On the morning of December 21st, the 2024 CTCI Foundation Science and Technology Scholarship Award Ceremony was held in the Taipei International Convention Center (TICC), Taipei. Nearly 280 people, including special guests, advisors of scholarship recipients, family members, CTCI Foundation directors, and colleagues, attended the ceremony.
The Chairman of the CTCI Foundation, Dr. Wen-Ent Pan, mentioned that the scholarship has been awarded continuously for 62 years since its inception in 1963. In recent years, CTCI Foundation has allocated an annual budget of over 30 million NT dollars for expenses related to technology and education. Among these expenditures, scholarships amounting to over 10 million NT dollars are awarded each year. The cumulative number of scholarship recipients has exceeded 4,300, and these outstanding talents are distributed extensive fields, in government, industry, academia, and research. They have made continually significant contributions to domestic technological progress and industrial development.
The former Vice President, Mr. Vincent Siew, said in his speech that under the leadership of Chairman Pan. The CTCI Corporate Foundation has effectively functioned by its right, with the supreme goals of pursuing technical innovation and community wellbeing. This has caused the CTCI Foundation to be has be hold in high esteem for generations. He also invoked Mr. Kwoh-Ting Li's proposition that "innovation in technology relies on talent" to encourage students. He urged them to learn enthusiastically, innovate bravely, and serve society in original purpose to continuously face various world challenges.
The keynote speaker, the former-Secretary of the Presidential Office and Honorary Chairman of the Da Da Digital Charity Foundation, to give a special speech. In his address, Chairman Li encouraged students to embrace lifelong and interdisciplinary learning. Beyond honing their expertise in technology, he advised them to explore fields such as history, philosophy, and literature. He suggested watching historical dramas as an enjoyable way to learn history, fostering observation skills and drawing inspiration from admirable figures to gain wisdom. Chairman Li shared how to face the global impact and challenge from a macro perspective with the awardee, using “Facing Trump 2.0” as the issue. He also suggested that the awardee should approach their journey from a broader perspective.
This year, a total of 128 outstanding students were awarded scholarships:27for the Research Scholarship, 37 for the Innovation Scholarship (comprising 16 teams), 27 for the Research Scholarship for Overseas Students, 12 for the Bursary Award for Overseas Students, and 25 for the Scholarship Award for Excellence in Technical and Vocational Skills. Students of the first three types of scholarships received NT$150,000 and a certificate of merit each, students of the fourth type of scholarship received NT$100,000 each, and students of the fifth type of scholarship received NT$50,000 and a certificate of merit each. The theme of the 2024 CTCI Foundation AI Innovation Competition was “AI and ESG”. The first, second, and third prize were NT$400,000, NT$300,000, and NT$200,000, respectively, while the honorable mention was NT$50,000. A total of 6 pieces of work from 31 teachers and students shared the prizes.
The award presenters this year included the Former Vice President Mr. Vincent Siew, the Chairman of the CTCI Foundation Dr. Wen-Ent Pan, the Chairman of CTCI Group Mr. John Yu, Honorary Chairman of the Da Da Digital Charity Foundation Mr. David Lee, Chair Professor of CTCI Foundation Dr. Tzen-Wen Chen, President of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology Dr. Yen Jia-Yush. More than 30 distinguished guests, including the scholarship recipients' advisors, were also invited to the award ceremony to congratulate the students. The ceremony concluded warmly.
