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Pursuing industry-customized talent fostering projects Newly establish College of Mechanic IT, Department of Automobile Mechanical Engineering, Department of Robot Engineering Pursuing two-track plans to foster humanities and basic academics [May 3, 2016] YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) for the Ministry of Education's PRIME (PRogram for Industrial needs - Matched Education) Project' (hereinafter 'PRIME Project'). On the 3rd, the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation announced that they selected a total of 21 universities to receive support for the PRIME Project. According to this, YU will receive approximately 15 billion won in national funding annually amounting to around 45 billion won for three years up until 2018. In addition to YU, nine universities such as Konkuk University, Kyungwoon University, Dong-Eui University, Sookmyung Women's University, Soonchunhyang University, Wonkwang University, Inje University, and Hanyang University (ERICA) were selected as social demand leading universities (large-scale projects), while a total of 12 universities from the five regions of Seoul, Daegu/Gyeongbuk/Gangwon, Southeast, Chungcheong, and Honam/Jeju were selected as creation-based leading universities (small-scale). With the selection for this project, YU procured approximately 45 billion won in national funding and is planning to concentrate on fostering the smart robot, future automobile, convergence materials, and chemical sectors, which are future growth engine fields. In order to foster talents for these industries, YU is planning to separate the electric, electronics, computer, information communication, and mechanics majors in the College of Engineering to establish the College of Mechanics IT, while newly establishing the Department of Robot Mechanic Engineering and Department of Automobile Mechanical Engineering. Plans are set to increase the 1,100 newly admitted students this year in the College of Engineering to a total of 1,400 by separating it into the College of Mechanic IT and College of Engineering. YU is planning to increase the student quota in mechanics, electric, electronic, computer, and chemical engineering sectors, which the university has traditionally been strong in, while fostering departments related to convergence materials and renewable hybrid and accelerate reorganization of futuristic departments. Therefore, it is expected that they will realize college education that meets future industry demands, and create mutual growth and synergy among the departments. In addition to this, YU will foster talents in humanities to fit the changing times by completing reforming its humanities sector. In order to strengthen its humanities education, YU is planning to improve its school system and develop the so-called 'YU-MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)' contents to promote the humanities disciplines in its multi-faceted efforts to develop the humanities and basic academics. YU President Noh Seok-kyun said, "We will foster excellent human resources through educational reorganization that reflects social changes in connection with the major industries of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk regions. Furthermore, we will increase communication between the university and society by promoting research in the basic academic sectors and industry-academic cooperation." Meanwhile, the 'PRIME Project' is a large-scale national funding project beginning this year with the goal of resolving the mismatch of human resources through college reorganization to fit the social changes and industry demands. Starting with approximately 200 billion won in 2016, it will provide a total of 600 billion won by 2018.
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100 alumni in Seoul visit YU for 6th straight years to spend two days and a night with juniors Former Minister Jeon Jae-hee, Yuhan Corporation CEO Lee Jung-hee, Football Coach Shin Tae-yong, Movie Director Cho Jin-gyu and more Leaders in different parts of society holds 'Talk Concert' with juniors [April 29, 2016] <Alumni from Seoul hold the alma mater visiting event for the 6th straight year> “It is the sixth year this year to visit our alma mater together with alumni currently in Seoul since 2011. As always, I had a hard time going to bed over the thought of meeting our juniors. Remember that we are not here physically any longer, we are always rooting for YU and our juniors!” YU Seoul Alumni Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun (66, Commercial Science '69, CEO of Ilshin Electronics) visited his alma mater YU with high expectations to meet his juniors. At 12:30 p.m. on the last Friday of April, Mr. Yoon Sang-hyun and other 'power leaders' leading Korea gathered at YU. Over 100 alumni working in various parts of society took time out from their busy schedules and took buses to go on a four hour ride to visit their alma mater. This is a scene that cannot be seen in any other university of Korea. This homecoming day event has continued for the sixth year already. Former Minister of Health and Welfare Jeon Jae-hee (66, Public Administration '68), Yuhan