Seoul National University's College of Engineering (hereafter referred to as SNU College of Engineering) announced that it has successfully held the great debate for two days, from September 2 (Thursday) to September 3 (Friday), to mark the inauguration of the new dean associates (new dean Byoungho Lee).
 
This event includes a discussion session with students and faculty under the theme of “Gongdam (工談: Our Voices)”, suggestions from leaders in the engineering field under the theme of “Gongcheong (工請: Hopes for the College of Engineering)”, and a discussion forum titled “Gongron (工論: Discussing the College of Engineering", and with only a minimal number of attendees, was conducted online through Zoom and YouTube, in compliance with the COVID-19 social distancing regulations.

 
On September 2 (Thursday), a discussion with the dean associates was held in four groups - associate/assistant professors, staff, undergraduate students and graduate students. At the discussion session, various opinions were discussed, ranging from practical issues regarding welfare, transportation, administration, and facilities of engineering colleges to long-term development plans for education and research.
 
At the event that was held on the 3rd (Friday), which was open to the public, following President Se-Jung Oh's congratulatory speech and the encouragement speech by Boo-Sup Lee - Head of the SNU College of Engineering alumni committee (Chairman of Dongjin Semichem Co. Ltd.), leaders from engineering fields, such as Seok-Hee Lee - CEO of SK Hynix, Taek-jin Kim - CEO of NCsoft, Doh-Yeon Kim - former President of POSTECH, Ki-young Choi - former Minister of Science and ICT,  Woo Il Lee - President of the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies, Min-Koo Han - President of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, Oh Kyong Kwon - President of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, and MIT Professor Jung-Hoon Chun, shared expectations from the College of Engineering from an outsider’s perspective at the “Gongcheong (工請: Hopes for the College of Engineering)” session.
 
"It will be necessary to develop innovative courses and establish an education system suitable for the era of the 4th industrial revolution. I hope the pioneering of innovative and creative new vision will serve as a lever for Korea's industrial development," said Oh Kyong Kwon, President of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea.
 
"A start-up is not simply the creation of a company, but more so the challenge to implement ideas. Seoul National University's College of Engineering must serve as a cradle for start-ups and I hope it will play a central role in connecting students to their future," said Taek-jin Kim, CEO of NCsoft.
 
"I hope Seoul National University's College of Engineering will become a path-finder to create new values that have not existed in the past and present directions for future technologies and foster leaders who are not only skilled, but also have the ability to bridge the cooperation between people and consider the possible contributions that can be made to organizations and to society," said Seok-Hee Lee, CEO of SK Hynix.
 
“We need to constantly ponder about social and global problems that will arise 20 or 30 years from now and on the basis of our nation's future concerns, the SNU College of Engineering should take the lead in finding ways to innovate systems such as elementary, middle and high school curriculums as well as entrance exams and must consult with relevant organizations to persuade them,” said Ki-young Choi - former Minister of Science and ICT.
 
Subsequently, the results of a survey conducted for four days from August 17 to 20 of the College of Engineering staff and faculty, was announced. Various opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of the College of Engineering and improvement measures were confirmed in the staff survey which consisted of a total of 17 questions, including their perceptions of the College of Engineering, relationships among members, the working environment, job capabilities, and expectations from the new dean. The faculty survey consisted of a total of 15 sections including education, students, research, public relations and internationalization and many opinions were expressed regarding how to improve student education and research activities, including improving the administrative system that can focus on research activities and support for online non-face-to-face classes. The foreign student survey showed high satisfaction, and the foreign professor survey had opinions regarding the communication system, meetings, foreigner support programs, and strengthening of internationalization.
 
It was the result of a survey that showed traces of concern of a new dean who wants to listen to the voices of his community members and find improvements in order to allow SNU College of Engineering to lead the future amidst this changing era.
  

 
In the “Gongron(工論: Discussing the College of Engineering)” session that followed, Sungroh Yoon - Chairperson of the Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Jeyong Yoon - President of the Korea Environment Institute, gave presentations on the 4th industrial revolution and carbon neutrality, followed by Young-Oh Kim - Representative of Feelsci (national federation society for the implementation of right science and technology), Sin-Doo Lee - head of the National Research & Development, Investment and Innovation Planning Team, Jeong-dong Lee - former Special Advisor to the President on Economy and Science at the Cheong Wa Dae and Hyo Jeong Kim - President of Women In Engineering Network SNU, who, presided over by Eunnyeong Heo - Chairman of the Korea Society of Innovation, discussed the direction of development of the College of Engineering.
 
