On October 6, 2016, Konkuk University (KU) announced that it was selected to participate in projects by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) to provide graduate level education and training in the fields of embedded software and intelligent semiconductors.
Embedded software is written to cars, airplanes, robots, and ships, and the market is expected to grow 6.9% annually from KRW 14.4 trillion in 2014 to KRW 23 trillion in 2021. Twenty-three institutions, including research centers, companies as well as Konkuk and seven other universities, will participate in MOTIE’s project to educate 40 graduate students each year. For seven graduate students per year, the electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and Internet & multimedia engineering departments at KU will receive KRW 240 million annually for five years.
Intellectual semiconductors converge system semiconductor and software and can be applied to smart cars and wearable devices. Twenty-four fabless companies and 11 universities, including KU and Korea University, will join the intellectual semiconductor project to educate 50 graduate-level students annually. The companies participating in the project are expected to be actively involved in mentoring students in terms of their education, research, and career development. The students will also be given opportunities to design and manufacture semiconductor chips. Konkuk University is expected to receive KRW 900 million across five years to educate four master’s students each year.