Introduction
Collaboration, perseverance, and intelligence. In the past 70 years, Korea has evolved from a country relying on foreign investment to creating one of the largest economies in the world. It was thanks to these traits of the Korean people that they were able to kickstart the miracle on the Han River, and even today, I can see these traits being applied to every facet of Korea’s workforce/education. We’ve seen automation on a scale never seen before and innovative engineering solutions that challenged my thinking about how things were in America. It amazed me just how modern everything in the beautiful city of Seoul was, so inspiration followed me home as a result. These unique experiences have shaped my viewpoint of the engineering field in more ways than one. Now, I will do my best to mirror the traits of the Korean people to create a positive impact on the lives of people around me.
Ethical Issues in My Profession
As unfortunate as it is, some companies prioritize profit and shareholder value over the health of the general population. There are many examples of this throughout history, and one that I find particularly interesting is the recent OceanGate Scandal of 2023. OceanGate, a once-renowned company specializing in submersible technology, suffered a catastrophe when its Titan submersible imploded under the immense pressure of the sea. This implosion killed all 5 crew members on board and sent shockwaves through the world. Once investigated, it was revealed that the engineering team had ignored several safety concerns. The main problem was using a carbon fiber composite, which is an unconventional material for deep-sea vessels. If the team used a sounder composite and were willing to spend more to meet safety standards, then this incident could have been avoided. Engineers should always uphold these standards, and one place that impressed me was Korea.
During my time in Korea, I’ve seen several ethical engineering practices displayed. Arisu, one of the largest water treatment facilities in Seoul, explained its ethical practices during our scheduled tour. However, it’s for good reason. Seoul has some of the cleanest tap water in the world due to its extreme care and high regulations. Nationally, the government has about 50 regulations on the use of tap water, while Seoul has about 110-130 of these regulations. Due to this, about 98% of the particulate matter is removed during the filtration process, and no harmful substances are found in the final product. If engineers around the world cared as much as Arisu engineers, citizens wouldn’t have to worry about tragic failures.
As an engineer from the Swanson School of Engineering, it is integral for me to uphold ethical principles related to my field for the safety of my family and the rest of the world. I understand my role in society as a future engineer: To go above and beyond for safety and do my best to better society.
Educational Breadth as Professional Development
Korea is a country well-versed in innovation. As we walked through the main squares, into the city hall, and through highly technical subway systems, I expanded my educational breadth in every direction.
The main of which is developing my soft skills as a professional. For example, working on many team projects helped me better my communication and teamwork skills. When working with a company later in life, these skills will be crucial in setting myself up for success in the company. As my father once said, it doesn’t matter if you’re the best worker in the building, the most important aspect of a person is if people WANT to work with you.
Another important professional development Seoul helped build was my awareness of different cultures. Being the first person in my family to travel to Asia, it was amazing to see how different people were there. The respect, kindness, and hospitality to foreigners was something I was surprised to see and the opposite of my current view of Europe. Experiencing how a modernized society functions and uses technology to its advantage is very beneficial to me as an engineer. Everything in Seoul was easy to use. I could see in real-time how close the subway was to pick me up, escalators waited for users to depart before shutting off while not in use, and infrastructure such as red/green crosswalks helped the general population in their day-to-day lives. It’s these things we don’t see in the Western world that inspire me to integrate them into day-to-day life. The biggest takeaway that I have from Seoul is that technology should be as convenient as possible for the user, to make their chaotic world just a little bit simpler.
Lifelong Learning, Continuing Education as Professional Development
This trip has inspired me to continue my lifelong learning of experiencing new cultures, taking note of how they operate and what technologies people use in their day-to-day lives. In my opinion, an engineer needs to be versed in different perspectives. Seeing how people around the world live can offer an engineer wisdom about what the best solution to a problem could be, giving me an edge in the workforce and more importantly daily life. Without it, people would be stuck with only one perspective, limiting the range of their ideas and solutions. As Dr. Yun always emphasized, perspectives are everything in education and industry.
In Korea, education is upheld to a much higher standard compared to the majority of the Western world. We were notified of this during our visit to Yonsei University, where our kind tour guide offered us insight into the extremely stressful need to get into a top university. This need is started at an extremely young age when children are given more rigorous courses compared to other countries. This could be the reason for Korea’s success. The Korean people are extremely hard-working individuals who push themselves to succeed in the previous generation. This in turn inspires me to become educated to a level my previous family simply didn’t have the option to. After my bachelor’s, I hope to continue on my engineering journey in Europe, studying either Mechanical or Materials Engineering with an emphasis on photonics.
The Social Environment of Professional Life
Professional life can be exhausting. Oftentimes, employees are stressed due to large workloads and maintaining a positive external image, all while balancing their own personal lives. Therefore, companies are responsible for creating a positive environment, where co-workers are comfortable and free to initiate healthy bonds with their peers. One of the best ways to do this is through fun activities that get individuals to grow closer. In Seoul, we committed to a great number of these activities which I feel helped strengthen the group bond.
One of my favorites of these was participating in a hike with about half the group. Bukhansan National Park is an absolute gem on the outskirts of northern Seoul. Just a decently long subway ride away is a natural getaway that’ll leave you looking back for years to come. The hike we did was about two miles long, however, the steep elevation gain had our legs begging for a break early on. Even though it was tough, talking to my friends and getting to know them made us feel much more connected in the end. The view at the end left us talking about it for hours afterward. Overall, the hiking team activity was a major point in the trip that I’ll always look back to.
Functioning on Multi-Disciplinary Teams
Engineers are known to work with people from different branches, and it is in the highest interest of the company that it runs smoothly. When designing cutting-edge technology, or running crucial business meetings, getting differing perspectives can offer relief to a tough problem. For example, engineers often think of complex solutions. The solution could work well but could be rather complicated for manufacturing or could be simplified cost-wise. With a diversified team that includes business majors, the practicality and cost of the solution will be accounted for. Ultimately, these two work disciplines work together in a company to create the best possible solution for consumers. Our final project mirrored this exact scenario.
This project’s main focus was creating a unique product involving smart system technology based on our experiences in Seoul. My group, Group 4, thought that the trash system in Seoul could be improved. Walking around the city, it was difficult to find anywhere to dispose of our trash. Additionally, we knew that waste disposal via human intervention was inefficient and prone to error. With this in mind, we created a smart trashcan that quickly and efficiently sorted trash one by one. Sensors lined on the opening of the trashcan will sense what type of material passes through, and a quick pneumatic cylinder system will open the corresponding compartment. We came to this idea with heated debate. I pitched a full sorting device that accounted for many items being thrown in at once. However, the business students plowed through with scrutiny, referring to my idea as difficult to manufacture as well as being expensive for a trashcan. They were right, and as all teams should, we came to a consensus that a simple opening system would be the best choice.
This experience helped us in many ways. It was our first time working with a group of experienced students who came from different sectors. Seeing how different minds looked at a problem was interesting and forced me to think differently from how I usually do. Thanks to this, we were able to create a working product that solved our problems.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our study of smart systems in Seoul taught me a lot about professional development and myself as well. It taught me that looking at a different perspective when solving a complex problem can oftentimes lead a team to greater success. Additionally, I also learned the importance of collaborating with co-workers, or in our case, friends. Creating a tight team bond will always help de-escalate situations when they arise and create an efficient environment for team projects later. Learning about a new culture can open up different perspectives on how you can improve your surroundings in your home country, which is something I hope to do one day as an engineer. Thank you, Dr. Yun, for helping us navigate the big, beautiful city as well as taking our professional selves to the next level!
