ICEE_iCEER 2009 Korea Report

September 15, 2009

 

A.        Websites:

 

(1)       Official conference website in Korea:

http://www.iceeiceer2009korea.net/main.html

(2)       Photo journal, keynote addresses and speeches on iNEER website:

http://www.ineer.org/Events/ICEE_iCEER-2009Info/Welcome.htm

 

B.        ICEE_iCEER 2009 Korea Report

The 2009 International Conference on Engineering Education, ICEE_iCEER 2009 Korea, was convened at the Grand Seoul Intercontinental Hotel in Seoul, Korea on August 23-28, 2009. Organized under the auspices of Hanyang University, Korea University of Technology and Education, and Korea Society for Engineering Education, the conference had as its theme: “Engineering Education and Researchunder Knowledge-Based Society.”  There were about 300 participants from 45 countries with over 100 participants from Korea, the host country. The conference provided a venue with an excellent opportunity for educators to find counterparts from other countries. Distributed across 17 major technical topics, over 225 papers were presented at the conference which, despite the challenges posed by the economic downturn, swine flu, and the saber rattling from North Korea during the spring and summer, drew over 300 participants from 45 countries. 

Highlights of the conference included a panel discussion by 9 university presidents, and a second panel discussion by past and future chairs and co-chairs of ICEE and iCEER conferences. 

Four memorable keynote addresses were presented as follows:

            August 24:      10:30-11:00 am  -     Mr. Kim, Saang Su, President and CEO, KEPCO, Korea

                                    11:00-11:30 am  -     Hon’ble Bertel Haarder, Minister of Education, Denmark

            August 25:      10:30-11:00 am  -     Dr. Yoshiyuki Sakaki, President, Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan

                                    11:00-11:30 am  -     Dr. Kim, Doh-Yeon, President, Ulsan University, Korea

 

In his keynote address, the Hon’ble Bertel Haarder, Minister of Education of Denmark, delivered a broad-ranging, forward-looking talk focusing on partnerships in education among other topics.  He invited everyone to come to Copenhagen in 2014 as he was proposing that Denmark organize ICEE-2014. 

Also popular was a workshop organized and led by Prof. Sarah Rajala, Dean of Miss. State U. and immediate past president of ASEE. Entitled “Paths to Success for Female Faculty Members,” the workshop featured 6 prominent faculty members from 5 countries.  They are:

§         So Young Sohn – Professor, Department of Information & Industrial Engineering, Yonsei University, Korea

§         Sarah Rajala – Professor and Dean, Mississippi State University, U.S.A.

§         Lise Kofoed, Professor, Department of Media Technology, Alborg University, Denmark

§         Celine Roehrig, Advisor to the Dean, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada

§         Jeung-Yoon Choi, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering , Yonsei University, Korea

§         Hong Chen, Associate Professor, Office of Overseas Promotion, Tsinghua University, China

The Seoul Metropolitan Government hosted a welcome banquet and cultural show on August 23, 2009. The venue was the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Seoul Intercontinental Hotel. Prior to that on the same day, Professor Chong Yang Kim, President of Hanyang University, invited members of the iNEER Board and their guests to a special luncheon held on the campus of the University. Twelve iNEER Board members and guests attended, led by Prof. Tomas Cermak, Chair of iNEER Board and Rector of VSB – Technical University of Ostrava.

The luncheon was followed by two iNEER committee meetings that convened on campus. On Monday, August 24, the University hosted a banquet for all the conference delegates at the Grand Seoul Intercontinental Hotel. The banquet on the following evening (Tuesday, August 25), held at the same hotel, was sponsored by Korea University of Technology and Education. At the start of each banquet, the president of the host-university gave a short speech and offered a toast to the delegates. The re- and post-dinner cultural shows at each banquet were well planned and executed, and enjoyed by the more than 300 dinner guests, including conference participants and invited guests. 

Cultural tours were organized to the Demilitarized Zone (Imjingak Park), the Kook Soon Dang Brewery and Samsung Electronics.

The Gala Dinner at the historic Samcheong Gak Hall in old Downtown Seoul. After dinner the iNEER Awards Ceremony was held. Following a toast by DR. Win Aung, Secretary-General of iNEER, he gave a shoprt speech congratulating and thanking the Organizing Committee for their work. He then called upon Prof. Tomas Cermak and Prof. Laszlo Kocsi to present the awards. Award recipients were:

Dr. Hyung Chan Bae, Professor, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea: For Superior Accomplishments as General Secretary, International Conference on Engineering Education, ICEE/iCEER 2009 Korea

Dr. Sae Young Im, Professor, Korea University of Technology and Education, Chonan, South Korea: For Superior Accomplishments as Publication Director, International Conference on Engineering Education, ICEE/iCEER 2009 Korea

