Morning
Afternoon
Night life
Today was our last day in Kaohsiung, but we still had
something planned before we could depart. At the beginning of the day everyone
packed their suitcases again before we departed at 8.15 to our last university
visit of Kaohsiung: National Sun-Yat Sen University. To the surprise of Erik,
Jochem took the lead in the walk as he already saw the university in his
morning walk yesterday. This university is located next to a few mountains and
was accessed by walking through a tunnel through one of the mountains. As wild
animals live in these areas, local students have to watch out for monkeys
stealing their food during their lunch breaks.
At the university, we visited the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Materials and Optoelectronic Science. The visit started with a presentation by Dr. Chang-Chau Chiu introducing the Department of Chemistry. He shared some highlights of the department like the research on aerosols, which was extremely relevant for understanding the spread of disease.
Dr. Kevin Chiou introduced the Department of Materials and
Optoelectronic science, which was only recently combined into 1 department.
This department was split into 3 research areas, namely the research in
fundamentals in primary materials, macromolecular science and optoelectronic
sciences.
Afterwards, our accompanying professor Martin van Sint Annaland gave an introduction of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry in Eindhoven to the hosts of the visit.
After the presentation session, we got a guided lab tour of multiple labs. In their mass spectroscopy lab they were able to quickly analyse a swab of somebody’s skin for a plethora of toxins in a matter of seconds. Furthermore, they were able to produce large single crystals in their crystal lab, which included a wall of Nobel prize winners with an empty spot to be (hopefully) once filled by their professor. Furthermore, we visited the 3D
metal printing and advanced materials laboratory, where complex 3D structures
can be manufactured from metal powders melted by lasers. Finally, we visited
the functional polymers and supramolecular materials research center, where
various polymer applications are researched, alongside new structures and materials.
The visit ended with a delicious lunch box and some (very sweet) winter melon boba tea. With our energy refilled, we were on our way for
our last time to the With Inn Hostel to quickly change clothes, grab our
luggage and maybe grab a snack for the trip. Kaohsiung, even though our time in
this city has been short, it has been a blast and maybe in a future travel we
will be able to fully explore you! But for now it is time to Travel to the
biggest city of the isle, Taipei! All the Japies followed in line to the metro
and the high speed rail, although 2 Japies had to run at high speed to not miss
the train.
In the evening, people made use of their first moments in
Taipei by getting dinner at the local food stalls or restaurants, followed by a
few drinks at the local bars. At night it was time for them to get to bed for a
good night of sleep and a new day in the morning.
Written by: Marlo Cieraad & David Reus
