The 20th POSTECH-KAIST Match: A Confluence of Science and Engineering Excellence
The POSTECH-KAIST Student Festival (POKA Match), a recurring exchange event between Korea’s top science and engineering universities, will take place at KAIST’s Daejeon campus for a two-day event beginning on September 22, 2023.
Since its inception in 2002, the POKA Match has served as an exchange platform, allowing students from both KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) and POSTECH (President Seong Keun Kim) to foster friendship and demonstrate their unique talents and skills through science competitions, sports, and e-sports.
The annual POKA match, held in September, rotates between Daejeon and Pohang with the name this year following the tradition of placing the away university’s name first.
This event, often dubbed the “Science War,” draws the brightest minds in Korea’s science and engineering community. It features a variety of science-related activities including hacking, an artificial intelligence (AI) contest, a science quiz, and three ball games – baseball, football, and basketball. In total, seven events are scheduled including an e-sports competition (League of Legends).
The hacking competition spans 12 hours from 3 PM on the first day until 3 AM the following day. It operates on a Capture The Flag (CTF) format where participants accumulate points by discovering vulnerabilities in the opponent’s system or decrypting passwords to locate hidden flags.
The artificial intelligence (AI) contest involves modifying some rules of the board game Quoridor. Each university designs AI programs to strategize movement and assess positions on a 9-by-9 board with victory going to the team that reaches the opponent’s camp first.
In this year’s competition hosted by KAIST, an addition to the official schedule is a friendly badminton match set for the morning of September 23.
Furthermore, the e-sports competition, traditionally held on campus, will be relocated to the Daejeon E-sports Stadium. This move to a dedicated venue enhanced not only the players’ focus but also the audience’s overall immersive experience.
Moreover, the science quiz game, previously exclusive to players, will be expanded to include an audience quiz event. This modification is to encourage more students to participate in the POKA match.
The university claiming the overall championship must secure victory in four or more events. Currently, KAIST leads with a record of 10 wins and 8 losses overall, excluding the cyber exchange games held in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a draw in 2009.
Seungmin Shin, the head of the POKA match planning team and who was accepted to KAIST’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2021, explained, “We anticipate participation from over 1,000 students including athletes and cheering squads from both schools in this year’s POKA competition. Through healthy competition, they will develop a sense of belonging and pride, forging strong bonds among engineering students.”