Think tank to lead 21st century Korea
Think tank to lead 21st century Korea
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  • 승인 2005.04.01 12:01
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Inha University (www.inha.ac.kr) is building a reputation as a 'think tank' to lead Korea in the 21st century. Under its motto, "Think globally, act locally", Inha University is forming a think tank on the subject of the Incheon Economic Special Zone, one of three designed to lead the national economy into the 21st century, not to mention constructing the type of infrastructure that will help students meet the challenge of the global era. With the designation of the Incheon Free Economic Zone as well as the opening of the Incheon International Airport, university president Dr. Hong Seoung-Yong emphasizes that Inha University is at the center of the Incheon 'Penta port,' which includes Incheon's airport and seaport, plus its Tele port, Leisure port and Business Port. On the basis of these connections, Inha is aiming to raise its profile in Northeast Asia and position itself further as a world-class prestigious private university under its mid- to long-term development strategy, entitled 'Global Inha Vision 2020', Hong said. What is especially worthy of notice is that the University is bent on becoming one of the world's top 10 in the IT and logistics fields by focusing its efforts on logistics education/research with the whole-hearted support of major Korean shipper, the Hanjin Group. For this purpose, Inha University is pursuing its Global U7 Consortium, project under which the university has devised a 'double' degree system and the standardization of education/administration/research. On the scientific front, Inha University is achieving worldwide distinction for its research into specified high-tech fields such as IT, BT, NT, and ST. Dr. Hong said that Prof. Kim Jaeh-Wan, who is jointly researching in the field of robotics with NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and Prof. Lee El-Hang, an internationally distinguished scholar in photon engineering, are the pride of Inha University. In addition, he states that Inha University is reorganizing all curricula with the goal of becoming one of the world's top 100 prestigious universities in terms of science and engineering as well as e-learning. Distinguishing itself in the fields of information telecommunication, bio-engineering, mechanical engineering, material engineering, multimedia as well as molecular chemistry, the university is contributing to Korea's industry development as a 'venture wellspring', having produced over 3,000 graduates who have gone on to be venture entrepreneurs. Inha University is also pursuing an incubator role to nurture the specialized talent that the 21st century demands, Hong said. Inha University was founded in April 1954 with the financial assistance of Korean Americans in Hawaii with the purpose of developing human resources to lead national reconstruction after the Korean War. Dr. Hong says in this manner, Inha University, has rendered an invaluable service to the country by contributing to the unprecedented 'Miracle on the Han River' and in the process, earning itself the appellation of 'The MIT of the Orient'. Thus, Inha's first 50 years of history mirrored that of the Republic of Korea, he adds. For this reason, Inha University ranked among the top 9 in Korea on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its establishment last year, Dr. Hong said. In the following interview with The Korea IT Times, Dr. Hong elaborates on this and other themes. Q: What are Inha University's investment plans in the IT field and what innovations are you planning in regard to the university curriculum and administration A: Right now, the world's prestigious universities are globalizing, which enables multifaceted cultural experiences by transcending national boundaries in the acquisition of knowledge through creating campuses without borders. Inha University has been developing an innovative educational/administrative system for the actualization of a Ubiquitous Campus & Electronic University (the e-INHA project) in preparation for the era of globalization. As a result, our University is pursuing the concept of education "anywhere, anytime through any device" by opening Jung Seok Memorial Library, the largest digital library in East Asia with the support of the foundation, and the creation of Inha High-tech Center as an incubator for science and engineering research. This investment is intended to create synergy with Songdo New Town on the mainland portion of Incheon Free Economic Zone. Inha University strives to combine practical academic traditions with a sense of internationalism. By means of an educational-industrial cooperative tie with state-funded research institutions and public enterprises, we are putting internship and course credit acquisition programs in place. We further stress user-oriented education such as an acquisition of engineering education authentification and nurturing core talent for the knowledge-based society of the future. Such a focus on practical education contributes to our University producing better talent at the time of graduation rather than at matriculation. Accordingly, our University is ranked 7th by major corporations in terms of forming cooperative partnerships with academia. Q: Could you explain Inha University's 'Global Inha Vision 2020' development strategy A: On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of our foundation last year, it looked like Inha University was on track to be one of the 10 most prestigious private universities in the country as we were placed in 9th position in the national university assessment by the JoongAng Ilbo. Contributing factors were the education reform over four consecutive years by the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development. Moreover, our university was selected as a 'Most Excellent University' by the Korean Council for University Education as part of the second national college assessment. Yet, we can't rest upon our laurels and must prepare another 50 years with a new vision of the future. In this respect, we devised 'Global Inha Vision 2020' with a view to joining the world's top 10 universities in the fields of cutting-edge science and logistics and become one of the world's top 100 universities in terms of research budget devoted to science and engineering research in order to be recognized as a prestigious world-class private university. To lower the proportion of the tuition fee in university incomes to less than 35%, our university will expand extramural research funds, patent royalty income, outside contributions as well as scholarship resources. In addition to such efforts, Inha University will curtail the number of undergraduate students to lower the ratio of students to faculty members to 10 to 1. It's also our goal to achieve a graduate employment rate of 100% and through our Global U7 Consortium, Inha University will establish a branch school in a foreign country such as China and organize distance learning programs via satellite link. In line with our Management By Objectives (MBO) approach, we will develop 100 management indexes to monitor performance and improve the university's administrative system to a global level. Q: We understand that last year, Inha University launched its Global U7 Consortium to create a new vision for university education in the 21st century. Would you explain to our readers what it involves and how it is working out A: The three chief topics of conversation in universities nowadays are globalization, informatization, and practicalization, to coin a term. In line with this trend, Inha University formed the 'Global U7 Consortium' to boost its international competitiveness through personnel exchange and integrated educational programs in leading fields such as marine affairs, global logistics, business administration, and IT in a strategic alliance with 7 prestigious universities around the world on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of our university's founding in April 2004, judging that the need to assume global standards is urgent. The seven universities in question are the University of Washington, University of Rhode Island, University of Haifa, University of Le Havre, RMIT University, Xiamen University and Inha University. Under Inha University's initiative, the Consortium is designing a standardized world curriculum and double degree system. At the same time, joint research in science and technology, commercialization of intellectual property, and research to nurture university-originated enterprises will be run in parallel. I would like to add that another prestigious university, the University of Meiji in Japan joined the Consortium as of March 11, this year. By encouraging universities of this caliber in Europe, South America as well as Africa to join, I have every confidence the Consortium will develop as a leading global program in the field of higher education.

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