Hyundai Heavy Group and Seoul National University Launch 'Smart Ocean Mobility' Interdisciplinary Major

Special Lecture by Hyundai Heavy Group Management and Industry-Academia Collaboration Program
Counterpart Selection and Active Discovery of Future Strategy-Oriented Industry-Academia Projects

Hyundai Heavy Industries Group awarded scholarship certificates to master's and doctoral students of Seoul National University's Smart Ocean Mobility program. Photo by Hyundai Heavy Industries Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] Hyundai Heavy Industries Group and Seoul National University announced on the 1st that they have launched the graduate interdisciplinary program "Smart Ocean Mobility," which will become a talent incubator for the future Korean shipbuilding industry.

This program was established through a partnership between Hyundai Heavy Industries Group and Seoul National University to nurture future technology talents in the shipbuilding and marine fields. It recruited new students for double majors in the master's and doctoral graduate programs at Seoul National University. All students who complete this program will receive scholarships equivalent to their tuition fees, and incentives such as additional points will be given when applying for employment at Hyundai Heavy Industries Group.

Seventeen students majoring in shipbuilding and marine engineering, energy systems engineering, construction and environmental engineering, and materials engineering were selected for this first semester. This semester, they plan to research innovative technologies and ideas in the future shipbuilding industry by integrating shipbuilding and marine, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data fields, including topics such as "Artificial Intelligence for Shipyard Production Planning," "Advanced Eco-friendly Ship and Marine Process Systems," and "Eco-friendly and Digital Ship Structural Technologies."

In particular, this program offers broad opportunities to learn knowledge and insights from academic and industry experts through seminar-style (TED) lectures by renowned Seoul National University professors and special lectures by Hyundai Heavy Industries Group executives. It is operated through various industry-academia collaboration programs such as AI forums and technology contests, allowing students to acquire both practical skills and theoretical knowledge.

Additionally, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group actively conducts joint research and development activities in the shipbuilding and marine fields with Seoul National University. The Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Future Technology Research Institute and Seoul National University select counterpart laboratories suitable for each research field to carry out mid- to long-term strategic projects. They also plan to actively discover and jointly conduct student-led industry-academia cooperation projects. Especially, various industry-academia cooperative research projects will be conducted at the Hyundai Heavy Industries Group Global R&D Center (GRC), scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, to enhance synergy.

On the 31st, a day before the program started, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group and Seoul National University awarded scholarship certificates to all enrolled students. The award ceremony was attended by Kim Sung-jun, Director of the Future Technology Research Institute at Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Noh Myung-il, Head of the Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering at Seoul National University, and Lee Shin-hyung, Director of the Naval Architecture and Marine AI Center.

Kim Sung-jun, Director of the Future Technology Research Institute at Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, stated, "The Smart Ocean Mobility program is expected to become a cradle for nurturing core talents who will lead Korea's shipbuilding and marine industry in the future," adding, "We will continue to support our talents who will change the paradigm of the future shipbuilding industry and research innovative technologies."

Professor Woo Jong-hoon, Head of the Smart Ocean Mobility Interdisciplinary Major at Seoul National University, said, "The Smart Ocean Mobility interdisciplinary major will become a cradle for cultivating high-level personnel suitable for the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, such as smart ships, eco-friendly ships, and smart yards, which the shipbuilding industry needs," and added, "To this end, we plan to provide various educational programs combining theory and practice of shipbuilding and marine artificial intelligence technology."

Meanwhile, despite experiencing significant difficulties due to the shipbuilding industry downturn, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group has been the only domestic shipbuilder to recruit new employees annually since 2016, hiring over 3,200 people to date. In May, the group announced plans to hire a total of 10,000 people over the next five years, including about 5,000 R&D personnel, demonstrating its best efforts to discover and nurture talent in the shipbuilding industry.

A bird's-eye view of the GRC being constructed by Hyundai Heavy Industries Group in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Hyundai Heavy Industries Group

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