Daegu Yeungjin College Students An Jisoo and Jang Hwajin Win Grand Prize at 'University Exhibition Design Competition'

Yeungjin College in Daegu (President Choi Jae-young) announced on the 25th that its Department of Interior Design has proven to be the best nationwide in nurturing top-tier talent in the exhibition design field, a key sector of the MICE industry.

Students An Ji-su and Jang Hwa-jin (2nd year, Team Nemo-ui Kkum) from Yeungjin College's Department of Interior Design received the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award, the grand prize, at the ‘11th University Student Exhibition Design Contest’ held during the ‘2024 Exhibition Industry New Year Ceremony’ on the afternoon of the 23rd at the Shilla Hotel State Guesthouse in Seoul.

On the 23rd, at the Shilla Hotel Yeongbingwan in Seoul, Jang Hwajin (left) and Ahn Jisoo, students of the Interior Design Department at Youngjin College, who received the grand prize, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award, at the awards ceremony of the 11th University Student Exhibition Design Competition, are taking a commemorative photo with Cho Ikno, Trade Policy Officer of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The ‘University Student Exhibition Design Contest’ is the only exhibition design competition in Korea open to students from 2- and 4-year universities nationwide. It is hosted by the Korea Exhibition Industry Promotion Agency and the Korea Exhibition Design Installation Association, with support from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, aiming to promote the development and revitalization of the domestic exhibition industry and to cultivate specialized personnel in the exhibition design field.

This year’s contest was held in two categories: ‘Home Appliances’ and ‘Creative Themes,’ with a record participation of 20 universities.

The final round of the contest selected outstanding works through presentation evaluations by eight teams that passed the preliminary screening.

As a result, Yeungjin College’s Team Nemo-ui Kkum (An Ji-su, Jang Hwa-jin, 2nd year, Department of Interior Design) won the grand prize in the ‘Home Appliances’ category with their work titled ‘A Happy Pixel World for Music Lovers, Divoom,’ earning the prestigious Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award.

Additionally, the Department of Interior Design’s Team Dadahyeonhyeon (Park Da-hye, Jeon Ji-hyun, 2nd year) received the Excellence Award, the Korea Exhibition Industry Promotion Association President’s Award, in the ‘Home Appliances’ category for their work ‘Karcher, For Today Leading to Tomorrow.’ Furthermore, seven other teams (14 students) from the department were all selected as awardees, publicly demonstrating their top-tier exhibition design skills nationwide.

The Department of Interior Design has set a remarkable record by winning the grand prize seven times out of eight contests from the 4th to the 11th edition this year, establishing itself as the leading department in the exhibition design field.

The department’s rise to the top position in the domestic exhibition design field was built on solid industry-academia cooperation.

The department’s ‘Exhibition Design Class’ has been dedicated to specialized education in exhibition design by conducting extensive industry-academia cooperation and customized education with the Korea Exhibition Design Installation Association and its member companies, covering curriculum, field training, internships, and employment. They have also established a field-mirror type practice room and operated practical training programs tailored to the exhibition design field.

Moreover, the LINC3.0 project has been a strong supporter in enhancing expertise. It supported the operation of the MAP non-regular curriculum for contest preparation, roundtable meetings with exhibition practitioners, and visits to excellent domestic exhibition venues. Additionally, during the last winter break, the LINC3.0 project helped reinforce the video exhibition corner in the ‘Exhibition System Detail Room,’ a field-mirror type practice room.

Graduates of the ‘Exhibition Design Class’ have been highly sought after. Among the 22 graduates in February 2023, 21 found employment in the exhibition design field, with 18 of them joining excellent exhibition design companies in the Seoul metropolitan area.

The average employment rate over the past five years has reached 85%, and nearly 90% of those employed have joined specialized exhibition design companies in the metropolitan area.

Professor Park Jong-baek of Yeungjin College’s Department of Interior Design said, “Our department is successfully advancing by proactively establishing the ‘Exhibition Design Class’ as part of a ‘non-regional employment strategy.’ We take pride in producing the nation’s best and top-tier talent in the interior and exhibition design fields. We have restructured the academic system into a three-year program to fully commit to nurturing field-customized professionals.”

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