'Focusing on AI Talent Development,' KAIST Receives Presidential Citation

by Paek Jongmin

Published 03 Dec.2024 08:57(KST)

Opening of Korea's First AI Master's and Doctoral Program at Kim Jaecheol AI Graduate School

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST, President Lee Kwang-hyung) received the Presidential Citation in the category of organizations contributing to the development of the software industry at the ‘2024 Software Industry Professionals Day’ ceremony held on the 2nd at EL Tower in Yangjae, Seoul.

Minister Yoo Sang-im of the Ministry of Science and ICT (right in the photo) is taking a commemorative photo with the KAIST awardees at the Software Industry Day event held on the 2nd. On this day, KAIST was selected in the category of organizations contributing to the development of the software industry and received the Presidential Citation, while Professors Seo Min-jun and Kim Jae-cheol from the AI Graduate School received the Prime Minister's Citation. Photo by KAIST

Hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and organized by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency and the Korea Software Industry Association, the ‘Software Industry Professionals Day’ selects distinguished contributors who have made significant contributions to policy development for industry revitalization, workforce training, export increase, and awards the ‘Software Industry Development Merit Award.’

KAIST was recognized for its contributions to spreading the value of software and nurturing outstanding talent by developing demand-based, industry-focused education, and curricula centered on training non-major developers and convergence talents.

KAIST established the ‘SW Sagyang School Jungle’ program to cultivate computer science non-majors into convergence developers equipped with both development and collaboration skills. The Kim Jaechul AI Graduate School operates the nation’s first master’s and doctoral degree programs in artificial intelligence, and planned the ‘Machine Learning Engineer Bootcamp’ to strengthen practical capabilities of startups and entrepreneurial companies while lowering the barriers for companies to adopt AI technology.

Since 2016, KAIST has been selected for phases 1 and 2 of the Software-Centered University project, highly evaluated for promoting new technology-based curricula, an autonomous system where students directly choose convergence education, and expanding internships.

Professor Seo Min-jun of KAIST’s Kim Jaechul AI Graduate School also received the Prime Minister’s Citation at the event for his contributions to software industry development. Over the past four years, Professor Seo has published 28 papers in top international AI conferences, achieving leading research results in AI and natural language processing.

Lee Kwang-hyung, KAIST President and former professor of the Department of Computer Science, stated, “KAIST has provided diverse educational opportunities ranging from developing the capabilities of developers lacking specialized computer science knowledge to nurturing highly skilled professionals, leading the ambitious goal of training one million AI talents in Korea. I thank all members who contributed to achieving the great honor of the Presidential Citation.” He added, “Our university will continue to devote itself to nurturing globally competitive software talents through continuous development of the latest curricula and innovative degree systems.”