Students from the Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (UNITEC), Honduras, came to Tsing Hua for a three-week academic program at the Institute of Information System and Applications from June 16^th to July 3^rd, 2008. Five professors took turns to deliver short-term courses in English with subjects ranging from information security, human intelligence, software engineering to other related information technologies. This marked the fifth and last year of the fruitful international academic exchange program between the two universities.

Program director Professor Chen Chaur-chin recalled the background of the program. Impressed by Tsing Hua's international reputation, UNITECH Vice President William Chong Wong had hoped to begin a series of academic collaborations and exchanges with Tsing Hua in order to improve the quality of UNITECH students and endow them with an international perspective. The two universities thus signed a contract and Chen was recruited as the program director Dean of the Institute of Information System and Applications Chang Long-Wen. Over the years, the program had grew in scale and became an enormous success in promoting academic exchanges between the two universities as well as strengthening diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Chen noted that visiting UNITECH students were second generations of wealthy families of important political figures and entrepreneurs in Honduras. They came to Taiwan for the experience of a world that is vastly different from North America or Europe. They not only had to persuade their parents but also pay extra costs for the trip. After three weeks of the program, the students were truly impressed by what they saw and experienced. They were particularly amazed by Taiwan's impressive annual productivity as a country just one-third of Hunduras in size. The students also took advantage of their weekends to ride public transportations and visit attractions in Taiwan, such as the Taipei 101 building, Longshan Temple, Huaxi Street, and attend various folk activities. Chen said he was surprised to learn that a few students had gone to Huaxi Street for a taste of snake blood and meat so as to understand Taiwanese traditional folk medicine.

In recent years, Tsing Hua has made remarkable strides in becoming a leading international university. Despite the short visit, UNITECH students and faculty could experience a different culture and country, as well as engage in serious international exchanges. It is expected that more international academic seminars and exchanges will take place in the future. Lastly, Chen said it is imperative to deliver the best program and hoped there will be new directors to carry on the success and bear new fruits for this program.