"The digital transformation that the fourth industrial revolution will bring is so vast and profound that it cannot be compared to the existing industrial revolution," said Chairman Sungroh Yoon (Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) as he emphasized the need for SNU College of Engineering to innovatively transform not just education and research related to the 4th industrial revolution, but the infrastructure itself. In particular, he suggested that it is necessary to strengthen convergence between departments and implement lifelong education.
 
“Emphasizing the need for carbon-neutral engineering, new research and education opportunities in the engineering sector are endless because major infrastructures in the energy, transportation, and urban industries are needed to break away from the carbon-centered system that was the basis of the existing industry," said Chairman Jeyong Yoon (Professor of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering). It called for the expansion of convergence and discussion classes as well as the development of education with enhanced leadership, creativity, and challenging spirit.
 
“It is important to foster industries and solve social issues through the creation of new knowledge, and in order to achieve this, education and research should focus on strengthening common subjects and cultivating complex problem-solving skills," said Sin-Doo Lee (Professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) in the discussion that followed while the former Special Advisor to the President - Jeong-dong Lee (Professor of the Technology Management, Economics and Policy Program said, "the education at the SNU College of Engineering must essentially change from nurturing problem solvers into nurturing problem submitters that are capable of designing problems first and present new roadmaps and we will take advantage of the university's biggest benefit, which is that it is a place where errors are allowed, and be at the forefront of convergence."
 
“Research and education that allows the 4th industrial revolution and sustainability (carbon neutrality) to not collide with each other and go hand-in-hand are required," suggested Hyo Jeong Kim - President of Women In Engineering Network (Professor of Sejong Cyber University's Department of Computer and AI Engineering) while Young-Oh Kim - Representative of Feelsci (Professor of the Department of of Civil & Environmental Engineering) emphasized that, "the topic of climate change and carbon neutrality has a very large impact on industry and social infrastructure” and proposed SNU College of Engineering's joint study through the establishment of a convergence department and major, a carbon-neutral convergence cluster, and a climate change adaptation convergence cluster.


During her closing remarks, Chairman Eunnyeong Heo (Professor of the Department of Energy Systems Engineering) who presided over the discussion confirmed that today's discussion was 'the duty and goal of SNU College of Engineering to nurture talents who will lead our society and industry in the 21st century and to conduct world-class research' while she also stated that, 'this was an opportunity to confirm that SNU College of Engineering must carry out research to find preemptive solutions to big changes that our industries will face in the future, such as the 4th industrial revolution and carbon neutrality and must escape existing boundaries to revolutionarily create new industries and jobs along with innovative  education.'
 
Thereafter, Professor Kyu-Jin Cho, Professor Ki Tae Nam, Professor Sung-Hoon Ahn, and Professor and Thomas Kang took over by giving presentations on Best Practice cases.
 
Professor Kyu-Jin Cho of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, under the theme of “Creative Engineering Design Education in the COVID-19 Era” introduced the process in which undergraduate students acquired engineering knowledge by making individual robots with cheap materials at home while Professor Ki Tae Nam of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, under the theme of “Biomimetic Materials Science Research” mentioned his own experiences in the creative research design process and shared his concerns about joint research and start-ups.
 
Professor Sung-Hoon Ahn of the Department of Mechanical Engineering introduced cases of technical volunteer work in developing countries as a model of convergence between service-education-research, and introduced that it is possible to contribute to society through related technologies while Professor Thomas Kang of the Department of Architecture & Architectural Engineering, as the Head of the Global Engineering Education Center, emphasized the importance of fostering convergence talent, student-led education, and efforts for internationalization, and presented examples of international joint lectures conducted at SNU College of Engineering.
 
"SNU College of Engineering has been aiming to foster creative engineering talents to lead innovation in the global industry and future society and has continuously put in efforts in the field of education, research, start-ups and internationalization, but it is yet to be loved by the people and society," said Byoungho Lee, the new dean of SNU College of Engineering. "With a new mindset, we must contribute to a large practical impact through social contribution and global research," he added. Finally, Dean Byoungho Lee pledged to work hard every day with the motto of '苟日新 日日新 又日新' (Today is always better than yesterday).