Five national policy projects to spearhed U-academic world By virtue of its recent establishment of TI DSP (digital signal processor) Lap together with Texas Instruments (TI), as well as its selection in the field of Nano processing as part of Seoul City's strategic industry innovation cluster business, Kookmin University is proving the University's talent once more as a leading University to spearhead IT engineering. The University's superb expertise in the field of IT was proven from the fact that from 1999 to 2004, the Brain Korea 21 project's specialization field and core field were already supported by grants of 11 billion won (approx. $10.39 million) and 3.3 billion won (approx. $3.11 million) respectively. The Ministry of Information & Communication (MIC) supported Kookmin University with 1.8 billion won ($1.70 million) in special funding to nurture IT human resources and with 6.4 billion won ($6.04 million) to finance a leading IT base technology development project. First of all, as Kookmin University is to receive 16.7 billion won ($15.78 million) over five years in the fields of nano processing technology as well as for an equipment development innovation cluster project from the City of Seoul. This University is sure to be in the forefront of developments in the nano industry field which is being targeted as a newly growing engine of the world economy and as the future's core technology. Prof. Yim Hong-Jae, School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Kookmin University, pointed out, "Although nano is a technology whose value is added very highly, technology development is urgent because its dependence on imports is also high". In reality, the nano industry field is anticipated to be worth $7.65 trillion in 2010 in terms of world market share through new material creation and new technology development plus the domestic parts industry market worth over 50 trillion won annually. TI Korea, on one hand, has established the company's 10th DSP Lab at Kookmin University on Oct. 11, 2005. The development equipment that TI Korea supported for Kookmin University, amounts to a scale of 120 million won ($113,422) and these equipments will be used for DSP research, on-the-spot education, experiment, and actual training for students. President Kim Moonhwan, Kookmin University, says: "TI Korea's equipment donation will serve as a momentum to establish our phase as a leading University to spearhead IT engineering and to contribute to university development by widening students' on-thespot experience width". Separately from this, Kookmin University receives government support to the value of 4.2 billion won (approx. $3.96 million) to help develop Ubiquitous IT systems and spur synergy between design and IT to give the reading public an idea of how the University is assessed. In the field of cooperation between industry and the academic world, Alias Systems, famous for its special computer effects, donated its 'Studio Tools' program worth 7.5 billion won ($7.08 million) to Kookmin University, according to university president Kim. Moreover, Sweden's Opticore Software donated its 'Opus Realizer Pro' 3D program, worth 2.1 billion won ($1.98 million) to us, which we are utilizing in the fields of construction, mechanics engineering and auto engineering, Kim explained. In this way, Kookmin University has been winning attention by putting great emphasis on differentiation and specialization in regard to the education it offers. At the same time, Kookmin University is restructuring the University's curricula to meet the evolving needs of society.