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Team Competencies

As the global UAV market continues to deepen its civilian applications, cargo logistics and passenger-carrying "air taxis" have emerged as pivotal sectors, driving the trend toward large-scale UAV platforms. In the foreseeable future, the frameworks for designing, manufacturing, maintaining, operating, and inspecting large UAVs will increasingly converge with those of manned aviation. This shift is also evident in the growing demand for large-scale military UAVs (such as the "Teng Yun" UAV) for future battlefield requirements. For our university, this represents a "Blue Ocean" opportunity, leveraging our expertise in civil aviation maintenance and talent cultivation. By combining our established aircraft maintenance team with our specialized UAV faculty, we are positioned to transition from small-scale drone technology into the advanced field of large-scale UAV maintenance and development.
Our university has been deeply rooted in UAV technical R&D for over 15 years. We have achieved significant milestones in the design and production of long-endurance solar-powered UAVs (5-meter wingspan), multi-rotor UAV design, swarm performance technology, ground control stations (GCS), power conversion systems, and intelligent control. Furthermore, our application systems—ranging from bridge inspection and livestock management to AI image recognition and precision agriculture—have yielded fruitful results. The faculty members specialized in these fields are listed in Table 1.
As shown in Table 2, we have integrated recommendations from the Chiayi County Government and key stakeholders at the Chiayi Base—including research institutes and industry leaders such as the NCSIST Aeronautical Systems Research Division, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER), Chinese Unmanned System Application Development Association, Thunder Tiger, GEOSAT, TAYA, Taishin, and Skyline. This collaboration facilitates industry-standard practical training and R&D, realizing a "pseudo-production line" teaching environment and providing internship and employment counseling. Simultaneously, the university provides on-site technical consultancy and short-term professional training for UAV enterprises. The project also invites National Chung Cheng University, National Chiayi University, WuFeng University, and Chaoyang University of Technology as partner schools to provide specialized expertise in fields such as UAV fire-fighting applications and AI.
The Department of Aeronautical Engineering comprises 28 full-time faculty members specializing in civil aviation maintenance and UAV technologies. The faculty is categorized into three groups: Aircraft Manufacturing & Maintenance (8 members), UAV Technology (8 members), and Cross-disciplinary Expertise (12 members). Our UAV expertise spans aeronautical engineering (aerodynamic analysis, solid mechanics, composite materials, flight testing, and UAV regulations) and avionics systems (AI, flight control and navigation, system integration, wireless communication, power electronics, microcomputer systems, and remote sensing). Furthermore, we have recruited internal faculty members currently engaged in UAV-related projects. To augment our capabilities, external experts will be invited for specialized areas such as flight management and UAV certification, including 8 professors from partner schools and 4 experts from research institutes and industry.