Since 2018, the Ministry of Education has been promoting the University Social Responsibility (USR) initiative. Taiwan Tech has consistently encouraged the active participation of both faculty and students in social engagement. Assistant Professor Shiang-I Juan from the Taiwan Building Technology Center collaborated with Associate Professor Hsin-Chun Tsai and Project Lecturer Yu-Chieh Lin from the Department of Architecture, along with Director Yao-Chung Chen from the Taiwan-Paraguay Polytechnic University's project office. Together, they led a team to Paraguay to conduct a workshop. The purpose was to guide students from the Taiwan-Paraguay Polytechnic University in using drones to record the surroundings of the Asunción Old Town riverside to create surface models. Furthermore, they proposed solutions to reduce the impact of flooding on local residents, addressing the vulnerability of Asunción's Old Town in Paraguay to frequent flooding issues.

The project leader of our university's USR-Hub, Associate Professor Tsai Hsin-Chun, guided students from the Taiwan-Paraguay Polytechnic University to use drones to record the living environment of communities along the riverside of Asunción's Old Town.

The prospective Paraguayan President Santiago Peña Palacios and his wife Leticia Ocampos visited our university in July this year. During their visit, they exchanged ideas with Professor Huey-Jiun Wang from the Department of Architecture, Associate Professor Hsin-Chun Tsai, and Assistant Professor Shiang-I Juan from the Taiwan Building Technology Center. Mrs. Leticia pointed out that due to its proximity to the Paraguay River, the Asunción Old Town in Paraguay faces seasonal heavy rains and river overflow annually. This makes the low-lying areas vulnerable to flooding, posing a severe threat to the living environment of local residents.

In 2023, Taiwan Tech established the USR-Hub and allocated funds through an internal selection system to cultivate seed projects, hoping to encourage more faculty and students to engage in social practices. The USR project was jointly planned by Assistant Professor Shiang-I Juan from the Taiwan Building Technology Center, Associate Professor Hsin-Chun Tsai from the Department of Architecture, Project Lecturer Yu-Chieh Lin, and Director Yao-Chung Chen from the Taiwan-Paraguay Polytechnic University's project office received comprehensive support from the USR-Hub. Through drone technology, they aimed to record the living environment along the riverside of Asunción's Old Town and explore solutions to mitigate the impact of floods on local residents.

Not only did they propose the USR project and proposals in Taiwan, but the four professors personally traveled to the Taiwan-Paraguay Polytechnic University in Paraguay to conduct a week-long workshop, putting their ideas into action. The opening ceremony of the workshop invited Ambassador Chih-Cheng Han as a distinguished guest, who then gave professional explanations on the content of the USR project, its concepts and principles, the idea of green infrastructure, and the relevant regulations regarding drone usage.

Paraguay's First Lady, Mrs. Leticia (center), and Ambassador Chih-Cheng Han (fourth from left), the Republic of China's ambassador to Paraguay, personally attended meetings related to the USR-Hub workshop. The picture shows a group photo with the school team.

The Taiwan Tech team also provided in-depth instruction to students from the Taiwan-Paraguay Polytechnic University on operating drones. This included skills such as flight principles and safety, setting designated automatic flight areas, operating photogrammetry software, and post-flight data processing. They led the students in using drones to record the low-lying Chacarita area along the Paraguay River. The data collected was converted into a Digital Surface Model using Autodesk software to create topographic maps for terrain analysis. On the final day of the workshop, the four participating student groups presented feasible solutions to improve local flooding issues.

After the workshop, Ambassador Chih-Cheng Han, along with the four professors, met with Paraguay's First Lady, Leticia, to share the outcomes of this project. Through the collaboration between Taiwan Tech and the Taiwan-Paraguay Polytechnic University, this initiative not only nurtured students' drone operation skills and their understanding of recording waterfront living environments but also fostered analytical solutions to enhance environmental resilience through exchanges and discussions. Associate Professor Hsin-Chun Tsai hopes that such international cooperation can continue to guide Paraguayan youth toward contributing to society and making an impact. Taiwan's diplomatic relations can echo our university's goal of cultivating 'π'-shaped talents.

Taiwan Tech is the only school in the country that has passed all 4 types (budding type, deep cultivation type, international cooperation type, and characteristic sustainable type) and 5 projects of the USR plan of the Ministry of Education in the third phase (Years 112-113) were approved. This recognition shows Taiwan Tech's long-term efforts being acknowledged by the Ministry of Education, standing out among higher education institutions nationwide.

Paraguay's First Lady, Leticia, met Associate Professor Hsin-Chun Tsai, Assistant Professor Shiang-I Juan, and Teacher Yu-Chieh Lin at the official residence to discuss flooding issues in the low-lying regions of Paraguay.