"Why Are There So Many Female Students?" Jensen Huang Returns to Seoul National University After 18 Years

Jensen Huang’s Insights on the Future of GPUs: Behind the Scenes at SNU
Nvidia CEO Amazed by Female Students and the Symbolic Spoon Set
Fostering Engineering Talent with Both Diversity and AI Capabilities
Korea Emerges as a Multidisciplinar

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, who visited Seoul National University again after 18 years, expressed his surprise at the diversity in the field of engineering education. This is interpreted as his recognition of students' creativity and the transformed engineering ecosystem. As domestic artificial intelligence (AI) players such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor are becoming deeply embedded in the NVIDIA ecosystem, the academic sector is also being recognized as a key hub for global big tech companies to secure talent.

Jensen Huang: "Why are there so many female students at Seoul National University?"

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, is giving a lecture at the "Build-a-Claw" event held on the 8th at the Haedong Advanced Engineering Building, Seoul National University, Gwanak-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jiyae Lee

On June 8, CEO Huang attended the "Build-a-Claw" event held at the Haedong Advanced Engineering Building of Seoul National University in Gwanak-gu, Seoul. It was about 40 days after his daughter, Madison Huang, Senior Director of Omniverse and Robotics Product Marketing at NVIDIA, visited the university in April. In fact, this was not Huang's first visit to Seoul National University. He previously gave a special lecture on "The Future of Visual Computing" in July 2008, marking a reunion after 18 years.

At that time, NVIDIA was merely a company making graphic cards for gaming. A Seoul National University official explained, "It was a completely different era then. Nevertheless, CEO Huang pointed out the limitations of CPU-centric computing in his lecture 18 years ago." With the advent of the AI era, graphics processing units (GPUs) have emerged as the core infrastructure for AI computation, and his prediction has become a reality. This is how he became one of the world’s most prominent CEOs.

Professor Kyu-Jin Cho of the Department of Mechanical Engineering shared, "CEO Huang asked why there were so many female students." He was reportedly surprised by how the proportion of female students in engineering, previously considered a male-dominated field, has increased in Korea. Professor Cho said, "He explained that anyone can now enjoy doing engineering," adding, "This aligns with CEO Huang's message that imagination and a spirit of challenge are more important than simple knowledge."

The "5vertake" team, which won last year's Mechanical Engineering Robocon competition, consists of a majority of female students. It is said that Madison Huang only accepted the invitation to give a lecture after hearing this news. CEO Huang's visit to the campus was also made possible after he expressed his desire to meet with students in person. A university official commented, "Perhaps it was Madison who recommended Jensen visit Seoul National University."

A Symbolic 'Spoon Set' Gift... The Father and Daughter Captivated by SNU

Madison Huang, Senior Director at Nvidia and daughter of Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, is giving a lecture on "Leadership in the AI Era: Voices of Women" at Seoul National University in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, this April. Photo by Yonhap News

At the event, where more than 1,000 engineering students gathered, CEO Huang said, "You are living through the best of times," and "This is truly an era where you can do so much." He meant that with AI technology now at the forefront of industry and research, students have more opportunities than ever to turn their ideas into reality. Professor Cho said, "CEO Huang really appreciated seeing students making things and trying creative approaches," and "He especially held Korean students' dexterity and ability to execute in very high regard."

Seoul National University also presented the 'NVIDIA father and daughter' with a surprise gift symbolizing the tradition of Korean technology. Professor Cho revealed, "When Madison Huang visited Seoul National University, she was given a spoon set and it was explained as a 'Physical AI from the past, capable of detecting toxins and having sterilization effects.'" It was a symbolic gift demonstrating how Korea’s technological sense is rooted in its everyday culture. Madison later shared that "the spoon set was the first thing I placed in the kitchen of my new home."

During his lecture, CEO Huang also spoke highly of Korea's industrial competitiveness. He said, "To create the robots of the future, you need expertise in electronics, mechanical engineering, manufacturing, AI, and cloud, and Korea is a country that has all of these." He added, "Korea has exported culture, music, film, and technology, and if you travel the world, people will know you are from the country of BTS."

He even referred to himself as "K-Jensen," expressing his affection for Korea. Highlighting Korea’s competitiveness, he said, "Korea is a special country with K-pop, K-culture, K-dramas, and even K-fried chicken. Nowadays, you can just put a 'K' in front of anything." In response, a student in the audience shouted "K-Jensen." CEO Huang replied, "That's a nickname I like. From now on, please call me K-Jensen," energizing the event hall.

NVIDIA and SNU to Expand Cooperation Including 'Infrastructure Support'

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, is giving a lecture at the "Build-a-Claw" event held on the 8th at Haedong Advanced Engineering Building, Seoul National University, Gwanak-gu, Seoul. Photo by Lee Jiye

CEO Huang’s latest visit to Seoul National University is expected to go beyond a simple event, with cooperation between the two sides set to expand. NVIDIA is currently providing the Jetson Orin Nano Super Dev-kit, an AI computing device used in robotics and AI education, to research and education sites at Seoul National University. Since this year, the university has been conducting research applying AI technology to a dual-arm robot equipped with 12 motors, and the Jetson board is being utilized in this process. In April, the university also signed a business agreement with MDS Tech, which is the official domestic distributor.

In academic circles, there are expectations that NVIDIA and Seoul National University will gradually expand their partnership from supporting research infrastructure in robotics and physical AI to linking student recruitment. The two sides are also considering introducing the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI) curriculum into the Creative Engineering Design course in the Department of Mechanical Engineering starting in the second semester this year.

There are also high expectations for NVIDIA to provide hardware infrastructure such as the personal AI supercomputer "DGX Spark." Seoul National University reportedly does not currently have enough high-performance GPUs required for AI research, so if collaboration with NVIDIA expands to infrastructure support, its competitiveness is expected to be greatly strengthened.

A senior official at Seoul National University said, "We are discussing cooperation in various directions, but there is nothing we can disclose yet," adding, "We will share more details when concrete progress is made."

The Status of the AI Ecosystem Has Changed in Academia as Well as Industry

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, along with Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, and Lee Hae-jin, Chairman of Naver, held a so-called 'Samso (Samgyeopsal·Soju) Meeting' at a samgyeopsal restaurant in Mapo-gu, Seoul on the 5th. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

NVIDIA is expanding its influence not only in GPUs but also across future industries such as AI semiconductors, robotics, autonomous driving, and physical AI. From NVIDIA's perspective, there is strong demand for Korea's industrial and manufacturing capabilities as well as for engineering talent across diverse fields. In this respect, CEO Huang's trip to Korea and his visit to Seoul National University can be seen as part of a strategy to connect Korea’s manufacturing, AI, and talent infrastructure into a unified ecosystem.

Upon leaving Korea, CEO Huang stated, "There are truly great opportunities in robotics and AI infrastructure in Korea," and "I feel a strong motivation to build the future together with Korea."

Jaeuk Lee, Director of the AI Research Institute at Seoul National University, emphasized that 'diversity' was a key reason for CEO Huang’s return to the university after 18 years. He said, "Universities focused on science and technology may tend to lack gender or major diversity, but seeing female students achieve results and coincidentally win prizes created positive momentum. I believe Seoul National University has become recognized as a good partner for NVIDIA."

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