I cannot begin to express how much the opportunity to go on the Plus3 South Korea program has benefited me as a student and as a future professional engineer. I never expected to end my freshman year of college learning abroad, and I cannot imagine a better opportunity for first-year students to explore engineering on a global scale. Having finally returned to Pittsburgh from Asia and adjusted to the new timezone, I would like to reflect on this trip, which has truly influenced my perspective on engineering. From our departure on May 2nd through the end of our program on the 15th, I learned so much in such a short time. Having known very little about Korean culture, I can now confidently say I have gained a deep understanding of it and how it influences engineering in Korea.
I am also extremely grateful to the Swanson School of Engineering for providing me with the opportunity to participate in this program and for helping me financially through the Swanson School of Engineering Global Experiences scholarship. The $1,000 awarded through this scholarship greatly helped offset the cost, making this experience an incredible value.
The main principle of Korean culture that I saw profoundly impact how they view the future of engineering is the idea of pali-pali, which translates to “hurry, hurry.” This is something you notice in everything from their transportation to their dedication to creating smart systems that improve efficiency. It was a very unique opportunity to see this firsthand and notice how daily Korean life and values directly translate into the products and systems produced by their companies. The perfect example of this was our visit to TOPIS, the organization that collects traffic and population data to create a smarter transportation system for Seoul. You can see this ideal in their specific implementations as well, from determining which subway cars are most crowded to managing traffic flow rates by automatically opening and closing on- and off-ramps. This ensures a high flow rate for cars and prevents major traffic jams. Though this also raises ethical concerns about how this data is being used and whether it infringes on people’s privacy. However, I feel like it shows that, with this data, if taken widely in the US, you are able to create much greater efficiency.
It was also incredible to visit other companies like Hyundai, which is not only a leader in developing emerging technologies like EVs but is also continuing to explore alternative energy sources for vehicles, such as hydrogen. Touring their factory was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We saw various cars being assembled using automated systems, such as the removal and installation of car doors, while more complex tasks like wiring are done by humans. Although it is not a fully automated process, it seems very close; every task and installation was completed in under a minute with great efficiency. We saw this efficiency carried over to the parts carts, which automatically followed each car and kept specific parts in easy-to-access locations. Even the factory’s location was centered around efficient shipping. As one of the few auto-manufacturing plants located on the water, it has an on-site export dock that greatly reduces both shipping costs and time.
Aside from the company visits, I also had the opportunity to grow professionally through team leadership. Although the role was not overly demanding, mainly consisting of keeping track of my team members and ensuring they were healthy and prepared for the day’s activities, it was a great opportunity to learn how to manage a group of students. I oversaw various assignments, ensuring we were efficient in preparing our team’s presentation and video. I believe this experience has greatly improved my team management skills, and greatly increased my ability to communicate effectively in a multicultural setting , and I look forward to seeing how it aids future group projects.
Culturally, this trip was also very significant, providing a lot of insight into the many differences between America and Korea. One difference that really stood out to me was in communication. Korean has different word sets depending on whether you are speaking to someone older or younger than you. This highlights the immense respect embedded in Korean culture, which feels fundamentally different from America. This respect also extends to public transportation. Aboard subways and buses, everyone stays extremely quiet and refrains from conversation out of respect for other travelers. This is drastically different from America, where public transportation can be quite loud.
Another drastic difference is in the management of trash. Korea, and Seoul in particular, is kept incredibly clean. There is a complete absence of trash, even within alleyways. To make it even more impressive, there are zero public trash cans on the city streets. This further demonstrates the level of respect they hold for not only their city but also the environment. It is much more difficult to keep a city clean without public bins, yet they manage to do so flawlessly.
A third observation was the sheer difference in population density. While things are typically spread out in America, with cities having lower populations, the opposite is true in Korea. For example, the entire state of Pennsylvania has a population similar to Seoul’s, despite Pennsylvania being significantly larger in land area.
We also got to explore Buddhism in Korea through a temple stay experience. It was extremely enlightening to see this part of Korean culture, which was drastically different from what we had seen in the city, and provided greater insight into one of the most prominent religions in Korea. I really enjoyed this experience, from being able to meditate and practice the martial art Sunmudo with the monks. I had never participated in a temple stay or any other Buddhist experience before this, and even though I am not very religious, I still found it fascinating to explore this aspect of their culture. This was also a great opportunity to see some of Korea’s natural beauty, as even though much of Korea’s architecture harmonizes with its natural surroundings, this was really our only chance to see Korea outside a major city.
I also found it extremely worthwhile to explore Pohang, as it was quite cool to see what other cities in Korea are like. Though it had a less developed public transit system, it was very nice to explore the streets and even check out Korean beaches, as it is a coastal city. While we were here, we explored POSTECH University and POSCO, one of the world’s largest steel manufacturers and Korea’s largest.
Seeing POSCO was super fascinating, as I had not fully understood all the processes involved in steel manufacturing before this trip, especially how significant the cooling process is in producing stronger steel. I think that their company visit will definitely be one of the more memorable as we were able to see one of the final processes from the catwalk, and you could feel the incredible amount of heat as the steel passed along the conveyor and the power from it being pressed, which was accentuated by the intense amount of steam and the great amount of sound.
It was also an incredibly rewarding experience to see how we could continue our studies at POSTECH University in Korea. Visiting their campus was truly amazing; it featured a mix of modern buildings and beautiful green spaces, creating a great environment for learning. In addition to the campus’s natural beauty, the school demonstrates a massive dedication to research, providing roughly $1 million in research funding per faculty member. It was impressive to see cutting-edge research in almost every engineering field, supported by the school’s various quantum computers, electron microscopes, and two research particle accelerators. It was very exciting to be there, as it gave me a sense of how this trip could significantly shift my college trajectory, potentially inspiring me to spend a semester abroad at POSTECH in the future.
I can also see how this experience as a whole will greatly improve my perspective on the impact of the coursework I will be taking over the next couple of years. This is especially true for the ECE coursework in my Engineering Science major, as much of it pertains to smart systems, ranging from the C++ coding I will learn in ECE 301 to my signals and systems classes. The TOPIS visit, in particular, really enhanced this perspective by showing the depth to which smart systems can affect our daily lives and be integrated into entire cities. Overall I know that this newfound insight will influence the way I approach learning for the rest of my life, and I will always try to perceive what is the outcome of what I am studying and how does it affect people.
This trip also provided a great chance to explore more of Asia, being halfway around the world, it would be extremely expensive to see other Asian countries from the US. However, since we were already in Korea, I was able to visit Japan for only $160 round-trip, which is incredible and something I would likely never have done without this trip.
In conclusion, this trip was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. From exploring Korean culture to gaining insight into engineering within a global context, this trip has elevated my college experience to the next level. This is an amazing opportunity I would never have had without Pitt, and I cannot wait to see where Pitt will take me in the rest of my college career.