Solomon Ortiz, Senior Member of the United States House of Representative, Visits National Cheng Kung University for the Legacy of Father of Boeing
NEWS
Senior Member of the US House of Representative Solomon Ortiz and his former Chief of Staff Lencho Rendon came to visit NCKU at 2:30 pm on January 7th. They had a pleasant conversation with NCKU President Michael M.C. Lai at the Office of President. Mr. Ortiz marveled at the fact that Professor Tsu Wong, Father of Boeing Corporate, had taught in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NCKU. Congressman Ortiz also admired NCKU’s outstanding achievements in engineering, materials science and biomedicine.
Congressman Ortiz’s visit to NCKU is a result of the invitation issued by President Lai. NCKU is the only university in Taiwan that the Congressman planned to visit. President Lai gave a personal briefing to this special guest who came a long way yesterday (January 7th.), introducing the development of NCKU and our research results, including the fish vaccine developed by the NCKU fisheries bio-medicine team. Ortiz was especially fascinated by the fish vaccine. Mr. Ortiz and President Lai both agree that oceanic issue is in the spotlight around the world, so are the issues of oceanic resources and environmental protection, in addition to the discussion about energy.
Due to his background as a senior member and the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Readiness, all he knew about NCKU was Professor Tsu Wong, famed for “the father of Boeing Corporate”, before his visit to NCKU. There was a profound relationship between Professor Wong and NCKU. Wong was crucial to the genesis of Boeing Corporate, for he was the first Chief Engineer at Boeing and he helped Boeing build its first airplane. Boeing in Seattle set up a section in the Museum of Flight especially in memory of Mr. Tsu Wong. Professor Wong came to teach in the Department of Mechanical Engineering after his return to Taiwan, and he, 73, passed away in Tainan in 1965. Congressman Ortiz paid a visit to the Department of Mechanical Engineering to salute Professor Wong for being a pioneer of international airplane design when the industry of international aviation was taking off.
SEVP Da-Hsuan Feng, who had accompanied him throughout his visit, said that Congressman Ortiz’s visit had several important implications and impact for us. First, as Dean of the House Hispanic Caucus, he will alert us to the university community the profound economic and intellectual importance of the Spanish speaking world. In addition, with NCKU aggressively promoting globalization as one of its goals, understanding this component of the world is critical. Third, as a senior member of the House Armed Services committee, his deep interest in health and other well being issues of veterans overlaps well with some of the healthcare strengths of our medical school. It was one of the purposes of his visit.
Congressman Ortiz, a member of the US House of Representative, has been a highly respected senior member of the US Congress since he was elected in 1982. He is also Dean of the House Hispanic Caucus. He has been to Taiwan for more than 40 times since 1987 upon invitations or personal occasions. He has been close friends with SEVP Feng for many years. One of the purposes of Congressman Ortiz’s visit is to gain a deeper understanding of the research and development capabilities and infrastructures for high technology in the Southern part of Taiwan.
Mr. Ortiz visited the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Medical College, NCKU Hospital, Hydraulics Laboratory, and Chi-Lin Technology Co. Ltd. just in half a day. His visit was to adequately understand the development of advanced technology in Southern Taiwan.
Congressman Solomon Ortiz, born in Robstown, Texas, 1937, used to served as Neuces County Constable, County Commissioner and Country Sheriff in Texas. He is currently the Ranking Democrat and Chairman on the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Readiness.
This news story is courtesy of NCKU News Center. It was adopted from its E-newsletter issued on January 7th., 2007, and was translated by Edward Wang.
