TCU President Pen-Jung Wang Drives ATV Rescue Vehicle at DA.AI Technology’s Inventions Exhibition Grand Opening

From November 19 to November 30, TCU worked with Tzu Chi Foundation to display DA.AI Technology’s inventions, which aim to provide relief to needy people. This time, only few of their inventions were displayed at TCU’s Main Campus, yet each one has a story, and each one was invented to meet people’s needs at disaster sites. The amphibious boat is capable of carrying lunch boxes and a water purifier, and thus it was used in the massive flooding of southern Taiwan around August 2018. The multi-purpose folding beds can be moved easily and without any assembly, so they are suitable for rescue workers and affectees to take a rest. Moreover, a mobile kitchen provides hot meals 24-hours a day to fill people’s stomachs and warm their hearts. Solar powered LED street lights brighten up dark areas and provide power, especially when the electricity is out. The ATV rescue vehicle can pass through narrow alleys to attend to people’s needs.

TCU President Pen-Jung Wang drove the ATV to the grand opening site. He has taken part in numerous relief works and medical outreaches around the world. He pointed out that people use technology to enhance the quality of life. Whether a new technology will turn into a product or not usually depends on commercial considerations; as long as they are needed in the marketplace and can make a profit, new products will come out. DA.AI Technology thinks differently, and their innovations are based on people’s needs, especially those who are suffering. DA.AI Technology is not concerned whether their products will sell well or not in the marketplace; they only care about whether their products are able to relieve the sufferings of needy people. President Wang went to disaster areas with faculty members and students, right after Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan in 2009, and Typhoon Megi in 2010, to help clean up mud for local residents. He still has a vivid memory of what he did there. The mud was everywhere, on the streets and in every house. Even a smallest loader was too big to pass through narrow alleys or go to resident’s houses, to clean up the mud, so volunteers had to pass mud from one person to another, and from each house to a nearby street. The ATV is capable of passing through narrow alleys to reach each house, and loads mud easily.

The multi-purpose folding beds, rocket stove, mobile kitchen, simple temporary houses, water purification boat, solar powered LED street lights, ATV rescue vehicle, etc. were displayed at TCU’s Main Campus. Moreover, the solar powered LED light can be worn on a hat and a backpack that can also be used as a chair, were also demonstrated. After Typhoon Yolanda struck Tacloban City in the Philippines, in 2013, the entire city was out of electricity for a long while, so in the evening, Tzu Chi volunteers participating in relief work could only rely on the LED lights on their hats to do their works.

Tzu Chi Foundation’s Tsung-Yen Liu pointed out: “Wisdom and compassion are two wings of a bird, and humanism is in every piece of technology.” Tzu Chi volunteers have participated in numerous relief works and understand very well about people’s needs in disaster areas, so they were determined to do something for those needy people. DA.AI worked with the Industrial Technology Research Institute, an institution founded by the government, to develop a water purifier which can be installed on a boat or in a car. Many catastrophes have taken place in the islands, and on many occasions a clean water supply is cutoff right after, so a boat carrying water purifier to island residents is seriously needed. Tacloban City is located on an island. After it was severely hit by a typhoon in 2013, residents needed clean water badly, and fortunately Tzu Chi volunteers dispatched water purifiers carried by boat to the island to meet their needs. After Wulai, a town located in northern Taiwan, was hit by Typhoon Soudelor, it faced a similar situation, and Tzu Chi volunteers delivered water purifiers by car to help local residents go through their most difficult period.

Around 100 people participated in the grand opening ceremony. Two solar powered LED street lights were placed on each side of the stage. Several were put into use when an earthquake struck Hualien on February 6, 2018. Amazingly, each LED street light is light in weight, and its assembly is easy and only needs three people to install it. When the electricity is out, it can light up dark areas, and also serves as a power station.

Most of TCU’s faculty members and students had never seen these fantastic inventions before. There is a story behind the mobile kitchen. After a major earthquake struck Taiwan in 1999, hot meals were needed in the massive disaster areas, but the safety and convenience of preparing hot meals was a big challenge. Thus, Dharma Master Cheng Yen asked Tzu Chi volunteers to design a mobile kitchen which could be delivered to disaster sites easily and safely operated. Volunteers took a long time to come up with one that contains an entire kitchen facility, including two rice cookers that can prepare rice to feed 100 persons, two woks, one steamer, and one soup pot. Amazingly, cooking can be done using either gas or firewood.

The mobile kitchen displayed here will be sent to the Republic of Zimbabwe around year’s end. To put the needs of Zimbabweans into consideration, a steamer won’t be needed, and the rice cookers will be increased from two to six. While assisting people, Tzu Chi volunteers always attend to their needs, and this is also in the mind of every staff at DA.AI Technology.

DA.AI Technology displayed their innovations at TCU’s Main Campus, wishing students in Hualien area could gain knowledge about what situations may come up at disaster sites, and how we can use technology to attend to people’s needs. Moreover, DA.AI Technology wants to aspire students to serve the needy with compassion and encourages them to take part in future relief efforts.