Hi everyone! Looking back on my experiences and journeys during my time in Korea, I am forever thankful for the things I was able to experience, the people I met, and the lessons I learned. Everything from the sights to the food was phenomenal and a once and a lifetime experience. Going into this trip I did not really know what to expect. I have never travelled this far before and have never experienced such a different culture to what I am used to. Every day in Korea I learned something new and I am confident in saying that this trip is going to help me in so many aspects of my life going forward. I find that my eyes have been opened to so many things that I would have been ignorant to if I had not gone on this trip. 

I want to give a short summary of the main activities that I did on this trip. We had eight company visits and about thirteen cultural visits and experiences. We definitely made the most of our time here in Korea. My personal favorite company visit was Hyundai. Hyundai is a brand that I am very familiar with and see all the time in action. It was amazing to see all the things that they can do with their smart system which contributes to the sheer size of their facilities. They use state of the art technology and machines in their process and they do the type of work that I want to do in my career in the future. My favorite cultural experience would have to be the Royale Palace. Walking through the Royal Palace was breathtaking and the stories we heard from our tour guide really opened my eyes to how the country worked back then. It was amazing to think that this palace was in use not too long ago. The way this city and country preserve these historical landmarks is something that I find very impressive.

Our coursework on the trip focused on smart systems. Smart systems are technological systems that take in outside information to adapt and automate themselves. Some examples of smart systems include tracking parking spaces, human traffic flow, and smart homes. South Korea is one of the leading producers and users of smart systems. As an engineer, there are plenty of ethical issues when it comes to smart systems. Designing smart systems is not an easy task. They involve a lot of coding, manufacturing, and heavy use of AI. AI is a very ethically convoluted subject for engineers because it brings in the idea of computers taking over humans day to day lives. Though smart systems are a very helpful tool, people often feel threatened by the fact that robots are going to start to become too smart. 

This is where the ethical dilemma for the engineers comes into play. It is our job to create smarter and smarter systems while not crossing that line. During our time in South Korea, we saw plenty of companies who are aware of that line and know how to manage it. During our trip I saw companies like Hyundia and Fredit use smart systems to automate the entire assembly line. Though they did this, they also made sure there were people in the back end checking for any error in the system. This makes sure that the smart system does not have complete control and the products sent out to the customer are top notch. This human back end checking also helps them deal with the ethical issue of guaranteeing a reliable product. It is an engineer’s job to not give anyone a product that could hurt or harm them. Many people worry that products with no human input cannot be trusted, but these companies show us that this is not true. Furthermore they have humans checking the robots work constantly to guarantee that no product goes unchecked. This experience gave me inside knowledge and experience that I would not have gotten anywhere else. I would not have so much helpful knowledge on this very important ethical dilemma for engineers if I was not exposed to this environment. 

Outside of our coursework, we were exposed to so many different cultural practices and historical sights. Things like the DMZ, Royal Palace, and traditional Korean Villages are some of the many breathtaking things we were able to see during our time here. Experiencing new places and cultures is something that is so helpful for students and professionals. Being here on a school trip gave me such educational breadth that I would not have had otherwise. Instead of being confined to the city of Pittsburgh or the walls of Benedum to do my studies, I was able to branch out to different countries which is something that I will be forever grateful for. Some people could argue that studying at school and abroad are the same thing but they are very wrong. Studying abroad like we did in Korea gives students like me a true understanding of the impact of our studies. It shows us why we do it and how many different people our profession touches. This is definitely a huge takeaway I got from this trip.

Continuing this thought, studying abroad in Korea just generally gave me so many life lessons that I will take into my professional life. Things like how people respect each other and the things around them are very prevalent in Korean society. Two places that this is the most present is during meals and on transportation. Every traditional Korean meal was shared and not finishing your plate was frowned upon because it was seen as disrespectful. On public transportation, the subways are kept so clean and people never talk to each other. This is all out of respect for eachother. These lessons are something that I learned and can take away into my personal and professional development. 

Some of the most fun social things that we did in Korea was shop and get food. Shopping is a very big thing in Korea and places like Myeongdong are huge when it comes to buying clothes and street food. Going to these kinds of places is common for Korean professionals as it is clear that they see shopping and food as a way to escape from their professional life. Things like sports are also popular in Korea. One specific sport that they enjoy is baseball and we were fortunate enough to watch a baseball game while in Seoul. The games are so energetic and it was amazing to experience something unique to their culture. It is very clear that Koreans are passionate about this sport and they use it as another way to escape their professional life for a social aspect. 

At the end of our time in Korea we had to make one final presentation to the class. Within our groups we had three engineers and three business students. Our task was to create a smartsystem business model that we could market and implement into society. My group came up with a smart closet that tracks and styles your clothes based on your previous clothing opinions. Working on this project really opened my eyes to working with multidisciplinary teams. As an engineering student I never get to work with people that are not engineers. This has kept my perspective narrow when it comes to collaboration with diverse groups of people. Working with the business students helped add a whole different way of thinking when it came to our project. We got to see the problem from another perspective, not just the engineering perspective. This skill is important for my professional life because I will often be in situations where I would need to work with non engineers. Learning these skills of how to work best with people from a different skill set as me sets me up perfectly for what might come in the future. 

My time in Korea has been fantastic. The places I’ve seen and people I’ve met are things that I am never going to forget. I am so fortunate to of had this opportunity to explore such a unique and special country. This experience has given me so much knowledge not only on Korea but in my life in general. I am going to miss going to the convenience stores for my every need and taking the clean subways wherever we need to go. The sights and sounds of Seoul are going to leave me nostalgic and sad whenever I look back on pictures of this amazing time. Words can’t describe how grateful I am for this experience. I am confident in saying that I left Korea as a more aware and knowledgeable engineer. The lessons I learned and technology I was exposed to will stick with me for the rest of my career and shape me into the smart and ethically sound engineer that I have always wanted to be. This program leaves me with a strong sense of purpose and puts my entire career into perspective for years to come.