New PCR Test for COVID-19: A Method for a Safer Educational Environment

Starting from the fall semester, the Infectious Disease Control Committee at Hanyang University (HYU) decided to adopt a new PCR test for COVID-19, affiliated with Hanyang University Hospital. HYU is planning to expand face-to-face classes in accordance with the government’s social distancing level adjustment, which will allow students to visit the school more frequently. The new PCR test will open the door for preventing the diffusion of COVID-19 and relieving students’ anxiety. According to Jeong Seung-chan, the Manager of the Student Support Team at HYU, students will have to make a reservation in advance to get tested. Students who live in dormitories and students involved in classes that can’t wear masks are required to take the diagnostic test once a week. The rest of the school community members can take the test voluntarily. Furthermore, other specific operational plans are in preparation. Manager Jeong also added the fact that students can choose the time through the school website, minimizing the burden students feel about the testing time. Also, the screening center is located inside the HYU Hospital which is close to the school, and the moving routes for HYU students and outsiders are separated for convenience and safety. The results come out within four hours after the test, whereas those at public health centers almost take 24 hours. In addition, the PCR tests done at other organizations are often inaccurate. Even if tested positive, they require re-tests. Lastly, all tests at HYU are complimentary. The adoption of the new PCR test system is likely to contribute in preventing the spread of COVID-19, normalizing college education, and research functions. Thanks to such advantages of the new PCR test, it is hoped that students will be able to experience more diverse activities compared to previous semesters.

Meet 2021 Space Odyssey: A Trip to Outerspace 

The Hanyang University Museum (HUM) is holding an event called 2021 Space Odyssey as “The Future of Museum: Restoration and Reconstruction Contest Entry Program” celebrating 2021 Week of Museum and Art Galleries. 2021 Space Odyssey consists of the realistic video exhibition, The Origin, which seeks the origin of space through science and arts. In addition, the exhibition Icarus Wings, Seoul, made by Scientist and Photographer Michael Hoch of Caseous Detector Development Group (CERN) and 2021 Space Odyssey Night performance videos are part of the event. To start with, the realistic video exhibition The Origin shows the human’s journey, finding the origin of space by Calligraphy Artist Park Jin-woo. The space is drawn with an ink stick and brush as well as Michael Hoch’s artwork expressing a machine chasing after the God, CMS. Next, Michael Hoch shows human desires and limits through Icarus in Greek mythology, Seoul’s spring equinox, and Buenos Aires’s sky motif, in the exhibition Icarus Wings, Seoul. In the 2021 Space Odyssey Night performance videos, you can rewatch the talk show that took place on the July 20. It consists of a Hanyang University (HYU) student’s busking performance, and an artist talk show with Park Jin-woo and Michael Hoch. Hwang Na-young, the Curator of HUM said, “This exhibition introduces science experimental devices first shown in Korea. Especially, you should take a good look at the LHC section directly sent by the CERN and the ICECUBE that detects the neutrino in the ice of the South Pole.” 2021 Space Odyssey program is carried out both online and offline due to COVID-19. You can freely watch the program by visiting HUM at the HYU, Seoul campus, and you can also watch it at the HUM Youtube channel and the online exhibit hall. Why don’t you go on a trip to space, away from COVID-19? Check hy2021cosmonaut.com for details! 

Capstone Design: Now Open to Everyone

Hanyang University (HYU) will be holding its first IndustryAcademy Cooperation Capstone Design Performance Sharing Meeting, with registration beginning on September 1. “Capstone Design” is a class offered to undergraduate students that aims to help them create specific solutions and prototypes for solving problems in society, based on their majors. In this class, students form a team of two or more to develop creativity, practicality, and cooperation through planning, cost execution, preparation of evidence, and finally a submission of the results to solve or produce a given task. E v e r y y e a r, t h e E n g i n e e r i n g Department has held “The Capstone Design Fair” to share the superior ideas of the department and reward the students who participated in the class actively. However, this opportunity was not open to the other undergraduates at the university. Lee Hyo-jin, a Researcher from Leaders in Industry-university Cooperation (LINC), says that she hopes the first Industry-Academy Cooperation Capstone Design Performance Sharing Meeting will act as a new opportunity for other undergraduate students to share their ideas and increase their overall interest in the Capstone Design class as well. Researcher Lee furthermore mentions her hopes for this meeting to help HYU students gain personal motivation by experiencing different ideas, prototypes, and papers by other classmates. She also claims that this program is a great way for participants to learn about various support benefits that one may not know about in university life and therefore, naturally help one choose their job or career in the future. Overall, this program is showing high anticipation as it hopes to provide an opportunity for expansion on ideas and continuous development. The official notice will be uploaded on September 1, with registration beginning on November 1. With a total of 270,000 won as a reward, there are high expectations for the ideas and projects submitted by the HYU students.

A Stronger Collaboration Between HYU and LG Electronics for New Talents

O n J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 2 0 , H a n y a n g University (HYU) reached an agreement on industry-university cooperation research with LG Electronics. HYU has conducted around 80 cooperation researches with LG so far, and the current agreement aims to strengthen cooperation through talent exchanges. According to Cha Kyung-jin, an Assistant Professor in the School of Business at HYU, the agreement contains four fundamental concepts: technical exchange for cooperation research, customized-digital reskilling education for LG members on big data and AI, efforts to secure competent workers to LG Electronics, and developing industry-academic cooperation lectures through Industry-Coupled ProblemBased Learning (IC-PBL). Especially, the agreement is differentiated from any general agreement in that it contains cooperation schemes in detail. For example, new industry-cooperative research on data-based customer experience design is in progress. For this, members of LG Electronics are residing in Fastfive, a coworking space near HYU, to effectively focus on the project. Besides, various strategic businesses - refrigerators into food stylers and washing machines with new laundry life - are planned to be designed over the next years. Furthermore, starting from this September, members of LG Electronics are planning to take education on AI and digital transformation (DX) in the School of Business at HYU for about four months. The lecture is comprised of theory, case of application, and actual project. This would contribute to training professional manpower, field-customized to solve LG business problems based on data. Additionally, students will be able to grab a chance of employment at LG through IC-PBL lectures, especially those who show outstanding performance. Recommendation of excellent (under) graduates is in progress, and the recruiting process will be shaped in detail from now on. Through the agreement, it is expected for LG Electronics to have a new customer experience through AI and big data, the major capability for its business. Moreover, HYU students will be able to develop the practical abilities required to solve actual business problems through various lectures.