2023.04.11

National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in Taiwan has recently announced three recipients of the Outstanding Alumni Award for 2023: Wei-Thyr Tsao (曹為實) (Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, 1984), Eric Wang (王秀鈞) (Department of Electrical Engineering, 1986), and Huang Yeo-chih (黃有執) (Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, 1992, 1994).

 

Wei-Thyr Tsao (Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, 1984)

 

Wei-Thyr Tsao has a wealth of experience in international investment banking, and will soon begin teaching at NTHU. He has made significant contributions to NTHU and society.

 

Tsao is currently the chairman of Bank SinoPac. After graduating from the Department of Power Mechanical Engineering at NTHU, he completed an MBA at National Taiwan University and then began working for Citibank in Taipei. On the strength of a recommendation from the general manager of Citibank Taiwan, he later became the head of human resources at Citibank's headquarters in New York.

 

Two years later he became the only trader from Taiwan among the more than 300 traders at the headquarters. He was responsible for Forex trading in emerging Latin American markets, becoming one of the top three salesmen by trading volume.

 

Tsao went on to work at Goldman Sachs, UBS, China Development Bank, Morgan Stanley, and Barclays, becoming one of the few Taiwanese-born individuals who have reached the top levels of regional management in large multinational financial institutions.

 

While Tsao was the Taiwanese head of UBS AG from 2002 to 2006, he led the UBS assets securitization team in becoming the leading player in the Asia-Pacific region, winning the Best Securitization Team of the Decade award from the International Financing Review Asia.

 

In addition, for his work on KGI Bank’s George & Mary cash card---the first cross-border accounts receivable securitization case in Taiwan---Tsao was awarded the 2003 Best Cross-border Asset Securitization Award by Asiamoney.

 

Tsao recalled that during his time at NTHU he was a member of the Debate Club, which honed both his communications and social skills, leading him to switch to management and finance for his graduate studies.

 

Tsao was a work-study student and received Dr. Mei Memorial Academic Scholarship Fund. He said that the rigorous training he received in the Department of Power Mechanical Engineering honed his logical thinking skills, which helped him considerably in his future career.

 

When Tsao was appointed chairman of Bank SinoPac in 2022, he made it a point to recruit NTHU students for internships. In the fall semester, Tsao will begin teaching in the College of Technology Management, on which he remarked, “It would be most gratifying if at least a few of my students follow in my footsteps.”

 

Eric Wang (Department of Electrical Engineering, 1986)

 

In addition to playing a major role in the greening of Taiwan's electronics industry, Eric Wang has helped establish the Capital TEN fund and made significant contributions to NTHU and society.

 

Wang is currently a managing partner at GRC SinoGreen, a member of the advisory committee of the Tsing Hua Entrepreneur Network (TEN), a director of the NTHU Alumni Association, an independent director of Swancor Technology, and an independent director of the TPK group. He has also worked as a Silicon Valley engineer, a Wall Street analyst, and a partner in a high-stakes venture capital firm. He is skilled at discovering new trends in green technologies.

 

In 2009 Wang established GRC SinoGreen, the first venture capital fund in Asia to incorporate environmental, social and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) concepts into fund investment decisions and operations. He has received a score of A+ for three consecutive years in the evaluations carried out by the United Nations on the principles of responsible investment.

 

During his time at NTHU, Wang served as the president of the student council and helped raise funds for the Meizhu Tournament. After graduating from the Department of Electrical Engineering, he went to the University of Hawaii to pursue a master's degree in electrical engineering, then a Ph.D. in engineering economics at Stanford University. After graduation, he worked as a yield improvement engineer for a semiconductor equipment business in Silicon Valley.

 

Wang soon discovered that his strength lay in strategic planning and project execution, and he decided to enter the business world. He worked on Wall Street and as head of global semiconductor research at ABN AMRO Bank. He has received the TFF-Bloomberg Best Fund Award for his outstanding research, and won numerous awards in institutional investor surveys conducted by Reuters, Institutional Investor, and Asiamoney.

 

Wang was also the general manager of WK Innovation, where he invested in semiconductors, systems, materials, and new energy, and successfully incubated a number of Silicon Valley start-ups that came to be listed on the stock market.

 

In 2012, Wang received the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science’s Outstanding Alumni Award, and in 2016 he helped organize a reunion for the class of 1986 which also raised funds for NTHU. Wang is also a member of Tsing Hua Club One Hundred and serves as a director of the NTHU Alumni Association.

 

Wang is enthusiastic about public welfare and is an active member of the Tsing Hua Entrepreneur Network, for which he served as the president in 2020. He is also one of the co-founders of the Capital TEN fund, which focuses on strengthening the corporate network of NTHU alumni.

 

Wang encourages students to keep in mind the NTHU motto--- “Self-discipline and social commitment”---in finding their own strengths and developing them into a positive influence on the country and society, adding that, “When you graduate and get a job, you’ll discover that your own situation has its own set of challenges and solutions.”

 

Huang Yeo-chih (Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, 1992, 1994)

 

Huang Yeo-chih has made outstanding contributions to the research and development of optical technology, and he has also been a consistent supporter of his alma mater and worthy social causes.

 

Huang, who completed both a B.S. and M.A. in the Department of Power Mechanical Engineering at NTHU, is currently the vice chairman and general manager at Largan Precision. Largan Precision, which began with about 100 employees and now has around 7,000, has been a global leader in optical lens technology since 2010.

 

Huang joined Largan Precision in 1996 as a mechanical engineer, and he was progressively promoted to the positions of design supervisor and technical officer. Specializing in research and development, he personally has 57 patents to date, whereas Largan Precision has more than 6,000. Huang became the general manager in 2022 and serves as the vice chairman of the board of directors.

 

Huang said that he has derived much benefit from the rigorous education he received at NTHU. In order to show his appreciation, since 2013 he has made donations to the Rising Sun Scholarship, the Sustainability Fund, and the Jiazi Fund, totaling over NT$10 million.

 

In 2013, Huang was a speaker at NTHU’s admissions symposium, sharing his experience at school and work, and in 2017 he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Engineering.

 

Huang is also a sponsor of the student club DIT Robotics and he has spared no effort in working to improve the facilities at the Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, including subsidizing the transformation of an existing space into a multi-purpose lecture hall.

 

Huang also helped establish the Largan Precision Scholarship at the Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, which provides up to NT$10,000 per month to allow select students with financial hardship to focus on their studies.

 

He also arranges for the recipients of the Scholarship to visit the company and to report on their research, and he has hired graduates of the Department of Power Mechanical Engineering to work for Largan.

 

In his 20-plus years working in the optical lens industry, Huang has found that the two most important characteristics to look for in a new hire are practicality and a good attitude. He said that in hiring personnel, rather than focus on the courses somebody has taken, he gives more stock to how well they have mastered what they have studied and how good they are at using it. He also encourages students to cultivate an open mind and a positive attitude, pointing out that “These are the distinguishing characteristics of NTHU graduates!”