period? The theropod dinosaurs’ teeth tough but flexible, so their international research team organized by teeth would not crack so easily when they chomp. Dr. Robert Rafael Reisz, Chair Professor of The special structure of those dinosaurs’ teeth made the Dept. of Optics and Photonics, Dr. Rong- them top killers for hundreds of millions of years,” Seng Chang, Professor of the Dept. of Optics said excitingly Dr. Rong-Seng Chang, Professor of the and Photonics, and other distinguished Dept. of Optics and Photonics of NCU. scholars may have found one of the possible answers to that question. The researchers Besides the outstanding findings of the serrated discovered that one of the reasons that cutting edges on teeth of theropod dinosaurs, the made theropod dinosaurs the top of the international research team was also renowned for food chain was the saw-like cutting edges their study on dinosaurs’ embryos and the study on the side of their teeth. And the structure appeared on the cover of Nature in 2013. of these saw-like teeth resembled springs very much, rendering the teeth uneasy to crack. The findings were published in the internationally renowned journal Scientific Reports on 28th July, 2015. Dr. Rong-Seng Chang, Prof. of the The research originated from Dr. Reisz’s Dept. of Optics and Photonics, holding hypothesis. Scientists used to infer that the a tooth fossil of serrated cutting edges on Tyrannosaurus’

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