Hanwha Group and KAIST Conduct Winter Science Camp for Youth

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Hanwha Group conducted a winter vacation camp in collaboration with KAIST to nurture future science talents. Fifty middle school students from the Daejeon area participated in this camp, which was held at the KAIST main campus in Daejeon for 2 nights and 3 days from the 11th to the 13th.

The winter science camp is part of the "Hanwha-KAIST Talent Development Program," which aims to discover scientifically gifted students with interest and talent in science and technology and support their growth into outstanding science and engineering professionals. By directly experiencing science, the program aims to cultivate students' creative problem-solving skills and develop logical thinking abilities.

Participants spent time listening to lectures on the latest science and technology and engaging in hands-on experiences, moving away from curriculum-centered learning, together with mentors composed of KAIST students. They also stayed and dined together in the KAIST dormitories, where they received academic know-how from their university senior mentors.

On the first day, students learned the principles of flight through an experiment making tumbler wings that fly for a long time. On the second day, they studied algorithms for controlling open-source hardware robots (Otto bots) and had time to build robots themselves. They then conducted experiments programming the robots to dance or avoid obstacles.

Since 2016, the "Hanwha-KAIST Talent Development Program" has been designed to cultivate future talents equipped with convergent intelligence necessary for the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, where artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, and big data connect with existing industries. The program consists of a convergent science curriculum combining various fields such as physics, chemistry, earth science, engineering technology, and mathematics, rather than simple knowledge transfer.

One KAIST student mentor participates for every 4 to 5 students, conducting science and math classes both online and offline throughout the year, also assisting with academic management. During summer and winter vacations, 3 to 4-day science camps are held, and during the semester, students experience corporate culture through visits to Hanwha Group business sites. Additionally, opportunities to experience various cultural events such as baseball game attendance are provided.

All costs required to operate the program are borne by Hanwha Group, allowing children to focus solely on exploratory activities without worrying about expenses. The program is also structured as a high-quality participatory learning process to support participating students in achieving their dreams of becoming future scientists.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.