UNIST-Harvard SEAS Promote Cultural Awareness in Engineering Education Curriculum

South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) held he 2018 UNIST-Harvard SEAS Summer Exchange Program from June 25 to July 13, 2018 for a thorough study of "Photovoltaic Cells" and "Energy Storage Systems".

Engineering students from Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) visited UNIST to partake in the 2018 UNIST and Harvard SEAS Summer Exchange Program.

The UNIST and Harvard SEAS Summer Exchange Program is an international summer research program, jointly hosted by UNIST and Harvard SEAS since the Summer of 2017. This joint exchange program offers students with an unrivalled opportunity to immerse themselves in a new culture, while broadening their basic science and engineering knowledge. UNIST is the only university in South Korea that runs a cross-cultural research program, jointly with Harvard SEAS.

This year, the program has brought together a total of 10 undergraduate students - five each from Harvard SEAS and UNIST - for a thorough study of ‘Photovoltaic Cells’ and ‘Energy Storage Systems’.

The students, participating in the program, spent 10 days at Harvard SEAS to learn about the basic principle and prospect of photovoltaic cells under the supervision of Professor Fawwaz Habbal from June 25th to July 3rd, 2018. During the course of this event, students also partook in an experimental study to fabricate an actual solar cell.

“I was inspired and truly moved by their culture of freely exchanging their ideas and opinions without the fear of making mistakes,” says Dayoun Hur in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST. “By participating in this program, I have learned that the driving force behind research excellence is the coexistence of free communication and cultural diversity.“

Upon successful completion of the summer program at Harvard SEAS, students traveled to UNIST for a thorough study of energy storage systems, including seawater batteries under the supervision of Professor Kwanyong Seo in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST. Students will also have the opportunity, as part of the exchange program, to attend a field trip to Gyeongju from July 7th to 8th, 2018.

“Bioengineering and Energy engineering seem to be different fields, but combining them can create various synergies,” says Igbokwe Obinna Maxwell from Harvard SEAS. “Working in different research environments would be of great help for my future research endeavors.”