Established in 2005 under the National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK), Young Engineers Honor Society (YEHS) recognizes only the best and brightest engineering major students. Those admitted are invited to NAEK’s events to inspire confidence and motivate young engineers by giving them an opportunity to meet NAEK members. NAEK is a non-profit and non-governmental society of the engineering professions. It’s objective is to contribute to engineering technology innovation and to its continued development by supporting engineers who have rendered research and interna- tional cooperatives. The Postech Times had an exclusive interview with Seokhyoung Kim, the 7th president of YEHS.

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You mentioned the importance of “Convergence” in your inaugural speech as the 7th president of YEHS. What is “Convergence” to you? Why it is important to communicate and converge between engineering major students of different fields, and what kind of effort is required?
Allow me to start with a clich? In the field of science and engineering, people are said to become a “T-shaped person” - someone who has a depth of experience and knowledge in an area like the vertical part of the letter T, but also has the relationships and wide awareness to work across many disciplines and sectors like the horizontal part. This vertical part of T means the basis of the convergence. To be honest, convergence is not a novel idea; rather it is ubiquitous. To build a car expressed as the cream of the crop of the engineering, mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, chemical engineering, design, human engineering, and technologies of several other fields should be converged. Lately, engineering which focuses on design and human sensibility dominates the mass, and the convergence of humanity and engineering is more stressed. I believe that it is the essence of the engineering that moves the world.
In other words, so as to apply a technology to our lives, it is inevitable to converge other parts, and it requires us to be aware of the people outside the engineering field. Engineers need to communicate and should have a strong network. In this sense, YEHS is a sort of group preparing the future convergence through a wide range of networks of a whole part of engineering.
Until just recently I asked Mr. Sukwoo Hong, the Minister of Knowledge and Economy,what kind of efforts are required for convergence. I believe there is no answer. As far as I am concerned, becoming an expert of one field, while still being aware of various other fields answers the question. It is sort of becoming a specialist as well as generalist.

One of the duties of YEHS is visiting high schools for a conference of engineering university, as well as annual seminars, visiting corpora- tions and research centers, leadership workshop, internship, and so on. What is the aim of these events and what is the most important among these?
One of the biggest reasons of why YEHS members love YEHS is that we can motivate one another. I am overwhelmed when I think about the synergy effect that YEHS members will create in 20 and 30 years from now. The major aim of YEHS is to construct a strong network that supports the future engineering fields of Korea. At the annual seminar, members can cultivate personal presentation skills as long as they share the knowledge of different majors. It is very crucial to build the basis of convergence. We donate our talent to the society by visiting high schools for a conference of engineering universities and holding Junior Engineering Achievement, which is a hands-on science and engineering experiment program for sparking interest and encourage creativity in primary school students. We also hold programs to visit corporations, research centers, and to participate in internship programs to improve the skills and leadership. Personal development of members is indispensable to the solidarity of union.

When was the hardest time as a member and the leader of YEHS and how did you overcome it?
The bottleneck problem was that I could not go to Seoul frequently when I was a POSTECH representative of YEHS in my sophomore year. So I planned an engineering class for junior high school students operating jointly with us and YEHS Pusan National University. It was very hard to operate a class in Pohang without permission to operate independently. However, we succeeded in holding the class and continued on. On May 21, we held a special seminar at POSTECH. It was worthwhile as a Postechian.

YEHS is a strong network of 26 universities and over 600 members. What is the direction of development and the goal of YEHS in the future?
It has been seven years since YEHS was established. We have grown up with more members, and brand awareness is getting higher and higher. Until now, we can build our presence by our brand name YEHS. However, some senior members of YEHS obtained their doctor’s degree, started their venture capitals, and won higher positions of companies. In order to represent the engineering field of Korea, YEHS members should prove their personal abilities and I expect a lot.
Until now, YEHS held only limited sorts of exterior programs such as Junior Engineering Achievement class and visiting high schools. We continuously plan open events for the public that can grow together.

Last words, for Postechians
POSTECH is one of the most popular universities among YEHS members, and POSTECH YEHS members have been outstanding. Too bad we cannot accept all Postechians, but please keep interest on YEHS and apply to us! Also, YEHS POSTECH is going to be holding special seminars on campus. Please participate in the event.