The Department of Mobile Systems Engineering at the School of Information and Communication Engineering of Sungkyunkwan University has been opened to train competent human resources specialized in mobile phones including next generation mobile communication technology based on an educationalindustry cooperative effort with Samsung Electronics. This is the first case that the department of a particular product, mobile phones, has been opened as a graduate course in local universities.
The reason why the department of a particular product of mobile phones has been opened is that Samsung Electronics and Sungkyunkwan University are working to develop the mobile phone industry into a global top industry. The mobile phone business, which recorded US$246 billion in exports in 2005, is a main industry that makes up 8.6% of total exports by Korea and over 22% of total IT exports.
Sungkyunkwan University plans to supply Samsung Electronics with a steady stream of professional competent human resources in the field of mobile phones for new growth power.
It is the first program of hands-on educational- industrial cooperation and is getting a lot of attention from Korean and overseas companies and universities.
Department of Mobile Systems Engineering began on November 3, 2006 when the School of Information & Communication Engineering of Sungkyunkwan University made a contract with the Department of Information and Communication for newly opening a Department of Mobile Phones in the general graduate program. The entrance quota was 40 for the master's course and 12 for the doctoral course.
In the autumn of 2006, 30 students for the master's course and 3 for the doctorate course were finally selected through the screening procedures of Sungkyunkwan University and Samsung Electronics.
In the primary screening for the master's course that selected 12 students, 99 students applied, and in the secondary screening that selected 28 masters, 266 students applied, which was a 9.5 to 1 competitive ratio. Finally, 365 students applied and 40 were selected, which was a 9.1 to 1 competitive ratio.
Freshmen who finally passed all the procedures of document screening, interviews with executives of the University, the Samsung Aptitude Test (SSAT), and an interview with Samsung Electronics were all excellent students. This year, the University intends to start the procedures of inviting freshmen from September. On March 2, 2007, Department of Mobile Systems Engineering had the first class and currently lectures for the first semester are proceeding as planned.
The educational purposes of the Department are to train competent technical human resources who will lead the next generation mobile phone technology; to provide demand-centered education based on the trend of the high-tech mobile phone industry; and to train competent technical human resources that can be immediately put into job sites.
Department of Mobile Systems Engineering is a course of educationalindustrial cooperation so it provides differentiated programs, such as strengthening basic theoretical education related with mobile communication; training practical capabilities which can be put into the development and research immediately after graduation; systematically analyzing and practicing prototype design of mobile communication and mobile phone systems; performing mobile phone-related projects with Samsung in addition to coursework; activating cooperation among 5 research groups; Samsung PhDs participating in the classes for practical work and design; providing important classes in English and making out graduation theses in English.
There are five major research fields of the Department of Mobile Systems Engineering. The first is Next Generation Mobile Communication, which includes next generation wired and wireless communication networks, local area network technology and mobile communication modulation. The field also does standard research into modulation types and developing multi-antenna arrays and network structure.
The second major research field is System-on-Chip and Radio Frequency technologies. It focuses on technical research of applied mobile phone communication modems and Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) technologies. The field designs model SoCs, RFICs and other types of sensors.
The third research field is Embedded Software, which focuses on technical research of software built into mobile phones. This includes communication protocols, operating systems, and middleware designed for mobile devices.
The next is Mobile Phone Multimedia. This focuses on technical research of content creation, management, and transmission. It also includes research on codecs and algorithms to improve image quality and sound quality in multimedia files, speech recognition and synthesis, streaming audio and video, and search technology.
The fifth and final research field in the Department of Mobile Systems Engineering is Mobile Phone Applied Services. It focuses on various applied service technologies such as new concepts of input and output devices. It also includes research into health and mobile devices, and how to make ergonomic interfacing that is healthier for users.
In each of the courses of the five research fields, chief researchers and executives of Samsung Electronics participate as academic advisors. They are involved in student selection, selection of theses, examination, promotion, and career counseling. They will educate with not only theory, but also with practical work. In addition, the students will perform research and development projects with Samsung Electronics through which they will increase their ability of field study. They will also become familiar with organizational cultures and a technical development environment.
For the students in the master's course, scholarships for all tuition fees for 4 semesters, textbooks, and a small amount of living expenses are offered. In addition, most of them can get additional scholarship by participating in the BK21 program that is performed by the Department. They can get additional support of research funds through participating in research projects to be performed by academic advisors. For the students in the doctorate program, the same financial support as that for the master's course is guaranteed for up to 4 years.
Through these various scholarship systems which are of top quality in Korea, students can concentrate themselves on study only without worrying about any financial matters.
Upon graduation, they are guaranteed to enter Samsung Electronics. When the students in the master's course enter Samsung Electronics, they are regarded as having two years of work experience already. The students in the doctorate course enter Samsung Electronics after finishing the course in 4 years and are promoted to the position of responsible researchers.
Department of Mobile Systems Engineering welcomes foreign students. In the general graduate program of the School of Information & Communication Engineering, currently 30 foreign students coming from Vietnam, China, and India are studying the high-tech IT of Sungkyunkwan University. Foreign students can apply for the Department of Mobile Systems Engineering , and did so in 2006. Foreign students enrolled in the Department of Mobile Systems Engineering are also considered employees of Samsung Electronics.
Department of Mobile Systems Engineering is a product of educationalindustrial cooperation to train practical human resources that companies need, beyond traditional academic scopes. This beautiful coexistence of universities and companies is a result of the selection to accelerate the training of ready-made competent human resources in the unlimited competition age. Escaping from the past temporary joint research and internship, it is resolute and advanced academic-business cooperation through which a university intends to train human resources required by a company.
Universities, which should produce competent human resources required by society and companies which need human resources who will create the future, are trying to find a mutually beneficial solution through this system, and the Department of Mobile Systems Engineering becomes the first to suggest the solution.
That is, Department of Mobile Systems Engineering will become a leader in a new trend of ABCs, or Academia Business Cooperations.
