Gwangyang Steelworks Inspires Youth with 'Coding Education by Talent Volunteer Group'

153 Volunteer Sessions Since Its Founding in 2019
After-Work Commitment Fuels the Development of Smart Local Talent

Gwangyang Steelworks of POSCO (headed by Ko Jae-yoon) and its 'Coding Education Talent Volunteer Group' (led by Moon Byung-du) conducted a volunteer activity offering coding education for local youth on July 14, further contributing to nurturing future talent.

Since its founding in November 2019, the Coding Education Talent Volunteer Group has carried out a total of 153 sessions, accumulating 4,319 hours of educational activities as a professional volunteer corps. The group has consistently provided coding education to underprivileged children and multicultural youth in the Gwangyang area, including at child community centers such as 'Neulsarang Regional Child Center' in Gwangyeong-dong.

Children are deeply engaged in coding practice under the close guidance of an instructor. Provided by Gwangyang Steelworks

The program operates in a way that encourages teamwork through collaborative projects. This year, students have worked on coding parking assistance functions using ultrasonic sensors, fire detection coding with flame detection sensors, and creating automatic plant watering programs with soil moisture sensors, among others. Through this diverse curriculum, students are able to develop integrative and convergent thinking skills, as well as problem-solving abilities. In particular, the approach goes beyond simple theoretical delivery to combine real-world production and hands-on practice, capturing the interest of the youth.

The instructors are professional engineers specializing in hot rolling technology development and process control from Gwangyang Steelworks. They support students' learning in collaboration with doctorate-level researchers from the Technical Research Center. Leveraging their expertise in coding, data analysis, and on-site experience acquired through their professional work, the volunteers use their after-work hours to provide more specialized education to local youth.

In particular, by guiding underprivileged youth—who generally have fewer opportunities to experience advanced technologies—through the process of developing programs using sensors found in everyday life, the initiative helps bridge educational gaps in the region. Furthermore, the program is especially meaningful in that it supports the growth of smart talents needed for the AI era.

Volunteer group leader Byung-du Moon commented, "The most rewarding part is seeing the children's skills improve as coding education progresses. I am very grateful to the children for keeping up even though it may be difficult at times, and I will continue to work hard so that I can provide guidance to many more children in the future."

Meanwhile, Gwangyang Steelworks is engaged in various community outreach programs to support the dreams and hopes of local youth, such as an engineer mentoring volunteer team, the New Leaders Learning Volunteer Group, and the Happy Dream Tree Soccer School, in partnership with local child centers.

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