Giga Solar Materials Corp. made a generous donation of NT$ 50 million toward the construction of Tsing Hua Laboratory. This donation is specifically earmarked for the Department of Materials Science and Engineering to set up a two story research facility in the anticipated Tsing Hua Laboratory where an internship program jointly sponsored by Giga and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering will be housed.

President Lih J. Chen said that he came to the donation ceremony with gratitude and pride. He praised Dr. Ji-Ren Chen, the chairman of Gigo Corp., as a remarkable "Triple Tsing Hua Person" since Dr. Chen received his B.S., M.S. as well as doctoral degrees all from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Having such a long and deep relationship with NTHU, Dr. Chen always takes the lead in supporting his alma mater. The total construction cost of the Tsing Hua Lab. is estimated around NT$500 million and the university alone cannot come up with the need amount. NTHU, thus, developed a plan asking the four departments which will be housed in the new lab when completed to seek corporate sponsorships and raise NT$50 million each for the construction of this new facility. With the generous support of Giga Corp., the Department of Materials Science and Engineering is the first to accomplish this task!

President Chen also noted that Tsing Hua Laboratory is the first construction project where the University asked user departments to raise matching funds. When completed, different story of the building will be assigned to the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Physics to house their respective research laboratories as well as to facilitate cross-disciplinary experiment and research projects. The proximity of different labs will not only allow resource-sharing but also facilitate the cross-fertilization among different disciplines. By inviting corporate sponsorship of the Laboratory, the new facility will provide a platform for researchers to work with industrial sectors create opportunities for students to take part in cutting-edge research projects.

Dr. Ji-Ren Chen indicated that Gigastorage Group and Giga Solar Materials Corp. will continue to invest in the R&D in the fields of materials science with special focuses on energy-saving, green energy and energy storage materials. He attributed the success of Giga Solar to the excellent talents who were trained at NTHU and have been working at his company after their graduation. Dr. Chen believes that cross-disciplinary R&D will remain a key factor in the future development of his company and he sees this opportunity to collaborate with NTHU as a right move at a right time.