Bio: Mr. Jay Cheng

Born in California to Taiwanese parents I moved to Taiwan in 1986 where I enrolled at Taipei American School until graduating in 1997.  At the time I would never have imagined that my daughter Caitlin would be attending 2nd grade and my son Cody (2yrs old) would be on his way to joining TAS by attending Tiger Tots this semester. 
 
I started my first business, GigaFast, manufacturing computer networking products while attending the University of Southern California Electrical Engineering program.  After moving back to Taiwan in 2007, I continued working on GigaFast while partnering with my wife Karen creating her design company KaCha Designs as a part time design consultant and photographer.  In 2015 I founded WeMo Scooter with three other TAS alums.  Working as Chief Technology Officer, we built WeMo Scooter into one of the world’s largest shared electric scooter businesses providing green economic transportation in Taiwan. 
 
Since I was a student, I’ve always tried to find ways to contribute to the TAS community from creating the school’s first website, expanding the school’s network, to connecting the school to the Internet for the first time.  I’ve worked with the TAS Alumni Association since 2012 offering various engineering and marketing internships to TAS students.  In 2017 started participating in the annual TAS NOVA entrepreneurship competition helping students thru guidance, keynote speaking, and judging the event.   
 
The completion of the Tech Cube and expansion of STEAM makes a statement that keeping up with the latest technology is foundational to Taipei American School education.  I would like to advance this initiative by bringing my years of tech innovation experience to the TAS board.  I would also like to bring my years of startup and management experience applying technology in business to the board.  Making sure the board is up to date on the latest tools to help efficiently and securely operate.   
 
My enthusiasm, positivity, creativity, and efficiency came from the teachers and classmates I had at this school.  The skills I learned at TAS have been the foundation for who I am today.  What I want is for students to have as good if not better experiences at this school and joining the board is the best way for me to make this happen.