The NPUST Department of Hotel and Restaurant Management has started an innovative “flash lecture” education module to introduce students to new professional techniques and open up their horizons.
For the inaugural lecture, which took place on April 9th, Li Mu Xuan and Mick Song, two instructors from the 32 Miss Fondant Design Training Center (32小姐翻糖造型培訓中心), where invited to give a talk on fondant cake design. The training center received considerable attention lately, after a student from the NPUST Department of Hotel and Restaurant Management, Jhai Yu-Fan, used his extracurricular time to hone his skills there. Only in his second year at NPUST, Jhai Yu-Fan used those skills to create a stunning fondant cake, designed as a model the historical Chinese imperial warlord, Lü Bu, and won the “Professional Grand Prize” at this year’s San Diego Cake Competition.
Jhai Yu-Fan harnessed his interest and passion for fondant design and worked hard to get himself trained, with his family and the teachers from his department supporting him all the way. His outstanding performance has not only brought honor to Taiwan, but has also encouraged students to work harder to improve their skills and has ignited a totally new way of thinking about course design.
For the first flash lecture, the instructors from 32 Miss were given the podium, and Jhai Yu-Fan was called to share on his learning process and reflect on the competition. It’s non-credit, non-graded approach to learning, where “interest” is the requirement – and there was no shortage of that. As soon as the lecture was announced, all the available seats were accounted for.
NPUST President Chang-Hsien Tai expressed his views that “the flash lecture is a type of ‘micro-credit’. It breaks free from traditional semester based credits system and typical course design, using weekends and summer breaks to interact with the professional sector, gain experience, and learn techniques. NPUST is working to get students in touch with more diversified knowledge and allow them to become more competitive in the job sector. And we hope that Jhai Yu-Fan will continue to cultivate his skills under the direction of his teachers and incorporate more cross-domain knowledge into his craft, developing a stable entrepreneurial base and finding ways to commercialize his products and meet market demand.”
32 Miss Fondant Design Training Center’s Li Mu Xuan explained “that ‘fondant’ is an artistic cake that originates from England. Currently, it is mostly used as a surface decoration technique for cakes and pastries. Because of its ductility, it allows for the creation of all types of detailed shapes, perfectly integrating all kinds of appearances for rich and varied designs that transcend the traditional limitations of cake design. The production process, however, is time-consuming, labor intensive and expensive and it has become the most challenging art form in the dessert industry.”
The Director Hui-Chen Chang of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Management pointed out that “the technical learning aspect of the hospitality industry is broad and diverse. Services can focus on Chinese or Western cuisine, baking, beverages, and other hospitality related items. Within each category there are also certain sets of more precisions and professional skills, like vegetable carving, fondant cake design, latte art, and napkin folding. In order to adapt to rapidly diversifying hospitality techniques and areas of knowledge, the department is promoting “flash lectures”, not only helping students to discover and develop interest, but also helping professors to acquire skills outside of their main expertise.