Stanford and NCKU Professors Share Stories about Collecting(中央社訊息服務20111110 14:27:17)Stanford and NCKU Professors Share Stories about CollectingTainan, Taiwan, November 8th, 2011Two professors from Stanford University, the United States, and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, southern Taiwan, have exchanged their experience and joy in collecting rare items.Per Enge, a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University, visited Hong-Sen Yan, a professor from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the executive vice president of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), on Nov. 8.After hearing that Yan is a historian of mechanical locks from a friend, Enge showed interest in hearing about his experience in collecting ancient Chinese locks.Yan said that he was inspired by his advisor at University of Kentucky who collects European antiques when pursuing a master degree and also by his teacher at Purdue University who collects scales when in a Ph.D. program.After he returned to Taiwan in 1980, Yan made up his mind to collect ancient items on 5 conditions: they should be a mechanism, they should be related to native culture, they should not be too large, they should not be too expensive and they should not be too commonplace.“I’ve collected over 800 locks since 1986,” said Yan. “It’s actually easy to collect mechanical locks as long as you have money, but duplications among them may reduce the uniqueness of each lock.”Admiring Yan’s rich collections, Enge told his stories as a collector. “Although I only have about a dozen collections so far, I also enjoy collecting,” he said.When Enge was 13 years old, his parents gave him a kit as Christmas gift so he would behave himself for at least two or three weeks, but surprisingly he made a radio that actually worked in one day. Since then, this engineering professor has always been fascinated by radios.Enge recalled an episode in which he found radios dating back to World War II in a museum in northern Norway two summers ago. He was moved to see that the radios have survived the war because back then Norwegians were forbidden to own radios or they could be punishable by death.“Like the Internet today, the radios symbolize the freedom of speech and information transmission,” he commented. “And that’s what amazes me.”The history between the two departments of aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University and National Chen Kung University goes back to 25 years ago.According to Enge, Chi-Chang Chao, the retired professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University, founded the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at National Cheng Kung University after he returned to Taiwan, when the government was determined to develop the aircraft industry.“Chi-Chang Chao is a very good friend of mine, and we used to play golf and sometimes have a drink together,” Yan added. “With this connection between the two universities, I believe we’ll soon find opportunities for future cooperation.”Contact InformationSonia ChuangNews CenterNational Cheng Kung University1 University Road, Tainan 70101, TaiwanTel: +886-6-275-7575 Ext. 50046Fax: +886-6-238-9919E-Mail: [email protected]訊息來源：成功大學本文含多媒體檔 (Multimedia files included)：http://www.cna.com.tw/postwrite/cvpread.aspx?ID=93868