During my time in South Korea, I got to see a whole new part of the world and experience unique cultures. I got the pleasure of visiting palaces and temples, eating traditional Korean foods, and even hiking among the gorgeous Bukhansan mountains, but more importantly, I developed as an engineer and grew professionally through my experiences in Korea.

While marveling at the smart systems and technological wonders utilized in Korea, it comes with ethical concerns that engineers must consider. While integrating technology into our lives has lots of benefits, it comes with inherent risks as well. For example, job displacement has always been an ethical concern when using technology to improve efficiency. We saw this at the Hyundai factory, where robotic arms, automated assembly, and autonomous forklifts quickly processed components of the newest Hyundai vehicles. This reduced the amount of human labor needed, making the process of building a car quicker, more reliable, and cheaper. In exchange however, less people are being employed by Hyundai and other companies using similar methods of assembly. As a future mechanical engineer, I must consider how things will be manufactured or fabricated. While certain methods may be cheaper, it is essential to consider that there are people with livelihoods dependent on human labor instead of automated. Another ethical consideration in a technology centered world is privacy and security. For example, when visiting the Samsung Innovation Museum, they presented a living room for a smart home. The room could be completely controlled with a smartphone, operating the TV, lighting, temperature, curtains, and more. This technology can be extended to a whole home, giving homeowners the ability to customize their homes with the push of a button. While this is an exciting application of technology and smart systems, it raises concern about privacy. For example, with everything being connected through your phone, if a malicious hacker were to gain access to your phone, they could gain access to your home. When designing products in the future, it is imperative that I recognize both the benefit on the consumer, but the risk it creates as well.

              Korea fosters an environment of academic excellence and a hard-working mentality. This determination is what helped South Korea bounce back from the hardships of the Korean War and is what motivates students to perform well in school today. This being said, educational breadth is a big part of growing professionally and gaining a tool set of skills to succeed. A great example of this was seen at Yonsei University, where we met Professor Cheong, a University of Pittsburgh alumni who is currently doing research at Yonsei. Professor Cheong pursued her PHD in Bioengineering at Pitt and applied the knowledge she obtained for neuroscience research in Korea. Her team studies the neurological side of Alzheimer’s disease, stress/depression, and other conditions. This perfectly encapsulates the idea that obtaining a breadth of knowledge is key to achieving professional goals. Professor Cheong entered a diverse field that spanned both engineering and medical disciplines, giving her the opportunity to pursue specific research that is important to her. Applying this to my life and my goals, I plan on coming out of Pitt with the ability to effectively pursue multiple of my interests. Though I am a mechanical engineer, I want to take classes that dive into sustainability and electrical engineering to supplement my education and further equip me with skills to make me a better engineer.

              While soaking up as much as I can in college is critical, perhaps even more important is the skill of life-long learning. This is especially true as the world is ever changing and new skills are always being sought after. I believe this extends even beyond professional development, as life is more fun when you explore all it has to offer. However, in the context of professional growth, TK Elevators proved exactly why this is important. TK Elevators is one of the leading elevator companies that is constantly developing innovative modifications to elevators. For example, they developed the twin elevator in which two elevator cabs operate in the same shaft to increase efficiency during busy periods of the day. Another advancement they have made has been with an elevator that can move both vertically and horizontally. Considering this, it would be essential for engineers, elevator installers, and elevator mechanics/repairmen to learn to stay with the times. If they do not, then having the technology without the knowledge to implement it and maintain it is useless. On the other hand, if professionals refuse to adapt to the changes in their field, they risk becoming obsolete with skills that are not applicable anymore. This is exactly why it is essential to avoid stagnation in your career and to always stay on your toes when it comes time to learning a new skill. The idea of continuous learning will be critical in my profession as I specialize in certain areas or even explore new areas of focus. For example, I may switch companies at some point in my career, and my new job will require me to work proficiently using Python. Currently, I am only proficient at MatLab and C, so it will be essential to learn Python for that opportunity. This doesn’t mean I necessarily should learn every coding script that exists or attempt to learn everything there is to learn, but rather, I should stay in practice of learning new things periodically in order to stay sharp at picking things up when I need to.

              While much of professional development involves learning the technical skills related to your field, soft skills and social skills are equally important in a well rounded professional. Several companies put emphasis on the social aspects of life even in a professional setting. TK Elevators, for example, had ample recreational opportunities like a golf simulator, a pool table, ping pong tables, air hockey, and a café for its employees to socialize and relax. Camp Casey also had lots of opportunities for soldiers to socialize, such as restaurants, a golf course, gyms, and lots of excursions out to Seoul. Beyond actual socialization in a professional setting, I developed my social skills of communication. An obvious example is the blogs, in which I communicated what we did each day and related it to my future as an engineer. A big part of effective social interaction professionally is getting to know new people. During this trip, I got to meet and develop relationships with the other Plus3 participants, sharpening my networking skills at the same time. Another example was communicating with Pitt alumni while abroad. Dr. Yun had me reach out to a Pitt alumnus when inquiring about going on an additional hike. Not only did this give us the opportunity to explore the Bukhansan National Park, but it gave me practice communicating with someone I have never met before. As a future engineer, good social skills will be critical. Communication is important within companies, in design teams, and when networking with people outside of an organization. Social skills are also important during interviews, business meetings, and general interaction with co-workers or clients.

              Another large part of professionalism is operating on multidisciplinary teams. During our visit to Korea, we had to develop a product that utilized smart systems which was inspired by the company and cultural visits we took. We did this in our teams of six, split half and half into business and engineering. Moreso, the engineers on my team were computer and chemical, making our team very multidisciplinary. With this in mind, we got experience brainstorming and developing ideas, giving considerations specific to our expertise. For example, when developing our idea for a mobile trash robot, I didn’t consider the funding side of the project. This is where the business students came in with strategies to monetize the product. This is just one of many examples where a diverse range of knowledge helped polish the idea. This extends to the real world, and it will be essential for me to work well with people of other disciplines. Especially as a mechanical engineer, many of the projects I will be working on will likely cross several areas of engineering. When interviewing a mechanical engineer for a paper at Pitt, the engineer shared his experience as a mechanical engineer working at an environmental and civil engineering contracting company. Despite having a broader focus on environmental and civil projects, he applied his mechanical engineering background to help develop pumping and filtration systems for several of the projects at the company. I anticipate parallel experiences in my career, applying my abilities to something that may not be a strictly mechanical project.

              This trip was truly a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I can go back to Korea, but I will never get the opportunity to experience it like I did through Pitt. Not everyone gets to see Hyundai’s manufacturing techniques or gets to go inside a military base just miles from North Korea. These two weeks were far more than a vacation, but rather an opportunity to meet new people, try new things, see the world in a new light, and grow as future professionals in our fields.