- 건국대학교

	Konkuk University after three-year of Prime Project
	관리자		1508		2018.10.01

[Joongang Daily Newpaper Special] University of leading Future KU has transformed into the most innovative university with Smart Factory, Prime Lounge and Dream Semester. 
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<After Konkuk University was selected as a Prime Project, KU has transformed into a 'top innovation university'. KU has improved educational environment and infrastructure based on enormous physical and human resources. In order to secure competitiveness and converge with the academic unit in preparation for the 4th Industrial Revolution era, KU has reformed and reorganized the college operation.>
The 'Smart Factory', located on the first floor of the engineering building in Konkuk University in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, is always crowded with students. Lee Ye-jin, a 4th grade student of department of apparel design, made a ‘mini digital piano’. Although she is major in art design, she learned computer coding and also finished assembly such as soldering.
On the other side of the Smart Factory, students who participated in the second semester of "Dream Semester 2018" gathered together and were building various products with 3D printers. The 'Dream Semester' is a flexible semester of Konkuk University which allows students to earn credits by conducting self-directed creative activities instead of classroom classes. In Smart Factory, every two or three times a week, classes related to the 4th industry such as 3D printing and making production are held. Establishment of ‘Konkuk Institute of Technology’ specialized in Bio · ICT 
There is a PRIME Lounge where students can learn and communicate any time, located on the right side of the new factory of engineering building. It is a team-based open learning space. This year, on the third year of prime project, this open-type learning spaces are established all over the campus such as at Engineering Building, Life Science Museum, Sanghuh Research Center, Sanghuh Memorial Library.
Konkuk University was selected as ‘the most Innovative University’ after being selected as Prime Project. This year is the third year which is the final year of the Prime Project. Over the past two years, Konkuk University has improved its educational environment and infrastructure by restructuring its academic structure to meet the demands of the 4th Industrial Revolution, based on enormous physical and human resources. The prime performance of the prime business is the ‘Konkuk Institute of Technology’, which was established in the fields of Bio and ICT (information and communication technology) with the aim of cultivating talents tailored to industry demands in consideration of industry and student demand. Konkuk University reformed its graduate school and college operation in order to secure the competitiveness of the university and convergence of academic units in preparation for the 4th industrial revolution era. In 2017, the College of Animal Life Sciences and Life and Environmental Science, which is a college of biotechnology, united into the 'Sanghuh Life Science College'. This year, the College of Political Science and the College of Commerce and Industry and the College of Global Convergence of the University of Social Sciences were integrated into ‘College of Social Science’ to strengthen the university's competitiveness. <img width="629" height="419" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block;" alt="" src="ArticleFile.do?id=11744139" /><Konkuk University has built a large-scale infrastructure in accordance with the three-year plan through Prime Project> The College of Engineering also integrated the Software Convergence Faculties into large-scale faculties (12 departments) to streamline organizational innovation and operation. As a result, the bachelor's degree structure has been enlarged into 11 colleges and universities, further lowering the entire space wall, spurring the improvement of undergraduate basic education and fostering talent for convergence tailored to social demand.  It can be confirmed by statistical figures which proves that Konkuk University has developed through Prime Project. 32 full-time faculty members were hired since the Prime Project was selected. In order to strengthen the industrial competitiveness of the students and to promote the linkage of industry and academia, 92 industrial experts were hired as university-friendly cooperative faculties. As a result, the number of field practice companies at Konkuk University expanded from 155 to 233 in 2016, and the number of students participating in on-site training increased from 382 to 682.  
Establishment of an interdisciplinary major based on humanistic value As a representative example of Konkuk University's convergence education through Prime Project, it is considered as an interdisciplinary major establishment based on humanistic values. It is a customized separate education program that is established by connecting two or three departments. ▶Human ICT interdisciplinary major ▶Global MICE track ▶Human communication healing track. Students will be able to select and complete these interdisciplinary majors with their majors. Human ICT (information and communication technology) major is focused on media contents field, related to virtual reality, mobile game, and big data. The global MICE interdisciplinary major is mainly focused on conference industry, tourism industry, convention industry, exhibition fair and event service industry. The Human Relations Counseling interdisciplinary major focuses on cultivating counselors and healers based on humanities.     <img width="602" height="366" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block;" alt="" src="ArticleFile.do?id=11744138" />   In addition, there is flipped learning which is having discussion with professors offline after prerequisite learning, and future-oriented teaching methods in order to revitalize discussion classes. Konkuk University supports workshop for each college and university in order to apply the teaching method reflecting the characteristics of the major, and 10 high-tech discussion classrooms built by Prime Project are allocated to flip-learning or debate class. Currently, Konkuk University has developed and operates 158 courses, including 81 flip-learning courses and 77 discussion-based courses.       Build a infrastructure step-by-step with a three-year plan Konkuk University has carried out its infrastructure in accordance with the three-year plan to increase the rate of change in the educational environment through Prime Project as well as this qualitative change. In the first year, Konkuk University focused on building advanced infrastructures such as Smart Factories, Joint Equipment Companies, BIO Experiment building, advanced discussion lecture rooms, and cloud computing infrastructure. In the second year, Konkuk University focused on establishing a new laboratory for prime new department and improving the existing classroom environment. To provide in-depth training practice for the Smart Room Engineering Department and the Future Energy Engineering Department students, a 490m² of laboratory was newly established. The existing 58 classrooms are equipped with an electronic blackboard and electronic lecture room for computer training and a pleasant lecture environment. In the third year, which is this year, Konkuk University is carrying out an open learning space project for engineering, life sciences, Sanghuh research institute, and Sanghuh memorial library in order to provide a team-based study room with free learning and communication.
  Report: <a href="https://news.joins.com/article/22999781" target="_blank">Joongang Daily Newspaper</a>
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