Connecting the dots within and between Taiwan and US, NATEA says the diversity across the border may sharpen Taiwan's competitive edge
Founded for thirty years, North America Taiwanese Engineering & Science Association(NATEA) focuses on technology and technical talents; in recent years, NATEA transforms itself into putting more attention on startups, and to those even of women, anticipating to utilize its resource connections to help Taiwanese startups and Silicon Valley Community.
"Before, NATEA addressed more on technology, especially the technical talents related to semiconductor industry; however, we now are expecting more talents from different fields to join us." said Rex Chen, president of NATEA.
Birds of a feather flock together, but NATEA is breaking the engineers' filter bubble
NATEA, is a non-profitable organization founded in 1991, with its main focus on the field of technology, providing different opportunities and training to Taiwanese people in north america; such include the various kinds of tech-sharing conferences and seminars held annually. For example, NATEA cooperated with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) to explore the new field in computer science: Near Field Inductive Coupling (NFIC). NATEA also cooperated with Taiwan Tech Arena(TTA) and Meet to hold the Women's Summit.
"Back when the Internet was not as convenient as today, organizations like these were needed," Rex mentioned the relation between the origin of the founding of NATEA organization and himself. Rex graduated from University of California, Irvine with a computer science degree. He used to work for Qualcomm and Cisco, and was the engineering supervisor of Intel; with over fifteen years of experience in developing software and communication technology. In 2019, he was invited to be the speaker of a 5G activity; the next year, he joined NATEA.
"It is an engineering gathering here. We discuss modern technology and papers, and we also share industrial career information." Cooperated with IEEE in 1997, NATEA later gradually gained financial support from within the industry, with more than 20 companies sponsoring NATEA. As of now, it also cooperate with Taiwanese government and ,Taiwan Tech Arena(TTA).
Thirty years have passed and NATEA has already got 13 regional branches, including 8 offices in Taiwan, and has now over 2,600 members, equipping itself with the deep connection of the talents from Taiwan and the United States as well as the sharing of information. Nobel laureate Yuan-Tseh Lee, Academia Sinica president James Liao, and Teresa Meng, the professor in Stanford University, are all its honorable members.
Looking forward to help more Taiwanese entrepreneurs to become rising star
Although NATEA has grown gradually over the years, the world is also changing. With the rise of the new industry and the new technology of biotechnology, digital content, software service, etc., Taiwan cannot only rely on the IT informational industry in the past to face the world.
"This decade, there are fewer Taiwanese working as senior executives of major US semiconductor companies. Nonetheless, there are more Taiwanese doing startups." Rex shared his observation: He thinks that talents in India and China are all going to the US; however, with the "diligence and humbleness" Taiwanese people possess, it is hard for them to outshine in big corporations, thus the change of route to startups. "Maybe it was participating in a hackathon, or maybe there was a side project besides the official position. On weekends, I often see many people knocking on their computers at Starbucks. This is the atmosphere of Silicon Valley. "
With these changes in mind, NATEA is pondering over the positioning transformation from technology-oriented to startups with more diversity. In the past, it was all technical talents in relation to semiconductors in the conference. In order to keep up with the changes that are happening around the world, NATEA is actively adjusting its membership. In spite of technical talents with no background of engineering history, startup talents and women are also equally given the chance to shine on the stage. Examples include the joining of Silicon Valley Anya Cheng and the US Taiwan Startup Forum aimed to connect Taiwanese startups and Bay area communities.
"The diversity of the community is the key to get in touch with personal connections and resources from different professionals and industries; with helping the startup community as a bonus." said Rex.
Connecting the dots between Taiwan and the US, NATEA devoted to helping entrepreneurs and professionals to catch up
Besides, the personal connections, resources, and experiences NATEA has accumulated over the past thirty years can also serve as a guidance to help startups pin the pain points of huge corporations, creating practical opportunities for the applications of startups. Rex also reminded that if Taiwanese startups want to be invested by American investors, the companies and holding structures are of utmost importance. Due to the fact that most investors can only invest in the holding structures of American companies, whether companies are established in the US or in the Cayman Islands will be part of the evaluation.
Multiple activities have been held by NATEA in recent years, all of which are to stimulate the connection between Taiwanese startups and Silicon Valley, and to diversify the communities. Examples like the Women's Summit held by NATEA online in March 2021 invited the co-founder of 500 startups Christine Tsai to share her startup journey and the experience with Angel Investment. "We will keep paying more attention to the issues of female startups and hold more online activities to connect Silicon Valley and Taiwanese community."
