GIST Student Byungjin Kim Advances to Top 10 Finals of 'FameLab Korea'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (President Kim Gi-seon·GIST) announced on the 12th that student Kim Byung-jin (4th year, Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering) advanced to the Top 10 in the finals of the world’s largest science communicator discovery project, ‘2020 FameLab Korea.’

Hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and co-organized by the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity and the British Council Korea, FameLab Korea is a global competition where participants communicate with the public by delivering a 3-minute presentation on topics such as science, mathematics, and engineering using their thoughts, knowledge, and experiences.

Anyone aged 20 or older working in related fields or university (graduate) students can participate, and participants must convey scientific theories interestingly to the public using only speech, body movements, and props without any presentation materials (PowerPoint).

Student Kim Byung-jin, who has a strong interest in how science and technology influence and interact with human emotions, is known to have applied for the FameLab competition to contribute to creating a world where science can be enjoyed.

In this year’s FameLab Korea, he presented on the topic of ‘Humans perceiving robots as more than mere machines.’

The Top 10 finalists learned various practical skills such as how to creatively and impressively appeal science through a masterclass (finalist training) held from the 24th to 25th of last month. This year, British science communicator Huw James participated in the training.

The 10 finalists are appointed as science communicators by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity, gaining opportunities to communicate science with the public and becoming members of the international FameLab network.

Science communicators engage in activities such as Dadeulbaeum, a visiting science lecture for middle and high school students; Science Busking, performing science experiments on streets or stages; and science performances for adults, receiving treatment as assistant-level experts.

Currently, student Kim Byung-jin is working as an intern in the psychology laboratory of Professor Choi Won-il in the Department of Basic Education. Recently, he submitted a work titled ‘The Science of Sleep’ to ‘Show Me the Science Season 2’ and was selected as the No. 1 content in the infographic category, actively working as a writer serializing content for Science All in 2020.

Kim Byung-jin said, “While developing good technology is important, ultimately humans use technology, so I want to study how our minds accept technology,” adding, “I want to grow as a communicator active on various platforms in the future.”

Meanwhile, FameLab began in 2005 at the Cheltenham Festival in the UK, and was introduced to Korea in 2014, discovering a total of 62 science communicators up to last year.

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