• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.249-256
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• 2017

The history of polyurethane is relatively shorter compared to that of the other polymers, though its importance has grown rapidly. Due to its unique properties, polyurethanes are widely applied in various fields. In particular, the automotive industry is one of the important application fields. To date, polyols and isocyanates used in the polyurethane industry are generally of petrochemical origin. Recently, owing to the oil crisis, legislation, and growing awareness towards environmental preservation, the demand for more sustainable and eco-friendly raw materials has increased. In this paper, the latest research and development trends in polyurethane applications were reviewed, with a focus on the automobile industry in areas such as seat comfort, noise reduction, light weight, biomass-based polyurethane, and recycling.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.4 no.2 s.8
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• pp.1-32
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• 2004

Korean scientific community has recently argued that, in order to attract talented young people to the science and engineering fields, more ranking positions in the governmental office should be filled in by science and engineering majors. In this context, a special attention has been paid to the Chinese case where science and engineering majors have taken the highest places in Chinese political hierarchy. This paper examines historical and social background of the salience of science and engineering fields in modem China. A closer examination shows that the salience of science and engineering fields was resulted by the distinct historical experiences of China-the socialist reform of higher education system and Cultural Revolution. The former shaped the social conviction that humanities and social sciences are less useful than science and engineering fields. The latter even spread the idea that majoring in humanities or social sciences run the risk of political oppressions. Thus, the salience of science and engineering in China is a social phenomenon reflecting an academic hierarchy forced by the radical politics of modem China. Also, the higher proportion of science and engineering majors in the raking governmental officers has been resulted by a unique Chinese political system, in particular the personnel management system of the Chinese Communist Party that emphasizes practical experiences after college graduation. The comparison of the social position of science and engineering majors in China and Korea without taking account of such historical and social background may therefore mislead our understanding of the cause of and counterplan to the decreasing popularity of science and engineering fields in Korean universities.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.179-183
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• 2012

As one of promising solutions to overcome high oil price and energy crisis, the construction market of high value-added LNG plants is spotlighted world widely. The purpose of this study is to introduce LNG-RBI system to develop risk assessment technology with RAM(Reliability, Availability, Maintainability) modules against overseas monopolization. After analyzing relevant specific features and their technical levels, risk assessment program, non-destructive reliability evaluation strategy and safety criteria unification class are derived as core technologies. These IT-based convergence technologies can be used for enhancement of LNG plant efficiency, in which the modular parts are related to a system with artificial optimized algorithms as well as diverse databases of facility inspection and diagnosis fields.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.363-380
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• 2015

The convergent education such as STEAM education has been implemented in the gifted education institutions in order to resolve the crisis of science and engineering fields caused by the science and engineering avoidance of excellent talents. The purpose of this study was to investigate awareness about science, mathematics and technology/ engineering fields of science gifted students. The subjects were 86 middle school science gifted students at the Science Institute for Gifted Students of a university located in metropolitan city in Korea. The data were collected from the survey that consists of 97 questions in 3 categories. The results were follows: First, the gifted students were aware that science was more interesting than mathematics or technology/engineering. Second, science rated highest in career choice. Third, they were aware that the scientists were more interesting, more imagination, less accuracy and less considering than the mathematicians and the engineers. In addition they responded that the mathematicians were smarter than the scientists and the engineers, and the engineers were more diligent than the scientists and the mathematicians. Finally, the result of the correlational analysis indicated that there were strong correlations between science and mathematics, and between science and technology/engineering. It was recommended that the consolidation of the convergent gifted education, the necessity of systemic career education, and the study of correlation between mathematics and technology/engineering.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.5-15
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• 2004

Currently the universities in Korea have faced a critical situation for university entrants deficiency, especially in the fields of science and engineering. It will be act as a big crisis for the future national competences in science and technology. Therefore Kongju National University have been providing the engineering education program for highschool students during the summer vacation since 2001 as giving a chance of engineering laboratory experiences. During last 4 years, we have investigated the highschool students attended in engineering education program by questioning and contacting. This study is performed to improve the program by investigating their activities and thinking about engineering education. As results of the study, this manuscripts will summarized the characteristics of engineering education program and improvement schemes for the future application.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.49-58
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• 2020

In the era of the fourth industrial revolution, the world is undergoing rapid social change. The purpose of this study is to predict the expected changes and necessary competencies and desired curriculum and teaching methods in the field of mechanical engineering in the near future. The research method was a Delphi study. It was conducted three times with 20 mechanical engineering experts. The results of the study are as follows: In the field of mechanical engineering, it will be increased the situational awareness by the use of measurement sensors, development of computer applications, flexibility and optimization by user's needs and mechanical equipment, and demand for robots equipped with AI. The mechanical engineer's career perspectives will be positive, but if it is stable, it will be a crisis. Therefore active response is needed. The competencies required in the field of mechanical engineering include collaborative skills, complex problem solving skills, self-directed learning skills, problem finding skills, creativity, communication skills, convergent thinking skills, and system engineering skills. The undergraduate curriculum to achieve above competencies includes four major dynamics, basic science, programming coding education, convergence education, data processing education, and cyber physical system education. Preferred mechanical engineering teaching methods include project-based learning, hands-on education, problem-based learning, team-based collaborative learning, experiment-based education, and software-assisted education. The mechanical engineering community and the government should be concerned about the education for mechanical engineers with the necessary competencies in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, which will make global competitiveness in the mechanical engineering fields.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.29-47
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• 2003

The study analyzes how effective the Government Internship Program has been on accumulation of the human capital. The Program was designed under the foreign exchange crisis to support the new, but unemployed graduates with MA or Ph.D degree in the science and the engineering fields. The survey data is collected from the participants in the Program. The Tobit model is estimated to find the economic effects of the Program in terms of the rate of return of investment in the human capitals of the intern researchers. Considering that the Program is tentative and that the human capitals of the participants are easily obsolescent, the rate of return is observed to be substantially large. These results imply that the Internship Program has been successful in terms of providing not only the researchers with the opportunity to accumulate the human capital by means of the on-the-job-training, but also the institutes or the firms with the opportunity to utilize the high-quality researchers at the low cost.

• 대한공업교육학회지
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.21-45
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to verify how the vocational education for training industrial workforce as a national human resource development (NHRD) system has undergone a transition process in relation to the national economic, industrial, and socio-cultural contexts. First, how vocational education as an industrial workforce training system has changed in accordance with Korea's economic environment, industrial development, and social changes; second, what are the main factors that influenced the role and importance of vocational education; and third, vocational education as a system for training industrial workforce and training workforce in science and engineering were analyzed differently from the perspective of the NHRD model. To this end, domestic and international academic journal papers, research reports, and thesis were investigated and classified by period, and major changes in vocational education were analyzed in relation to economic, industrial, and social issues and policies by period. As a result of the research, first, as the industry advanced, the level of vocational education increased and the scope expanded. Second, vocational education tended to shrink gradually after the manufacturing industry base, and especially secondary vocational education tended to decline after the national industry focused on light industry. Third, since the 1970s, the diversification of the NHRD and jobs has resulted in wage gaps depending on the level of education, which has increased the preference for university education and avoided secondary vocational education. In addition, a NHRD model focusing on training science and engineering workforce was proposed to compare the existing NHRD model focusing on overall vocational education, and it was revealed that the NHRD needs to be subdivided into various fields or levels to derive a model and examine changes. From the results of the study, vocational education in Korea, especially in secondary vocational education, has declined due to large impacts on socio-cultural perception due to economic growth, enthusiasm for education, and external shocks such as the financial crisis, and the long-term effort to change this perception is suggested to overcome the crisis of vocational education.