SeoulTech Selected for Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Talent Development Project

Training High-Level Professionals in Advanced Industrial Sectors

Seoul National University of Science and Technology has been selected for the "Industrial Innovation Talent Growth Support (Education and Training) Project" promoted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), and will be nurturing high-level talent in the field of AX-based manufacturing process utilization technology.

Seoul National University of Science and Technology campus. Seoul National University of Science and Technology

The selected project, "AX-based Manufacturing Process Utilization Technology Professional Talent Development," aims to systematically nurture master's and doctoral-level professionals who will support the AX transformation in the industrial field. The project focuses on cutting-edge technology sectors such as on-device AI, edutech platforms, electronic system design, and embedded software, training practical research talent required by industry.

This project is led by the Korea Information Industry Association and involves a consortium of six institutions, including Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Soongsil University, Korea Polytechnic University, Sejong University, and the Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Industry Promotion Association. The consortium plans to combine each institution's educational and research capabilities with their industrial networks to jointly develop curricula by technology group, collaborate on industry-linked projects, conduct industry demand surveys, connect internships and recruitment, and disseminate results.

The total government-funded R&D budget amounts to approximately 10 billion won. Seoul National University of Science and Technology will receive about 2 billion won in research funding over five years, from March 2026 to February 2031. Professor Lee Hakyeon from the Department of Industrial Engineering and the Department of Data Science will serve as the principal investigator, leading the educational and research programs in on-device AI models and edutech platforms.

For this project, Seoul National University of Science and Technology will focus on advancing on-device AI and edutech platform technologies. Participating students will not only learn key theories related to these fields but also engage in projects that address real-world problems faced by companies. In particular, the university will collaborate on demand-driven academia-industry projects with major domestic edutech companies such as Woongjin ThinkBig, Chunjae Education, ELICE Group, i-Scream Media, Mathpresso (Qanda), Day1 Company (Fast Campus), Onui (Sultap), Inflearn, Learning Spoons, and Modu Research Institute. The curriculum will incorporate the application of the latest AI technologies to edutech services, including multimodal LLMs, generative AI, RAG systems, and on-device AI agents.

The university will also actively support students' career pathways. Going beyond course completion, it will establish a step-by-step support system that connects academic-industry projects, internships and field training, and recruitment. Participating companies, in turn, will benefit from early identification of outstanding talent with practical skills and an understanding of field challenges, leading to tangible effects from academia-industry cooperation.

Seoul National University of Science and Technology expects that this project will help address the shortage of advanced talent in the fields of data science and edutech platforms, while enhancing the AI technology competitiveness of domestic edutech companies. The university aims to establish a cooperation model where the industry and academia grow together in the core technology sectors of the future education industry, such as AI agent-based educational services.

Professor Lee Hakyeon stated, "We will closely link this project with the BK21 Phase 4 'Data Science and Business Potential Education and Research Group' currently being carried out by the Department of Data Science to further enhance synergies in education and research," adding, "We will do our utmost to nurture professionals with global competitiveness in data science, leveraging the university's excellent research infrastructure and employment support system."

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