To promote the newly emerging technologies of the 3D printing industry, the Ministry of Education (MOE) today held an inauguration cum unveiling ceremony at National Hualien Industrial Vocational Senior High School for the Fab Truck and Fab Lab.
During the ceremony, Premier Mao Chi-kuo stated that in light of the dawn of the digital manufacturing era, promoting 3D printing technology will help cultivate domestic "maker" talent, usher in the development of 3D innovation businesses in eastern Taiwan, and thus boost the nation's international competitiveness in innovative-startup development.
The Executive Yuan announced last year that it would promote 3D industry development, the premier pointed out. Since then, Minister without Portfolio Tsai Yu-ling has led Fab Truck and Fab Lab roadshows, taking reference from the lab and education popularization concepts of the U.S.'s Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The vMaker Fab Trucks began touring campuses in 2014. The V of vMaker stands for victory, virtual and venture alike. With MOE subsidies, the number of Fab Trucks has increased to six. These six mobile Fab Trucks will within two years drive all over 497 senior high schools and vocational schools in Taiwan so that 160,000 students can personally experience 3D printing.
Premier Mao encouraged students with his vision that "imagination is the source of creation, and doing is the actualization of creation" in promoting, cultivating and popularizing the 3D printing program. The premier stated that every child can possibly affect Taiwan's future; therefore, it is necessary to foster an environment for collaborative learning and doing so that youths' abundant creative ideas can become a driving force for the nation's future competitiveness.
National Hualien Industrial Vocational Senior High School is the locomotive of vocational schools in eastern Taiwan, the premier stated. Therefore, he expects the school to become the base for promoting and popularizing 3D printing in the region. He hopes all young people in Taiwan will have the chance to experience and participate in the 3D printing maker movement, which is now popular worldwide.