Corporation CEO Lee Jung-hee (64, English and English Literature '71), Kunil Engineering CEO Sohn Il-soo (59, Civil Engineering '75), Chungmu Law Firm Main Attorney Seo Young-deuk (57, Law '78), Ecopro CEO Lee Dong-chae (56, Business Administration '78), Movide Director Cho Jin-gyu (55, Painting '80), Korean Olympic Football Head Coach Shin Tae-yong (45, Physical Education '88), and others in politics, finance, culture, and sports all gathered together. YU prepared a welcoming event and luncheon for the alumni who took time from their busy schedules, and YU President Noh Seok-kyun, appointed professors, and the president of the student body stated their appreciation. When Mr. Yoon Sang-hyun said in his greeting speech, "The alumni who gathered here today will share all of the knowledge and experiences we gained to our juniors." YU President Noh Seok-kyun then replied, "Our senior alumni's interest for our school and love for juniors are of great help to the development of our school. I trust that your juniors will follow your examples and become leaders of Korea." Student body president Kwang Byung-chul (28, School of Materials Science and Engineering, senior) gave Mr. Yoon Sang-hyun flowers to welcome him on behalf of the students, while saying, "We are very proud of the fact that our seniors are active as leaders in different part of society." He added, "Even now, your juniors including myself are working hard to fulfill our role in society. We will do our best to continue your legacies." After the welcoming luncheon, a 'Talk Concert' with juniors was held at the Cheonma Art Center from 2:30 p.m. Students filled up the 500 seat Chamber Hall to listen to the experiences and advice of their seniors. The talk concert, which was emceed by Attorney Seo Young-deuk, was joined by Former Minister Jeon Jae-hee, Yuhan Corporation CEO Lee Jung-hee, Ecopro CEO Lee Dong-chae, Movie Director Cho Jin-gyu, Coach Shin Tae-yong, Misil Farm CEO Shin Sang-bo (Chinese and Chinese Literature, '92), Fill Architecture CEO Lee Sang-hyun (Architecture, '79), and Korean Intellectual Property Office Judge Jung Da-won (Pharmacy, '83). <Alumni from Seoul holding talk concert with juniors> Former Minister Jeon Jae-hee said, "Together with the title of being the first woman in Korea to pass the public administration examination, I have walked the path of a minority and came to where I am today. In order for the few to lead the majority, great efforts are needed. This is a beautiful thing." She added, "You should also not be afraid of taking the path of the minority." Olympic Head Coach Shin Tae-yong said, "I became the first to graduate from a university outside of Seoul to become the head coach of the Olympic team. I don't think there are limitations just because of the region of your university. I achieved many things, but now I am racing toward another goal to become the head coach of the World Cup Team." He added, "If you trust in yourself and use your energy, you will be able to achieve your goals." After the talk concert, dialogues between alumni and students continued in meetings by departments, and the alumni gave their advice and encouragement as social leaders and senior alumni.
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Department of Electrical Engineering Professor Seok Jul-gi's patented technology 'Alternating Motor Control Method' transferred to corporation YU receives full fees and running royalty Full-fledged 'University Intellectual Asset and Outstanding Technology' project with government support from last year [April 26, 2016] <YU and ABOV Semiconductors signed a technology transfer MOU and will pursue commercialization of patented technologies possessed by the university> YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) was once again sought out by companies and will pursue technology commercialization. The excellent research capacities and technologies of the university were once again recognized by companies. YU will pursue the technology commercialization project by transferring the 'high efficiency operation alternating motor control method' that was developed and patented by the Department of Electrical Engineering Professor Seok Jul-gi (47) to the semiconductor manufacturer, ABOV Semiconductors (CEO Choi Won). YU held a technology transfer signing ceremony with ABOV Semiconductors at the YU President reception room at 4 p.m. on the 25th and will begin full-fledged technology commercialization. At the signing ceremony, YU President Noh Seok-kyun, Industry-Academic Cooperation Team Director Park Jin-ho, Technology Transfer Commercialization Center Director Kim Seung-cheol, and Professor Seok Jul-gi (Industry-Academic Cooperation Team Assistant Director) met with ABOV Semiconductors CEO Choi Won and corporate researchers and they agreed to gather their capacities for successful technology commercialization. The 'motor control algorithm' developed by Professor Seok is an alternating motor operation method that can easily achieve max efficiency operation in high-speed operation ranges. This technology was internationally recognized by receiving the 'Society Level Prize Paper: Transaction Second Place Prize Award' from the Industry Applications