The taxi driver taking you to the National Taiwan Institute of Technology may ask with a puzzled look, "Is this the College of Engineering of National Taiwan University?" Students at NTIT are used to this kind of confusion, and let it pass without flying into a fit of indignation.

The National Taiwan Institute of Technology has a much lower profile than many other universities and colleges. Admission is not gained through the joint university entrance exam, so NTIT is less well-known than other schools. Entrance requirements are graduation from a technical or vocational school, a special exam, and for men, completion of military service. For such students, this is their "National Taiwan University," as the case may be. But National Taiwan University students cannot compare with these students in a number of ways.

In front of the classroom buildings are row after row of cars, most of which belong to the students, and not the instructors, as is usually the case. These students are the cream of the engineering crop. What may look like some plain old student may actually be an assistant manager or section chief of a major company.

What is it about this place that makes them give up a high salary and put their careers on hold to be a student again?

"We do our best to cultivate people who can independently apply their knowledge in actual use, and perhaps also create something new," answers Dean Chen Shun-tian. "Combining theory and practice" is much more than a mere slogan here.

It is an almost universal problem of engineering students that practical applications are often far removed from the things they scribbled notes on in class. These people tend to have minds that are much nimbler than their hands. The lack of adequate equipment for practical testing and training is often part of the problem. But none of this applies to the National Taiwan Institute of Technology. "Studying engineering is like learning Taekwondo," one student explains. "After finishing technical school, you know the basics, you know how to punch and kick, but you don't do it well. By this point, you've pretty well got it down pat. What you can get from this place is lots of advanced hands-on practice and experience."

Higher education in the ROC is basically divided into two systems: regular education, including senior high schools and universities; and vocational senior high schools, technical schools, and technical institutes. NTIT is the first and only technical university in the second system.

NTIT was established in 1974 with the goal, on the one hand, of cultivating highlevel engineering and management talent to help raise the general level of industrial technology development in the ROC; on the other, to provide an advanced training ground for graduates of technical schools, along with young and outstanding basic and middle-level technicians.

At present, NTIT has departments of Industrial Management; and Electronic, Mechanical, Fiber, Construction, Chemical, and Electrical Engineering. The student population stands at about 2,500, including graduate students.

Some say that there is a marked difference in attitude of NTIT students from regular university students. NTIT students are, on the average, about seven to eight years older than a regular college freshman, and many have several years of work experience behind them. They have come to NTIT because they realize that they still have a lot to learn. These combined factors result in a high level of motivation and conscientiousness in NTIT students. They are career-minded individuals who aren't too interested in extracurricular activities. The positive side of this is that they know exactly what they want, and they work hard without a lot of pushing from their instructors. Having completed their military service, they are self-disciplined and self-sufficient.

Some of the women at NTIT, who comprise only about one thirtieth of the student population, find this singleness of purpose goes a little too far--nobody seems to be interested in having any fun along the way. Although nominally there are 13 extracurricular clubs on campus, many are not much more than names. Money is no problem, since the school has an activities budget, but participation is lukewarm at best. Movies shown on campus and dances seem to draw the largest crowds. Most of this lack of interest in leisure activities can be traced to heavy course loads and high pressure.

Because the course of study at NTIT is only two years, pressure is constant and intense. And because practical experience in the laboratory and factory complements textbook study, each course demands a considerable investment of time, as much as twice that of a regular university course. Four credits of directed study are required in order to help develop students' ability to work independently. Projects commissioned by outside companies--for example, a productivity evaluation of a factory--may form the basis of the directed study.

NTIT faculty were originally "borrowed" from National Taiwan University, and recruited from abroad. However, by now, NTIT trains many of its own outstanding instructors. The average age of the faculty is about 35 years, and more than half received their degrees abroad, particularly in the United States. They tend to bring an "American" style to NTIT by stressing creative practical research and publication, as opposed to traditional rote memorization and testing. Some students have difficulty adjusting to their high standards.

