New study abroad program brings UW students to South Korea

For one of the courses, students formed teams to design a robot for a greenhouse watermelon farm.

Over summer, a newly launched study abroad program co-led by Dr. Jong Yoon, professor in the Department of Engineering & Mathematics, brought students to his home country of South Korea to learn about engineering and Korean culture while also collaborating with students from Korean institutions to address real-world issues.

Together with Dr. Hee-Seok Kim, assistant professor in UW Tacoma’s School of Engineering & Technology, they planned the program using an exploratory grant from UW Bothell.

Most UW students in the program were STEM majors, but the local Korean students they worked with came from a range of disciplines.

“We wanted to keep the program broad and not specifically focused on one single discipline or department,” Yoon said. “We aimed to make it more universal, a program various engineering students — including mechanical, electrical, computer science — and even non-engineering students could enjoy and learn something from.”

UW Bothell students recalled their immersive experiences in design challenges, AI and renewable energy and Korean culture.

To learn more about the program, read the full UW Bothell story, “Innovation, culture and collaboration in South Korea.”