Professor Wen-cheng Lai of the Department of Electronic Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology (MCUT), is committed to invention and innovation. Professor Lai participated in the 2021 World Distinguished Inventor Competition and competed with 220 candidates from all over the world. The ROC Excellent Inventors Society selected 46 winners and among them, Professor Lai is listed on the Top 100 Global Innovation Invention Edison Awards. When the Secretary-General of Legislative Yuan, Lin Chih-chia, received these winners, Professor Lai delivered a speech on behalf of the winners. He said that Taiwan’s invention education should be rooted at an early age. It was hoped that Legislative Yuan could promote courses on invention exhibitions and patent application to enlighten school children who may access to relevant fields. It also helps to nurture future inventors.

Professor Lai is currently serving in the Department of Electronic Engineering of MCUT. Because he values invention education, he devotes himself to it. Since 2010, he has led students to participate in international invention exhibitions every year and has won more than 40 gold medals and special awards. To cultivate the next generation, he also served as a trainer for the "Design Thinking" course of the MOE Interdisciplinary Talent Cultivation Programs in Universities and taught in the AI Family Maker Day held by Mintron Enterprise Co., LTD and Taipei City University of Science and Technology. Moreover, he also implemented the MOE Teaching Practice Research Program. Professor Lai said that the process of invention was laborious. Not only a lot of effort had to be put into research and development, but also the problem of insufficient funding was encountered in the patent application, participation in international invention exhibitions, and the process of commercialization. Therefore, he called on the government and schools at all levels to establish regulations and systems to create an invention education-friendly environment.

MCUT attaches great importance to invention education. Design thinking is integrated into teaching, and students can combine academic theory with practice through the Co-op Practical Training Program for juniors. In terms of regulations and systems, through funding subsidies such as research and development, patents, professional competitions, and commercialization, the funds required for research and development by teachers and students are actually injected. MCUT shares the great honor with Professor Lai’s winning the 2021 Outstanding Inventors.