Society (IAS) under the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2014. With the signing of the MOU with ABOV Semiconductors, it is expected that Professor Seok's technologies will be applied in semiconductors and be utilized in various electric devices that require high efficiency and high power density inverters such as for environment-friendly automobiles and air conditioners. According to Gartner, a market analysis company in the US IT sector, it is expected (as of 2013) that the global semiconductor market will grow to be worth 382.9 billion dollars by 2017, and it is thus anticipated that Professor Seok's technology will create a considerable amount of additional value. With this technology transfer agreement, YU will receive a fixed technology fee as well as running royalties for 10 years as soon as revenue is generated from this technology. Professor Seok, who developed this patented technology, said, "There has been continuous demands for development of the high-speed operation, high efficiency, high power density alternating motor technology sectors in order to improve industrial productivity. Additional control functions are needed for high-speed operation in the existing closed-loop method electric current controller based control." He added, "The technology developed here uses open-loop method control, and it simplified the algorithm and solved the interruption issue between controllers, while not requiring additional control functions. Furthermore, it provides design flexibility of alternating motor and inverter operating devices, and it has a wide range of uses as it can be applied in all types of alternating motors including ultra high-speed operation." Projects that tie the outstanding technologies of YU with companies have recently been very active. This technology transfer was matched with the company through the '2015 Outstanding Technology Seminar' that was jointly hosted by Samsung Electronics and Korea Association of University Technology Transfer Management that was held in September of last year. In February of this year, the 'medical new material manufacturing technology' developed by Department of Chemical Engineering professor Kim Sung-cheol was transferred to Hyun Woo Tech, which is pursuing the future medical devices business. Meanwhile, YU has been accelerating commercialization of the intellectual properties and excellent technologies possessed by the university with government support. YU was selected for the 'university creative asset commercialization support project' overseen by the Ministry of Education and National Research Foundation and will receive a total of 2.3 billion won over a span of three years.
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Alumnus Kwon Jong-hyo (Textile Engineering '72) donates 797 ancient books passed down through family Named 'Dongju Kwon Myung-soo Library' named after the pseudonym and name of the collector at the central library Plaque of appreciation given to Mr. Kwon Jong-hyo on the 22nd [April 22, 2016] <Alumnus Kwon Jong-hyo, who donated ancient books passed down from his ancestors, takes a look around the 'Dongju Kwon Myung-soo Library'> An alumnus who graduated from YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) made news by donating a large amount of ancient books that were passed down to him from his ancestors. KPH CEO Kwon Jong-hyo, who was from the YU Department of Textile Engineering class of '72, donated 797 ancient books. The books donated by Mr. Kwon included 32 types of 192 books for the woodblock-printed version and Chinese version of the Dongibogam that were reprinted by the Gyeongsang provincial office in 1754, and amount to 259 different types of 797 books. The period of publication for the donated books include 4 types of 25 books from the 17th century, 35 types of 155 books from the 18th century, 145 types of 446 books from the 19th century, and 75 types of 171 books from the 20th century. These books were collected and stored by Dongju Kwon Myung-soo (1869-1953), who is a descendent of the Andong Kwon Family Bokyagong Clan. They were passed down to Mr. Kwon Myung-soo's second eldest son Kwon Dae-gil and his eldest son Mr. Kwon, which were then recently donated to YU. Mr. Kwon said, "I decided to make the donation because I felt that it would be of more use by having the university, which has expertise in both education and research, store it instead of personally keeping it." He added, "I hope that YU will utilize it in remembrance of my grandfather's noble spirit who loved academics and collected many books." The books donated by Mr. Kwon were named 'Dongju Kwon Myung-soo Library' using the pseudonym and name of Mr. Kwon Myung-soo and it will be placed at the ancient literature library of the YU Central Library for use in research and education. To extend its thanks to Mr. Kwon for donating the books, YU presented a plaque of appreciation to him at 2 p.m. on the 22nd. YU President Noh Seok-kyun met with Mr. Kwon to present the plaque of appreciation and said, "It will be valuable as academic materials for students and researchers" and added, "We really thank you for donating valuable heritages passed down through your family to YU."
