During the 1960s, Taiwan endeavored to develop labor-intensive industries, as “living rooms as factories” was promoted as a way to manufacture exported goods. There had been a steady rise in export trade and gross national income every year. It was the take-off stage of economic growth in Taiwan. In the 1970s, the government began to execute Ten Major Construction Projects. A vast range of transport infrastructure composed of constructions of freeways, railways, airports, harbors and ports, and power networks were underway, besides the rapid development of the petrochemical and steel industries.

With rapid development taking place in all industrial sectors, NCKU alumni were actively engaged in many of the major infrastructures in land, air, and sea transport. The construction of Sun Yat-sen Freeway, Taoyuan Airport, and Taichung Port was in large part dependent on the alumni of the Departments of Civil Engineering, Transportation and Communication Management Science, and Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering. The alumni of the Department of Chemical Engineering made contributions to the petrochemical industry and derivatives industries, such as plastic manufacturing. The alumni with majors in mechanical engineering or electrical engineering also proved to be valuable assets to many shipyards and steel mills across Taiwan.

In 1971, the provincial university was upgraded to National Cheng Kung University, which has aimed to develop more top talent and professionals across all fields in Taiwan. Amid rapid urbanization, NCKU established the Department of Urban Planning, the first of its kind in Taiwan, in 1971 and the Graduate Institute of Aeronautical Geomatics in 1976 in the hope of developing professionals specializing in land mapping and surveying across Taiwan. Then the Department of Geomatics was founded in 1978, as NCKU intended to develop more professionals with the ability to tackle environmental issues arising from rapid development of urban areas. In 1976, the Dept. of Environmental Engineering was created out of the former Sanitary Engineering Group of the Dept. of Civil Engineering in 1976. Amid the unprecedented economic growth in Taiwan, NCKU has endeavored to develop talent across all industries so Taiwan will become even more prosperous in the seeable future.