Towards the Future's Dream:
After graduating from university in his native India, Uttam Yashwant Patil (吳坦) had planned to pursue a job near home, allowing him to help support his family. The fascination with the "Dr." prefix pushed him to pursue a Ph.D., igniting the spark to seek international study options—through a friend's friend pursuing a Ph.D. in Taiwan and getting introduced to National Tsing Hua University (NTHU).

I hardly knew that the arrival of a letter of acceptance of admission covered with a scholarship from the Department of Chemistry Graduate Program at NTHU would permanently change my life's trajectory. I eventually completed my Ph.D. and started working in Taiwan.

While living abroad in a foreign culture and language has brought its share of challenges, I am glad for the chance I took. I believe higher education in India focuses on basic theoretical knowledge, and graduates are unprepared to enter the workforce with practical knowledge. In contrast, during my early graduate studies in Taiwan, my professors guided me to develop technical and practical skills.

A Change of Plans:
I started working as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Taiwan Normal University to stay academic and excel in research. Seeing my wife, Dr. Prerana Bhan, who worked in the genomics field that allowed her to work closely with patients, ignited an urge to translate my research knowledge to help humanity and made me consider the options where I could closely work with hospitals and bring new therapeutics. I started looking for pharmaceutical jobs and landed at Rgene Corporation as a Project Manager, where I started working on new drug development for oncology.

Explore the Unknown:
Arriving in Taiwan, I was initially most concerned about the language barrier and food since I belonged to a vegetarian family. While Taiwan offers a wide variety of vegetarian food, I prefer dishes with generous aromatic spices and curries that can be hard to find in Taiwan. This led me to discover the hospitality and generosity of people in Taiwan. The university dormitory allowed me to cook, but then I had to face complaints from local students who were not aware of the Indian style of cooking. I made friends with the local and other international students, offering them to taste the food I cooked, and ended up having food dates with them over the weekends.

The next step was to conquer the language. Studying Mandarin for two semesters was still insufficient to communicate with locals. I then started interacting in Mandarin with my friends and quickly progressed in learning how to order food and save from starvation. I have a word of advice for those who would come after me, "come in with an open mind, willing to try new things and explore the culture and heritage. It makes everything easier."

Looking Towards the future:

I divide my time between my job and home, where I work with a team to develop therapeutics by conducting clinical trials and a family that supports me with unconditional love. My current projects include a new botanical drug for psychological disorders, oncology, and a vitreous substitute for ophthalmology.

The practical experience I gained working on such projects allows me to expand my global horizons, allowing me to compete and collaborate with the brightest young researchers in the world. The education and work experience I gained in Taiwan has helped put me in a leadership position. I am enjoying my life in Taiwan, exploring all the business growth possibilities Taiwan has opened.