Korea University: KU and Samsung Electronics Partner to Cultivate Telecommunications Professionals who will Lead the 6G Era
KU and Samsung Electronics are to establish the Department of Next Generation Telecommunications, which will deal with next generation future telecommunications technologies, including 6G.
On Monday, January 17, KU and Samsung Electronics held an agreement ceremony in KU’s Main Building for the establishment of the Department of Next Generation Telecommunications, which will cultivate leading professionals in this field.
In accordance with the Industrial Education Enhancement and Industry-Academia-Research Cooperation Promotion Act, the Department of Next Generation Telecommunications, based in the School of Electrical Engineering at KU, will be a recruitment-linked contract department, and will select 30 new students each year, starting in 2023.
KU is currently running the School of Cybersecurity with the Ministry of National Defense (first admissions in 2012) and the Department of Semiconductor Engineering with SK Hynix (first admissions in 2021) as contract departments, and through this agreement, the Department of Next Generation Telecommunications will become KU’s third such department.
Throughout the four years of the program, students will study, in sequence, basic general education, a basic major, an intensive major and interdisciplinary major courses, honing their skills in becoming creative telecommunications professionals through tailored education that connects theory and practice.
They will receive full tuition and study-related subsidies through industry-university collaboration scholarships. Those who continue to pursue their studies in a related graduate program will also be provided with full tuition and a range of subsidies. Moreover, the program will provide students with opportunities to take part in the Samsung Electronics internship program, visiting Silicon Valley and the Samsung Electronics R&D Institute, and participating in renowned overseas conferences. Furthermore, in addition to taking lectures, students will be afforded the opportunity to take 1:1 English presentation tutorials with native English instructors and to attend special lectures by respected experts.
The two organizations plan to establish a solid ecosystem involving a virtuous cycle in the telecommunications field by making education more real world. This will entail the implementation of specialized educational programs on themes pertaining to next generation future telecommunications technologies (6G, AI communications, satellite communications) and the cultivation of outstanding professionals based on close industry-university ties.
At the agreement ceremony, President Chung said, “Through the combination of KU’s excellent educational resources, outstanding faculty members and advanced administrative systems, and Samsung Electronics’ world class technology, we hope to foster world class professionals. This will also serve as an invaluable opportunity for both organizations to become strong research partners.”
Cheun said, “In line with the changes in the telecommunications market through which hardware and software technologies have been converging, we decided with KU to establish the Department of Next Generation Telecommunications.” He added, “We will provide our active support in order to contribute to the creation of new value in the next generation of telecommunications.”
More than a decade ago, KU and Samsung Electronics launched the Center for Advanced Mobile Solutions (first admissions in 2009), which ran a graduate program, but changed its name to the IT Convergence Department (first admissions in 2012), and they successfully ran the department until 2015.