‘Eco-friendly Smart Ship’ Convergence Major Sets Sail for the First Time in 2022

Large-Scale Project Focused on Specialized Development of Local University Students

Orientation conducted remotely. Photo by Gwangju Jeonnam Regional Innovation Platform University Innovation Headquarters

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seunghyun Jeong] Among the five interdisciplinary majors operated by the Gwangju-Jeonnam Regional Innovation Platform University Innovation Headquarters, the Eco-friendly Smart Ship Interdisciplinary Major program marked its first launch during a non-face-to-face orientation for participating students in 2022.

This recent online program is a large-scale regional education project led by Mokpo National University, with participation from Gwangju Women’s University, Mokpo Maritime University, Chonnam National University, Chosun University, and Chodang University.

Only 45 students were selected through fierce competition for this program, which is one of the core projects of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Regional Innovation Platform initiative. It offers various benefits such as high-quality lectures from faculty members of six universities, innovation talent scholarships up to 1.5 million KRW per semester, and practical field experience through internships at partner companies.

The interdisciplinary major introduced at the orientation included course guidance on subjects like Introduction to Smart Ships and Eco-friendly Ship Design, introduction of 25 professors responsible for 25 courses, information on student support benefits, and a special lecture on achieving career roadmap goals through cooperation with the educational corporation “Dream Naru Co., Ltd.” This drew high concentration and positive responses from the students.

Professor Changyoung Song of Mokpo National University emphasized, “Despite many restrictions and difficulties in preparing the orientation amid the severe COVID-19 situation, it was necessary to provide accurate guidance on the advantages of learning by integrating specialized courses from multiple universities and to motivate each participating student to achieve their goals, so we proceeded with a non-face-to-face format. Seeing the students’ high engagement despite the inevitable drop in concentration in an online setting made our faculty and researchers feel the need to work even harder.”

Following this, Senior Researcher Sooyoung Oh, the orientation coordinator, shared, “Seeing the students’ interest and passion turned the difficulties during the preparation period into a sense of fulfillment, and we will strive even more for the academic improvement and goal achievement of the participating students.”

This platform is led by Gwangju Metropolitan City and Jeonnam Province and plans to carry out four major tasks under the vision of “Gwangju-Jeonnam Leading the 4th Industrial Revolution Era”: the Future Transportation Equipment Development Group, Energy New Industry Development Group, University Education Innovation Headquarters, and Regional Community Innovation Headquarters.

Additionally, this platform, involving 15 universities including Chonnam National University, Gwangju-Jeonnam Technopark, and 50 other institutions, is scheduled to continue until February 2025.

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