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Eight of 12 seats for the Daegu region from YU Alumni power proven again following the 19th elections In the 2014 provincial elections, 21 YU alumni elected for metropolitan and local autonomy region heads, and 1 elected as superintendent of education [April 14, 2016] <YU alumni elected in the 20th National Assembly elections> (from top left to right: Joo Ho-young, Kim Sang-hoon, Yoo Seung-min, second row left to right: Jung Tae-ok, Jung Jong-seob, Cho Won-jin, Yoon Jae-ok, third row left to right: Kim Gwang-rim, Kim Seok-gi, Lee Wan-young, Kim Jong-tae, last row left to right: Lee Cheol-woo, Choi Gyeong-hwan, Jeon Hye-sook, Choo Mi-ae) YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) once again displayed its alumni power in the 20th National Assembly elections. Results of the elections held on the 13th showed that a total of 16 YU alumni joined the National Assembly. Most of the election winners were in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions. In Daegu, they included Joo Ho-young (Law '78) of Suseong (eul), Kim Sang-hoon of Seo-gu (Law '82), Cho Won-jin (Graduate School of Public Administration '97) of Dalseo (byeong), Yoo Seung-min (Graduate School of Business Advanced Management Program (AMP) '06) of Dong-gu (eul), Yoon Jae-ok (AMP '08) of Dalseo (eul), Kim Bu-gyeom (AMP '12) of Suseo (gap), Jung Tae-ok (Graduate School of Public Administration Advanced Policy Leader Program '15) of Buk-gu (gap), and Jung Jong-seob (AMP '16) of Dong-gu (gap). Thus, 8 out of the 12 seats in the Daegu region were taken by YU graduates. In the Gyeongbuk region, they include Kim Gwang-rim (Economics '69) of Andong, Kim Seok-gi (Public Administration '71) of Gyeongju, Lee Wan-young (Public Administration '76) of Goryeong/Seongju/Chilgok, Kim Jong-tae (AMP '01) of Sangju/Uiseong/Gunwi/Cheongsong, Lee Cheol-woo (AMP '06) of Gimcheon, and Choi Gyeong-hwan (AMP '06) of Gyeongsan. In the Seoul region, Jeon Hye-suk (Pharmacology '73) of Gwangjin (gap) and Choo Mi-ae (AMP '08) of Gwangjin (eul) were elected, and thus a total of 16 YU graduates joined the 20th National Assembly. In the 19th National Assembly elections, 15 were from YU, and in the provincial elections of 2014, two were selected as metropolitan heads, 19 for local autonomy region heads, and 1 as a superintendent of education for a total of 22 people, thus showing the alumni power of YU in Korean politics. Meanwhile, the YU general alumni assembly is scheduled to be held at 6:30 p.m. on April 29 to hold a celebration banquet at the Daegu Grand Hotel to root for the 20th parliamentary activities.
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18 executives in Hyundai Motor Group placing in top 10 High ranking in executives for POSCO, Shinhan Financial Holdings, Korea Electric Power Corporation '3rd place' for colleges that graduated future CEOs for Hyundai Motor Group [April 11, 2016] YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) was found to be in the top 10 universities for the number of executives in the Hyundai Motor Group and POSCO. Recently, a weekly news magazine announced the results of the 'Top 30 Company Executive Analysis'. According to this, YU graduated 18 people who later became executives for the Hyundai Motor Group, placing 10th in the nation, and four for POSCO, placing eighth in the nation. In addition, of the 15 executives of Shinhan Financial Holdings, two graduated from YU, which is the second highest number of executives following Korea University. At the Korea Electric Power Corporation, one of the six full-time executive was from YU. Thus, it was found that YU alumni are playing key roles in major conglomerates and public corporations that lead Korea's financial sector. According to analysis by CEO Score, a corporate management performance evaluation site, last year, YU graduates two CEOs according to the analysis of colleges for the 17 Hyundai Group subsidiary CEOs, which was the third highest number following Seoul National University and Korea University. Hyundai Steel CEO Kang Hak-seo (61, Business Administration '79) and Hyundai Powertech CEO Jung Il-soo (58, Mechanics '76) both graduated from YU. Meanwhile, YU was placed 6th in the nation in the ranking for colleges for CEOs in Korea's top 100 countries by <The New Management>, and also ranked sixth in the nation for two consecutive years in 2013 and 2014 for the college ranking in the 'KOSDAQ Listed Company CEO Report', thus confirming that YU alumni are leading Korea's financial sector.
