"Constantly Pursue Change" ... UNIST Holds Degree Conferment Ceremony

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] UNIST held the ‘2023 Academic Year Degree Conferment Ceremony’ at 2 p.m. on the 16th in the indoor gymnasium.

Although the ceremony was canceled, held online, or in small groups over the past three years due to COVID-19, this year’s degree conferment ceremony was conducted as a fully in-person event.

The 'UNIST 2023 Academic Year Graduation Ceremony' is currently underway.

At the ceremony, a total of 1,028 degrees were awarded, including 498 bachelor's degrees, 243 master's degrees, 216 doctoral degrees, and 71 degrees from special and professional graduate schools. With this, UNIST has produced a total of 8,494 science and technology talents: 5,622 bachelor's, 1,829 master's, and 1,043 doctoral graduates.

The event began with congratulatory performances by the student cheering squad ‘UNICH’ and the student orchestra ‘UNISTRA.’ It then proceeded with the awarding of honorary doctoral degrees, the bachelor's degree report, awards for outstanding students, congratulatory speeches from internal and external guests, degree conferment, a representative speech from the graduates, and the singing of the school anthem.

First, an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree was awarded to Professor Emeritus Seo Nam-pyo of MIT at the ceremony.

Professor Seo Nam-pyo has served as Deputy Director for Engineering at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department at MIT, and President of KAIST. As the founder of axiomatic design theory, he achieved remarkable accomplishments in fields such as tribology and manufacturing science technology, and developed KAIST into a world-class science and technology specialized university.

Based on these contributions, he was appointed as an international advisory member to the UNIST President in August 2022.

The ‘UNIST President’s International Advisory Committee’ is one of the initiatives aimed at expanding networks and strengthening global capabilities to achieve UNIST’s goal of becoming one of the world’s top 100 research universities.

Professor Seo Nam-pyo was recognized for his significant contributions in helping UNIST grow into a top 100 global research university by leveraging his accumulated experience and know-how as a member of the international advisory committee, and thus received the honorary Doctor of Engineering degree.

Jo Moo-je, the founding president of UNIST, visited the university for the first time in four years to present the ‘Yebong Excellent Research Award.’

President Jo Moo-je served from 2007 for eight years, leading UNIST’s development. He established research infrastructure with a budget of about 1 trillion KRW and attracted three IBS research centers supported by 100 billion KRW in research funds.

The Yebong Award is given to the author of the best doctoral dissertation among those who have earned their PhDs. This award was established with a development fund donated by founding President Jo Moo-je and is named after his pen name ‘Yebong.’

The honor of graduating as the top student in the bachelor’s program went to Lim Chan-hyuk from the Department of Life Sciences, who received the UNIST President’s Award. The Minister of Science and ICT Award was given to Lee Seok-ju from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and the Chairman’s Award was presented to Baek Seung-o from the Department of Urban Environmental Engineering.

Among the doctoral degree recipients, graduate student Lee Hyun-jae from the Department of Energy Chemical Engineering received the Yebong Excellent Research Award for outstanding research achievements.

Lee Hyun-jae published multiple papers in world-class academic journals during his degree program, including one in Science and one in Advanced Materials, for his research on next-generation semiconductor materials.

President Lee Yong-hoon said at the graduation ceremony, “Graduates, you must compete with history and the world and envision the future of science and technology,” adding, “I hope each of you becomes a person who designs the world five or ten years ahead through convergence within or across your major fields.”

He continued, “With our motto ‘First in Change,’ I hope you pursue constant change without fear of challenge and innovation,” and emphasized, “I hope you become responsible intellectuals who not only discern distorted claims spread in society and present new visions but also give back to society the benefits you have received.”

The event was attended by about 2,000 guests, including the Mayor of Ulsan, the Uljugun County Governor, and Lee Hyun-soon, Chairman of UNIST, celebrating the graduation ceremony.

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