Taipei Tech’s Department of Intelligent Automation Engineering has recently celebrated the graduation of the inaugural students in its P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) program. Upon their graduation in June, twenty out of the twenty-nine graduates have secured a job, with starting salaries exceeding the average pay of university graduates. The remaining graduates plan to continue their studies in Taiwan and across the globe.

Taipei Tech President Wang Sea-fue pointed out that the program provides students courses in fields with high demand such as smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and mechatronics integration. Successful alumni entrepreneurs have been brought onboard as corporate mentors, establishing a unique “one student-two mentor counseling scheme” to help students build professional connections at an early stage.

Wang also revealed that several companies, including Syscom Computer Engineering Company, Gallant Precision Machining Co., and Kwan Chiu Radio MFG, have committed their support for the program’s innovative “pre-employment scholarship” system. This agreement ensures this year’s graduates the prospect of employment with competitive starting salaries before their graduation.

Jiang Cho-pei, Head of the Department of Intelligent Automation Engineering, indicated that the graduates of the P-TECH program had won first place at the MechaHeroes mechanical mechatronics competition in the Taiwan northern region, outshining teams from National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University, and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. “The impressive result shows that the program’s curriculum, which combines practical training and internships, is indeed heading in the right direction,” commented Jiang.

Twenty-year-old program graduate Wang Bing-sheng, who has secured admission to the University of Nottingham for a master’s degree in computer science, aspires to work in an international software company. During his internship at IBM, Wang took the initiative to participate in the deployment of enterprise-grade software. His mentors and supervisors at IBM also secured for him a DevOps (development and operations) position in an international team. Although he often needed to stay up late for meetings, Wang greatly enjoyed his internship days. "Attending the P-TECH Program allowed me to clarify my professional interests and career trajectory at an early age through internships,” Wang reflected.

Fellow graduate Zhao Wei-siang, freshly turned twenty, has already been awarded a 100,000 NTD pre-employment scholarship from Syscom Computer Engineering Company. Upon graduation, he will assume the role of a software engineer at the company. Zhao appreciated the early industry exposure, saying, “Entering the workplace early has helped me understand current industry demands and identify my interests. The pre-employment scholarship was also an opportunity too attractive to ignore.”