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School of Mechanical Engineering automobile production club 'YUSAE' Wins 'Best Paper Award' in international conference on electric automobiles Equipped with 'theory, practical and experience' such as winning the top overall in an international car production competition [April 8, 2016] <Automobile production club YUSAE students and advisor Hwang Pyeong who won the best paper award in the 1st International Conference on Electric Vehicle, Smart Grid and Information Technology> (from left to right: Lee Soon-gi, Yeom Seung-jae, Lee Yoon-hwa, Professor Hwang Pyeong) YU students won the best paper award at the '1st ICESI (International Conference on Electric Vehicle, Smart Grid, and Information Technology'. The winners were Lee Soon-gi (24, senior) Yeom Seung-jae (22, junior), and Lee Yoon-hwa (21, senior) of the School of Mechanical Engineering who are also part of the YU automobile production club, 'YUSAE'. Their paper on the 'Student Design of Electric Vehicle for 2015 Baja SAE Korea Competition' was selected as the best paper and received the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award. Lee Yoon-hwa, who was the first author of this paper, said, "The paper dealt with the structure of vehicles, design of decelerators, system design for motor control and cooling, and the dynamic analysis of vehicles. I had participated in the electric car sector in an international college student automobile production by designing and producing a small off-road electric vehicle. We had good results then too." She added, "I think we received good marks for our deceleration design to improve the hill angle rise, which is a weakness of electric cars, as well as our attempts in designing the motor for torque distribution and our efforts to optimize suspension (device that absorbs impact from the road so that it is not delivered to the chassis or passenger." The 'YUSAE' club has continuously participated in international automobile production contests in the past several years, and took the grand prize and second place awards, and is therefore judged to have both theoretical and practical expertise. In particular, they have been making great achievements by using experiences they accumulated by designing and driving their vehicles through numerous automobile production contests, and have been using such experiences to improve automobile performance. School of Mechanical Engineering Professor Hwang Pyeong, who advised these students, said, "The students received good evaluations by writing the paper based on their experience in designing and producing a small one-person off-road electric vehicle." He added, "I believe that this paper will contribute in the design of similar leisure vehicles, farming vehicles, and short-distance electric automobiles, and I also have high anticipations that it will be a basic model for self-driven cars in the future." Lee Soon-gi, who is the president of the YUSAE club, said, "We have been receiving a lot of advice from our advisor to carry out follow-up research to improve the performance of electric vehicles," and explained their future research plans by adding, "We will make various attempts such as in motor control technologies to increase torque and improve hill climbing abilities, changes to the structural design to reduce the weight of the vehicle, and to design the chassis in a way that it improves vehicle durability." Meanwhile, the awards ceremony for the winners of this international conference was held at the 3rd International Electric Vehicle Expo closing ceremony that closed its curtains at the Jeju International Convention Center on the 24th.
