To bridge AI education and industry application, the College of Intelligent Computing and Quantum Information at Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU) hosted the 2025 Cross-University Data Science Capstone Project Exhibition and Industry Collaboration Presentation on June 12 at the Engineering Lecture Hall. The event brought together 12 student teams from CYCU, National University of Kaohsiung, and Fu Jen Catholic University to present their industry-partnered projects. CYCU stood out with all six of its teams advancing to the finals. Among them, the team Ichigo Ichie won the “Best Problem-Solving Award” from food-tech company Duda for their project on restaurant cluster analysis and was offered internships and job opportunities on-site, showcasing strong hands-on skills and course outcomes.
To accelerate the development of industry-ready AI and data science talent, CYCU launched Taiwan’s first Cross-University Data Science Capstone Course in collaboration with the Taiwan Data Science Association, National University of Kaohsiung, and Fu Jen Catholic University. Centered around “AI Empowerment,” the initiative combines the strengths of faculty across institutions and real-world challenges provided by industry partners, creating a dynamic learning ecosystem that bridges academia and industry and reinforces CYCU’s leading role in AI and big data education.
This capstone course, coordinated by the Taiwan Data Science Association, integrates domestic and international industry resources and features guest lectures from global experts. CYCU signed MOUs with the Department of Information Management at National University of Kaohsiung and the Department of Statistics and Information Science at Fu Jen Catholic University, jointly offering courses such as Social Network Analysis. Students are grouped to tackle enterprise-level problems, applying data exploration and modeling techniques to solve real-world business challenges.
Industry partners for the course include QSearch, APEX Information, CakeResume, and Duda, offering topics in social media analytics, disease prediction, career content evaluation, and customer behavior analysis. International experts also participated in teaching and evaluation, including Prof. Peipei Li (Carnegie Mellon University), Henry Lin (Senior Data Scientist, Roblox), and Fu-Chi Shih (Senior Data Science Manager, Adobe), enriching students’ global perspectives and professional insights.
Industry representatives praised the students’ outstanding performance. Yi-Ting Ko, Product Manager at Duda, noted, “CYCU students impressed us with both technical skills and a clear grasp of real business needs. Their solutions were concrete and actionable. We’ve already extended internship invitations to some of them.” QSearch CEO Shih-En Chou added, “These students aren’t just coding or building models. They demonstrate the mindset and capability to use data to address real-world business problems. We look forward to further collaboration with CYCU.”
Associate Professor Hsiao-Wei Hu of CYCU explained that this year’s collaboration with four companies allowed students to directly engage with real-world problems, transforming classroom knowledge into practical data analysis and problem-solving skills, which are essential for thriving in the workplace.
Dean Chien-Tsung Chiu of the College emphasized CYCU’s commitment to leading inter-university and industry collaboration. All six CYCU teams made it to the finals, with topics ranging from interview analytics and restaurant recommendation systems to influencer data analysis and investment fraud detection. These projects demonstrated the students’ strong data science expertise and innovative thinking. Through close collaboration with industry, students gained valuable experience in solving practical problems, laying a solid foundation for future careers.
CYCU remains dedicated to deepening industry connections, expanding the breadth and depth of its curriculum, and cultivating AI-empowered data science professionals to support Taiwan’s digital transformation. This embodies the spirit of holistic education and prepares students for a competitive future.
