Core Abilities

Students’ Core Abilities

1. Mechanics: proficiency in mechanics and related fields, including the application of mathematics, science and engineering.

2. Independent thinking: capabilities of independent thinking, innovation and designing engineering systems, components and processes.

3. Research skills: competence in planning and conducting research, as well as thesis and report writing.

4. Analytical skills: excellence in designing and implementing engineering practices, in carrying out experiments, and also in analyzing and interpreting data.

5. Communication: outstanding communication, organizational, teamwork and leadership skills
6. Life-long learning: life-long pursuit in personal development, international perspective and foreign language skills.
7. Ethics: complete understanding of professional ethics and social responsibilities.

Introduction

Location

Educational Objectives

Our primary focus is to nurture professionals in the field of mechanics with leadership and independent research skills.

The 5 Educational Principles at IAM:

1. Equal emphasis on theories, experiments and mathematics

Students of our institute are required to take theoretical, experimental and mathematical courses in order to obtain an academic degree, including Applied Mathematics, Elasticity, Dynamics, Fluid Dynamics, Electromagnetism, Experiments on Applied Mechanics, Experiments on Electronics and more.

This requirement ensures that students will have a sound foundation in research, and enable their adaptability. With these abilities, students will have a broader range of possibilities in the future and will be better equipped to cater to the needs of the industry.

2. Interdisciplinarity

Several research groups at IAM integrate research discipline including mechanics, biomedicine, information science, electromechanical systems and more. Dissertations and theses often involve interdisciplinary and system integrated research.

In efforts to further promote interdisciplinary talents, our faculty members frequently cooperate with other departments to offer courses that are related to more than one area and that incorporate results from research projects, such as Micro-electro-mechanical System (MEMS) & Nanotechnology, Fabrication & Design in Optical MEMS, Physiological Fluid Dynamics and more.

3. Internationalization

As of now, up to 60% of our courses are conducted in English. Under this environment, students will be able to adjust more quickly to both the international academic world and various industry positions as our country continues to promote globalization.

Furthermore, in response to NTU Dual Degree Programs and International Graduate Program, IAM continues to increase the proportion of courses conducted in English in order that international students will be able to pursue a degree at IAM.

Each year, several master's and doctoral students of IAM take part in short term research projects abroad. IAM also frequently welcomes postgraduates from all over the world to conduct short-term study and postdoctoral research. In the future, IAM will continue to further establish connections with prestigious universities worldwide to increase our doctoral students’ opportunities to engage in research overseas.

4. Cultivation of Practical Abilities

Several of the courses and research programs offered in IAM include implementation, experiments and internships. For instance, Experiments on Electronics, Experiments on Applied Mechanics, Experiments on Nanomedicine, and Experiments on Nanotechnology all help to nourish students’ practical and hands-on abilities. IAM also aims to train students in laboratory skills including independent learning of scientific principles, instruments and apparatus instruction manuals, and experimental design methodology.

Each student is expected to take part in both conducting experiments and collecting data. In addition to studying theories and attaining knowledge, students engage in practical work and gain independent thinking skills and engineering, systems and component designing skills from those hands-on experiences. Students work in groups to carry out their own projects. They come up with an interesting topic, and work out all the details themselves as well. This includes research motivation, literature review, acquisition of materials, instruments and apparatus, collecting of data, and subsequently, experiment report writing, oral presentation and presentation of implementation results. Although tough and time-consuming, this project is widely acknowledged by both students and alumni as a golden opportunity to gain valuable experience that cannot be obtained from textbooks or course materials.

5. Interaction with Industries

In an effort for students to be more informed in regards to mechanics and mechanics-related technology, every Monday throughout the semester, IAM invites reputable experts and/or scholars to deliver seminars. Students are given the opportunity to approach different fields and learn about academic and industrial development, thereby allowing them to be more up-to-date with current technology and trends, as well as engineering challenges. Students will also acquire further understanding of the importance of engineering planning, management and leadership skills.

On the other hand, through the cooperation projects of the faculty members with the industry, IAM provides students first-hand experiences in facing obstacles currently encountered by industries and also the opportunity to take part in research and developmental projects.

IAM also encourages students to participate in various academic and industrial technological competitions to boost their imagination and creativity as they integrate the knowledge they had gained from their courses into practice. Furthermore, in 1997, IAM began a mentorship program by inviting alumni with significant contributions to the industrial world to share industry-related news and information, and to offer advisory assistance so that students will be better prepared to enter the industrial world in the future. The talks were divided into individual/small group and group consultations. Group consultations focused on the incorporation of academics and employment, whereas the individual/small group consultations discussed the overview of industries and employment preparation. Participating students engaged with the speakers regarding aspects of the industry, as well as elements in job search.

All four of the talks received excellent feedback from the students. In November 2017, IAM was accredited by IEET after series of assessment including the on-site visit. The evaluation committee further encouraged and advised the increase of the number of industrial special lectures and visits, which IAM has enhanced since.