Thanks to the Erasmus+ programme, SJF TUKE students completed an interesting mobility in Korea

Student-oriented project of the TUKE’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the South Korean Sun Moon University continues

From 20–30 October 2023, ten students of TUKE’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, under the guidance of Prof. Ján Slota, Ph.D. and Prof. Jozef Bocko, Ph.D., visited the Sun Moon University in the Republic of Korea as part of the Eastern Europe (Slovakia) Global Future Mobility Ideas Festival (GFMIF).

It was a return visit of Korean professors and students, with whom TUKE’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering has been collaborating on student projects since 2019. After several visits to Košice by Korean colleagues and students, a delegation of TUKE’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering travelled to Korea for the first time. Members of the teams that were working on joint projects with Korean students in 2022 attended the event on behalf of the students. Students and lecturers from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava attended the event together with a delegation from their Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Bratislava. The aim of the trip was to get to know the partner university better and to conduct a student workshop. We focused on getting to know the organization of the workplaces, laboratories, exchange of technologies and development of talents for future innovations through mobility of students and professors.

At the opening ceremony at Sun Moon University on 23 October 2023 were also present the Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the Republic of Korea Ján Kuderjavý and his deputy Marián Adam. The event was officially opened by the President of the Sun Moon University Mr. Seong-Jea Moon. During the week, a creative workshop of mixed student teams was held with the awarding of the winners. In addition to Sun Moon University, we also visited Hanbat National University in Daejeon and the Tech University of Korea in Seoul, where we traveled from Asan on Friday. At the universities, we were welcomed by their presidents, exchanged information about the departments with the professors, toured the campuses, classrooms, laboratories, libraries, student centers, etc. In addition to the universities, we visited the research and development centre of DAS, which focuses on the production of car seats, and Jinmyung Powertech, which produces clutches and brakes for companies manufacturing heavy construction equipment, agricultural and industrial machinery. On Saturday, October 28, 2023, we toured the sights and downtown Seoul. We gained knowledge about the organization of the departments at the partner universities, their scientific direction, a memorandum of cooperation was signed and another visit of professors and students of Sun Moon University in Košice in 2024 was planned. Our visit had a considerable response in the Korean media.

In addition to working on solving interesting tasks, participation in this project gives students the opportunity to get to know their Korean colleagues, their culture and improve their communication in English. In organizing the visit, we were abundantly assisted by Mr. Ing. Anton Uhnák, SMU Vice President for the Czech and Slovak Republic. We also appreciate the excellent organization of the whole event and the care of our Korean colleagues. The trip was funded by the Erasmus+ programme.

prof. Ing. Ján Slota, PhD.
prof. Ing. Jozef Bocko, CSc.