Dr. Sung-Goon Kang, Professor and Vice President, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea: For Superior Accomplishments as General Co-Chair, International Conference on Engineering Education, ICEE/iCEER 2009 Korea

Dr. Hyung Soon Kim, Professor, Inha University, Incheon, Korea: For Superior Accomplishments as Program Director, International Conference on Engineering Education, ICEE/iCEER 2009 Korea

Dr. Kwang Sun Kim, Professor, Korea University of Technology and Education, Chonan, Korea: For Superior Accomplishments as General Co-Chair, International Conference on Engineering Education, ICEE/iCEER 2009 Korea

Dr. Young Je Yoo, Professor, Seoul National University, President, Korean Society for Engineering Education, Seoul, South Korea: For Superior Accomplishments as General Co-Chair, International Conference on Engineering Education, ICEE/iCEER 2009 Korea

The official conference website can be accessed from the link given in (1) at the top of this report. Some of the speeches delivered at the conference are posted on the iNEER website along with a selection of photos. These can be accessed by clicking on the relevant links accessible from the URL given at (2) above.

 

C.                Publication of Innovations 2009

Innovations 2009, the iNEER Special Volume for 2009, was published in July 2009. A copy was included as a part of the ICEE_iCEER 2009 Korea registration package. This hardcover book was edited by a 5-member international Board of Editors consisting of the following:

Win Aung

iNEER, Potomac, MD, USA

Kwang-Sun Kim

Korea University of Technology and Education, Chonan, South Korea

Josef Mecsi

University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

Jerzy Moscinski

Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

Ian Rouse

Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

This book is the ninth edition of the iNEER Innovations Series. The 32 peer-reviewed articles illustrate approaches that have been demonstrated as useful in the education of engineers for the globalized society of the 21st century. They can serve to stimulate the readers’ interest to launch further pursuits either on their own or through collaborative teaming; experience has shown that innovations can be the cornerstone for further innovations when cooperative partnerships are involved. Partnering with experts also allows one to save time and money and avoid unnecessary repetitions. 

The authors in the chapters of the book are the leading experts in the respective fields being discussed. The chapters concern innovations accomplished in a wide range of institutions from around the world.  The seventy-six experts who contributed their work in this volume are from Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Slovak Republic, South Africa, USA and Venezuela.

Their subjects deal with recent advances in tools and methods for engineering education, computer-based learning, assessment, industry-academia cooperation, and phenomena and processes that affect teaching at technical universities all over the world. Their subjects deal with recent advances in tools and methods for engineering education, computer-based learning, assessment, industry-academia cooperation, and phenomena and processes that affect teaching at technical universities all over the world.

For more information on this book as well as all previous editions in the Innovations Series, including the Preface and Table of Contents, please visit:

            http://www.ineer.org/iNEERPapers/Welcome.htm

Copies can be purchased through the above links.

 

D.                Partnership Visits to Macau and Hong Kong

From August 14-21, 2009, in order to gain some familiarity with developments in engineering education and research in Macau and Hong Kong, an iNEER delegation of seven iNEER members, of members of iNEER Board and other leaders of the iNEER network visited the University of Macau, Macau, China, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong. The delegation were guests of the presidents of these institutions. These visits enabled members of the delegation to become better acquainted with the faculty, students and research and education facilities at each university and to lay the foundation for future collaboration.

To increase potential collaboration between U.S. academic institutions and these universities in the Far East, Dr. Timothy Tong, the president of the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, indicated that he would be very interested in hosting future iNEER conference as well as research abroad visits by international students, such as those implemented through the International Research and Education in Engineering (IREE) program of the U.S. National Science Foundation[1],[2],[3]. This will be followed-up.   

Photo journal taken during each visit can be viewed at the following links:

University of Macau:

http://www.ineer.org/Photo/2009ICEE_iCEER/2009Macau/Welcome.htm

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology:

http://www.ineer.org/Photo/2009ICEE_iCEER/2009HKUST/Welcome.htm

Polytechnic University of Hong Kong:

http://www.ineer.org/Photo/2009ICEE_iCEER/2009HKPU/Welcome.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


[1] National Science Foundation, International Research and Education in Engineering (IREE) program, 2006, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13705&org=OISE

[2] National Science Foundation, International Research and Education in Engineering (IREE) program, 2007, http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf07032/nsf07032.jsp

[3] Win Aung, “IREE – NSF International Research and Education in Engineering,” Invited presentation at ASME IMEE Conference, Hilton Heads Island, SC, USA, March 27, 2009, http://www.ineer.org/ITEMS/2009-03-27_ASME-IMEE-Conference_2.pdf