Medium and Long-term Development Plan
The aviation industry features a highly internationalized division of labor, with extremely advanced technical requirements, strict quality systems, and strong industrial interconnections. Therefore, the development of the aviation industry can enhance overall industrial technological standards and increase product added value. As a result, advanced countries worldwide, based on economic competitiveness and national defense security, fully support the development of aviation industry and designate it as a key strategic national industry. With the rapid globalization of the world economy, global air transport has shown steady growth over the past decade. Boeing, based on world economic trends, airline conditions, and future development strategies, published a survey on global air transport demand and aircraft requirements from 1999 to 2018, forecasting that global air transport volume will grow at an average annual rate of over 6.4%, with the Asia-Pacific region growing at an even more remarkable pace—its air transport share is expected to increase from 14% to 20% of the global total. Taiwan is geographically located at the center of Asia-Pacific air transport. The government is committed to developing Taiwan as an Asia-Pacific operations and transit hub. Following Taiwan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the establishment of direct cross-strait flights, the civil aviation industry is expected to thrive. Therefore, the domestic demand for aircraft engineering technical talent is urgent.
To enable the Department of Aircraft Engineering to play a leading role in the technical and vocational education system and establish a distinctive profile different from aerospace departments at regular universities, while bringing domestic practical aviation technical education up to the standards of advanced countries in Europe and the U.S., the overall and distinctive development goals are stated as follows:
- Overall Goal: To establish the Department of Aircraft Engineering and the Institute of Aeronautics and Electronic Technology as leaders within the technical and vocational education system. Students will acquire comprehensive foundational knowledge in aircraft engineering and research and development skills, enabling them to immediately engage in type-specific training and technical development in the aviation industry after graduation. Additionally, students will be instilled with the value of life and gain a deep understanding of flight safety and its mission-critical importance.
- Distinctive Goal: Currently, universities such as National Cheng Kung University, Feng Chia University, Tamkang University, and China University of Technology offer aerospace programs, with development primarily focused on academic research. The Department of Aircraft Engineering and the Institute of Aeronautics and Electronic Technology at this university aim to balance practical technical training with academic research, establishing a distinctive profile different from aerospace departments at conventional universities.
