NTU reached a new milestone in its effort to promote innovation and entrepreneurship with the establishment of a satellite office in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley.  The National Taiwan University@Silicon Valley (NTU@SV) Center was officially inaugurated on June 11 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that was attended by government appointees, elected officials, NTU alumni, and members of the entrepreneurial community.  NTU President Pan-Chyr Yang traveled from Taiwan to personally officiate at the event as well as give a talk on his vision and future plans for the university.

Speaking at the event, President Yang pointed out that NTU@SV is expected to open a window for NTU’s new and emerging startup teams to strengthen strategic partnerships with academic and research institutes in the United States.  The center is also aimed to serve as a bridge linking trans-Pacific ethnic-Chinese entrepreneurs with Silicon Valley’s spirit of innovation as well as its abundant venture resources.

NTU@SV is a platform designed to encourage people “to inspire and be inspired, to collaborate, and to communicate.”  Consequently, President Yang said that the center’s services would be extended not just to teams formed by NTU students, faculty members, and alumni, but also to young entrepreneurs from Taiwan as well as all Chinese communities across the globe.  He also expressed his vision of duplicating the center’s model in order to open more facilities that will nurture entrepreneurship across the Pacific.

The university has been active in introducing entrepreneurship programs and building a comprehensive, inter-connected entrepreneurship ecosystem in recent years.  For example, the university formed the NTU Entrepreneur Association in 2012, and in 2013, NTU Garage, an initial-stage student startup incubator, was established.  Taidah Entrepreneur Center began offering programs and classes to mentor young minds in 2014, and NTU Design School, which was established thanks to a generous donation from an alumnus, began operations in 2015.  Moreover, the first HackNTU student hackathon featuring talks, workshops, and a competition took place in 2015.  And, most recently, NTU@SV held its grand opening in 2016.

National Taiwan University will continue its long-term effort to nurture innovation and entrepreneurship both on and off campus.