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The Ministry of Education. /Photo by Park Sung-il

South Korea's Ministry of Education is set to share the achievements of university students who received hands-on training in semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) at universities in the United States and Canada, as part of efforts to cultivate talent for advanced industries with global capabilities.

The Ministry of Education and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) announced Friday that they would hold the "2026 Global Advanced Technology Education Program Performance-Sharing Forum" at Seoul Dragon City in Yongsan District, Seoul. Around 100 people, including university students who participated in the overseas training programs, are expected to attend.

The Global Advanced Technology Education Program is an initiative in which South Korean and overseas universities jointly design and operate curricula in semiconductors and AI to improve students' technical knowledge and international communication skills. It supports approximately 120 outstanding students annually from universities participating in the Advanced Industry Talent Development Bootcamp and the Advanced Industry Specialized University Financial Support Program. This year's budget stands at 756 million won.

This year, hands-on training programs and industry-linked activities were conducted at Purdue University in the United States and the University of Toronto in Canada.

At Purdue University, students received four weeks of training in semiconductor manufacturing processes, chip design and AI. They gained practical experience using manufacturing equipment in cleanrooms and participated in exercises to design and verify central processing units (CPUs) using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). They also learned about high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technology roadmaps and advanced semiconductor packaging technologies through a special lecture by SK Hynix.

At the University of Toronto, students underwent two weeks of practical training focused on machine learning, big data analytics and AI data structure design.

At Friday's event, Shin Chang-hwan, a professor at Korea University, and Choi Hong-seop, CEO of Maum AI, will share insights into trends in the semiconductor and AI industries, as well as their experiences in employment and entrepreneurship. Students will then present reports on the work they completed during their overseas training programs, while six outstanding participants will receive awards from the president of KIAT.

A student from Kumoh National Institute of Technology who completed semiconductor process training at Purdue University said, "Solving problems related to wafer fabrication and the measurement of electrical characteristics helped me gain a better understanding of semiconductor manufacturing processes."

A student from Inha University who participated in the AI program at the University of Toronto said, "Visiting local research laboratories and taking part in the training helped me clarify my career path toward integrating artificial intelligence with biotechnology (AI+Bio)."

"The need to cultivate talent with overseas educational experience and an international perspective is growing in advanced fields such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors," said Kim Do-wan, director-general of the Ministry of Education's Bureau of AI Talent Support.

"I hope the students participating in today's event will grow into future leaders who will help establish South Korea as a leading country in advanced technologies," he added.

                                                                                                              Park Ji-sook