Forging the Silicon Elite: NYCU and Altera Launch Taiwan’s Premier FPGAi Talent Incubator

Forging the Silicon Elite: NYCU and Altera Launch Taiwan’s Premier FPGAi Talent Incubator

KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN – December 15, 2025 — In a move that significantly recalibrates the semiconductor talent landscape in Southern Taiwan, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) has officially unveiled its Altera FPGAi Joint Teaching Laboratory at its new Kaohsiung campus.

Marking the largest and most technologically advanced deployment of chip design educational resources in the nation, the facility is the result of a high-profile strategic alliance between NYCU and Altera. Facilitating this collaboration, Sean Peng, Chairman of Terasic, represented Altera in donating nearly NT$70 million worth of state-of-the-art development hardware and software licenses. This lab is not merely a classroom; it is a mission-critical "battlefield" for AI chip design and execution.


 

The Silicon Edge: Powering Modern Curriculum

At the heart of the laboratory lies the cutting-edge Agilex 5 SoC FPGA, integrated into Terasic’s DE25-Standard development boards. This hardware stack provides students with a seamless pipeline for:

  • AI Inference Acceleration & Edge Computing
  • High-Fidelity Signal Processing
  • SoC Architecture & Interconnect Design
  • Advanced Communications Prototyping
"This partnership represents a deep-tissue integration between academia and industry," stated NYCU President Chi-Hung Lin . "By putting industry-standard tools directly into the hands of our students for coursework and research, we are ensuring our graduates hit the ground running. We are transforming the Kaohsiung campus into the most dynamic engineering education hub in Southern Taiwan."


 

A Vision for Cross-Disciplinary Breakthroughs

Terasic Chairman Sean Peng highlighted that the lab’s inception is a testament to two decades of Terasic's commitment to global FPGA education. "With Altera and Terasic providing the ultimate hardware-software synergy, we are empowering the next generation to revolutionize biomedical technology with AI and benefit humanity through silicon innovation," Peng noted.

Building a Southern Tech Fortress

The inauguration ceremony featured a high-level signing and lab tour led by President Lin and Chairman Peng. The event drew a distinguished roster of ECE (Electrical and Computer Engineering) faculty, alongside Wei Jian-xiong of the Kaohsiung City Government’s Economic Development Bureau, and prominent alumni.

President Lin emphasized that the Kaohsiung campus is strategically positioned to focus on AI Intelligent Systems, Smart Manufacturing, and Applied Tech . By leveraging this new Altera-powered infrastructure, NYCU aims to create a world-class research ecosystem that bridges the gap between theoretical architecture and real-world silicon deployment.


 

The FPGAi Joint Teaching Laboratory is located at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), Kaohsiung Campus. The launch event and inauguration ceremony took place on December 15, 2025, with participation from representatives of NYCU, Terasic, and industry partners.

The laboratory is designed as a long-term platform to support hands-on FPGA education, advanced digital system design training, and closer collaboration between academia and industry. Through this initiative, NYCU, Terasic, and Altera aim to cultivate next-generation engineering talent and further strengthen Taiwan’s FPGA education ecosystem.