Amidst the competitive atmosphere of the global academe, cooperation and communication between colleges and universities become paramount. It is then necessary to strengthen connections between key universities worldwide, further allowing the advancement of these shared goals. Furthermore, continuous exposure between these institutions provides a window of opportunity for future collaboration and cooperation in research and teaching.

Sitting in one of the world’s largest cultural hotspots whose history of inter-cultural exchange stretches back thousands of years, Asian countries are no stranger to interaction in terms of information exchange. As times change and innovations come and go, institutions that nurture and protect these innovations—such as universities—are established and developed as a response. Functioning as central hubs for the academe through the years, nowadays these Asian universities harbor the most talented of minds and the most forward-thinking of innovators. These new innovators are paramount now more than ever with the ever-advancing state of worldwide technological prowess and engineering scale that serve to improve quality of life as a whole. As the world moves forward with these new technologies, the Asian region must once again call back to its olden roots and converge for the benefit of the region as a whole.

In line with all this, the College of Engineering of National Cheng Kung University rallies its fellow academic institutions from nearby countries this year for an international forum. Spanning seven universities from Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, and Indonesia, the Strategic Partnership Forum will last four (4) days, from the 2nd to the 5th of September 2018. Participants include National Cheng Kung University, Kobe University, Kyoto University, Universitas Brawijaya, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Universitas Gadjah Mada, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Within these four days, professors and students from the engineering colleges of these universities will converge and share their current and future research, and find ways of achieving synergy between universities through face-to-face information exchange. May this international forum inspire minds to communicate, give new aspects to current ideas, and conjure new ideas that will elevate the Asian region to new heights.