It is the faculty's goal to introduce methods of research rather than to simply pass on facts and information. This serves to train the students' ability for independent thinking and logical analysis. "Being the first school of its kind in the ROC, NTIT has been able to do away with some traditional restraints, and to develop its own character," says NTIT President Shih Yen-ping.

Because change is fast and furious in scientific and technological fields, the NTIT curriculum is revamped, from the ground up, every three years, to keep pace with the times. New faculty members are also added each year.

NTIT students do not have any summer or winter breaks to speak of--most students spend their "vacations" in a factory. The NTIT campus is like a "city that never sleeps"; in order to accommodate students unwilling to waste time sleeping when they can be working, or those racing against a project deadline, the school's computer center, laboratory, and factory are all open 24 hours a day.

Because the school is so young, its equipment and facilities are all new and up-to-date. "Equipment is one area where you can't cut corners," according to Electrical Engineering Department Chairman Liu Ch'ang-huan. And as soon as funds come into the department, equipment is usually the first place they get spent.

Professor Huang Chao-lung, a member of NTIT's first graduating class, got his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, then returned to NTIT to teach. He believes that NTIT plays a leading role in its field in the ROC The traditional view of technical schools is that they were a means to only one end--a steady income. They were seen as "dead-end streets" and "education with no hope." However, in recent years NTIT graduates have made an excellent showing in the business and industrial world, both in terms of starting salary and rank. 26.19% of NTIT graduates earn a higher average starting salary than graduates of other colleges, universities, and technical schools; 69.35% receive the same average starting salary, and only 4.46% receive less. Another thing that has helped to turn around popular ideas about technical education was the addition of a Master's program in 1979, and a Ph.D. program in 1983.

One major concern of most college students--that of finding suitable employment after graduation--is "no sweat" for NTIT graduates. Most have an average of three job offers in hand upon graduation, usually as an administrative manager or assistant engineer.

Few NTIT students, only about 3%, go abroad to continue their studies. They form a stable talent pool that can go straight from classroom to production line. This is one more reason why it's a "seller's market" for their talents.

One almost universal complaint among NTIT students is their close quarters. With a relatively small campus, the only way to expand is up, and most of the buildings are high rises. NTIT students sometimes refer to their school as the "university of the air" (this usually refers to university courses offered over television in Taiwan). With not too many places to go on campus, one tends to run into the same people several times a day. In such cases, the greeting exchanged might be a show of fingers tallying the times the two had already seen each other that day.

On the other hand, NTIT's diminutive campus encourages a small-town atmosphere, where everybody knows everybody else. And family-like warmth is not such a bad complement to marathon lab work and sleepless study.

[Picture Caption]

(Left) If you want to catch up (technologically, that is) you have to move fast.

(Right) The desk may be messy, but has new knowledge to be gleaned.

Drive to school? For these students, who already have a lot of real work experience, there's nothing strange about it.

An information network designed by an NTIT student.

Hands-on experience is the best asset of an NTIT student seeking a job. Feeling the pressure of heavy loads of homework is common for NTIT students.

(Above) Female students are a distinct minority, and thus are an especially refreshing sight.

(Below) Of the extracurricular activities, only dances seem to attract a lot of people.

Besides attending classes, these students must also look after their personal lives.

Which is the student? And which the professor?

（Right） The desk may be messy, but has new knowledge to be gleaned.

Drive to school? For these students, who already have a lot of real work experience, there's nothing strange about it.

An information network designed by an NTIT student.

Hands-on experience is the best asset of an NTIT student seeking a job. Feeling the pressure of heavy loads of homework is common for NTIT students.

（Above） Female students are a distinct minority, and thus are an especially refreshing sight.

（Below） Of the extracurricular activities, only dances seem to attract a lot of people.

Besides attending classes, these students must also look after their personal lives.

Which is the student? And which the professor?