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International joint researchers with researchers from US, Japan and China, publishing over 10 SCI papers every year Jointly authored global material engineering books with domestic and foreign professors [April 18, 2016] YU School of Materials Science and Engineering Professor Han Young-hwan (59) received the 2016 'Scholastic Award' by the Korean Ceramic Society. The Korean Ceramic Society (Chairman Oh Young-jae), which was founded in 1957, is the most authoritative academic organization in the domestic ceramics sector. The scholastic award is given to one person every year who made significant contributions to the academic development of ceramics through books and papers on ceramics for at least ten years. If nobody is qualified, no winner is selected, and other measures are also taken to strictly limit eligibility of winners. Professor Han is an expert in the spark plasma sintering (SPS) field of nano-ceramic materials. For many years, Professor Han has been conducting research on evaluating the features of compounds adding carbon nano-tubes (CNT) and graphene within nano-ceramic materials through SPS, producing transparent hydroxyapatite for bio nano-sensors using materials of artificial bones, and on inoculating silicon carbides used for atomic materials. Professor Han conducted international joint research with the world's top researchers from UC Davis NIMS (National Institute for Materials Science) of Japan, and NIMTE (Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Science) and has been highly active publishing over ten SCI level papers every year. Recently, he has applied for a patent related to 'stealth jet radar blocking powder materials' by conducting joint researchers with domestic and foreign researchers. In September of last year, he made news by joint authoring the fourth edition of the 'CRC (Chemical Rubber Company) [Materials Science and Engineering Handbook, co-authored by UC Davis College of Engineering Professor James Shackelford, YU School of Materials Science and Engineering Professors Kim Seok-young and Han Young-hwan, and Pusan National University College of Materials Engineering Professor Kwon Sae-hoon], which is known as the 'bible' among global materials engineering researchers. Professor Han said, "We made great achievements through international joint research with various researchers at home and abroad. I am receiving this award on behalf of them." He also added, "I will work hard so that undergraduate and graduate students can participate in various international joint research so that the research capacities of Korea and YU in the ceramics sector can reach world-class levels." Professor Han earned his PhD at the University of Nevada in the US and served as a researcher at UC Davis and UC Berkeley, and has been serving as a professor at YU since 2010. He is currently active as a guest editor of 'Scripta Materialia' and 'Advances in Applied Ceramics', which are globally acclaimed academic journals in the materials engineering sector. The awarding ceremony is scheduled to be held at the Busan Centum Hotel at 6:30 on the 21st. Professor Han is scheduled to give a lecture on 'R&D on substitute materials for next-generation nuclear power plant parts in relation to the Fukushima nuclear power plant explosion in Japan' at the '2016 Korean Ceramics Society' that will be held at BEXCO prior to the awarding ceremony.
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Large-scale senior public official training team from the Philippines receives Saemaul education at YU International cooperation leading university project reaps fruit in the Philippines Enderun Colleges became the first foreign university to establish the 'Saemaul Department' [March 25, 2016] <Philippine government and local authority leaders received Saemaul Undong training and held a completion ceremony on the 18th> The Saemaul Undong is spreading throughout all of the Philippines. The seeds of the global Saemaul Undong sown by YU after being selected as an international cooperation leading university by the Ministry of Education have finally given fruit. YU conducted Saemaul training for 21 people including key figures in the Filipino government and local authorities for seven days from the 13th to the 19th. The group included 11 provincial government leaders of the philippines such as Governor Wilter Palma of Zamboanga Sibugay, Mayor Don Abalon of Northern Samar, the mayor of San Roque, and the vice-governors of administration from La Union and Abra Provinces. Furthermore, senior public officials of major central government departments such as the National Economic Development Agency (NEDA), Agricultural Reform Ministry, and the Public Administration Ministry and key figures of the League of Provinces of the Philippines also joined. This training, which began in the morning of the 14th with an orientation, included visiting Gumi City Hall on the 16th to gain a basic understanding of the principles of and strategies of the Saemaul Undong by checking the advanced provincial administration for urban and rural areas in Gumi, and it was a good opportunity to improve understanding on Korea's current rural development and advanced agricultural administration. Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul Director Park Seung-woo, who is in charge of YU's international cooperation leading university project, said in his welcoming address, "This training program will be an important point in time for spreading the spirit and methodology of the Saemaul Undong in the Philippines, and to spread regional development programs based on the Saemaul Undong." The governor of Palma said in his keynote address, "I hope that the participants here will spread Korea's Saemaul Undong in the Philippines and become warriors that spread regional development for the Philippines based on the spirit and policies of the Saemaul Undong." Meanwhile, YU created a huge sensation by establishing a Saemaul Department in Enderun Colleges in the Philippines through the international cooperating leading university project. Enderun Colleges President Ed Rodriguez, who also participated in this training, said, "We will do our best in spreading the Saemaul Undong in the Philippines with Enderen Colleges as its forward base." Enderun Colleges has been engaging in Saemaul regional development programs and Saemaul training programs for public employees through MOUs with a number of provincial governments such as in Iloilo and Letye, as well as the League of Provinces of the Philippines. It is expected that through this training for senior public officials, YU's global Saemaul Undong will spread all across the Philippines. The seeds of the global Saemaul Undong sown by YU are not reaping fruits in the Philippines.
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Helping with exports for local companies by participating in 2016 Dubai Agricultural Expo Signed export contracts for 86,000 dollars 279 consultations with buyers, hoping for additional export contracts [March 31, 2016] <GTEP team students participated in the Dubai Agricultural Expo to provide consulting on exports with buyers> YU students are helping local companies to increase exports to the Middle East. In the recently held '2016 Dubai Agricultural Expo (AgraME2016)', 20 students with the YU Global Trade Experts Incubating Program team (hereinafter 'GTEP team') contributed significantly to help local small and medium companies sign export contracts for the Middle Eastern market. AgraME is the largest agricultural expo in the Middle East joined by over 5,000 buyers every year and YU students stood in the frontline to make known the name of local companies and help open the door to exports. The YU students held 279 buyer consultation sessions in Dubai with 10 excellent agricultural material companies such as Byongjue Agricultural (CEO Cho Nam-sun), Bu Kwang Sa (CEO Lee Sang-hee), Green Agrotech (CEO Park Man-woong), and Yukil FGC. The amount of the consultations reached 2 million dollars. In particular, with the help of YU students, Bu Kwang Sa, a shade net manufacturing company, signed contracts worth a total of 70,000 dollars with Al Qarn, a company in Oman, and Al AinGarden of the UAE. Byongjue Agricultural, which specializes in producing horticultural binding machines, signed a contract for exports with 15,000 dollars on the spot with Al Qbaidi, a company located in Budabi. After signing an export contract in Dubai, Bu Kwang Sa Director Lee Yong-ho said, "The buyer consultations by the YU students played a decisive role in signing export contracts," and added, "I was surprised to see the students have practical knowledge and foreign language skills equivalent to that of other professionals. I hope that we can continuously work with YU for more exports to other foreign countries." Green Agrotech, which possesses technologies on pest traps, signed a technological partnership agreement for the development of palm pest trap pheromone with Al Atta of Dubai, while Dain Industries held in-depth discussions on plans to utilize landscape trees of fruit tree trap materials with UAE buyers to raise the possibility for exports in the future, thereby posting both tangible and intangible results to establish a foothold for local companies to export to the Middle East. They are planning to help the companies in the future for continuous talks with buyers that they talked with at the event, and therefore, it is expected that additional export contracts will follow. Lee Seok-young (24, School of International Economics and Business, senior) who took part at AgraME while serving as an agent of the 10th YU GTEP team said, "It was a great opportunity to learn practical knowledge that is not taught at school by cooperating with corporate professionals," and added, "Based on the theories that I learned from the project team, I wanted to see what I could do in the real field, and I am very pleased that we were able to actually sign contracts." The global trade capacities of the YU GTEP team are already well know. They contributed in signing a whopping 750,000 dollar export deal by helping a local company that specialized in roofing materials. Being recognized for such capacities, YU was selected last year for the 'Regional Specialized Youth Trade Export Incubating Program' sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Korea International Trade Association. In particular, YU is the only one of the 24 universities selected for the project nationwide for specialization in the Middle East. The YU GTEP team fostered trade experts armed with language and trade knowledge for the Middle East and was expected to play a big role in helping companies in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk region to enter foreign markets. It has made visible outcomes in not even a year since pursuing the project. Meanwhile, YU has continuously been pursuing youth trade expert incubation programs fro 2001 with the support of the government. Since starting the Ministry of Industry and Energy TI (Trade Incubator) project in September of 2001, it has been carrying out youth trade expert incubation projects for the 16th straight year.
