▲ Changwon Mayor Hong Nam-pyo with students from CWNU and Kyungnam University who participated in the 2024 CES support project of Changwon City (Source: CWNU Waagle)

2023 October to January this year, Changwon City, Changwon Industry Promotion Agency, CWNU LINC 3.0 project group and Kyungnam University LINC3.0 project group successfully concluded the CES collaboration project on February 17 after a performance sharing session. Ten university students in Gyeongnam, selected for the project, was matched to the selected companies for the CES support project in Changwon, and assisted in operating the exhibition booth in Las Vegas after completing the pre- training program. Although support for CES participation for startups in Changwon has been provided since before, it was the first time for university students in Gyeongnam to participate with startups together. We met with Bang Jin- sik, a student from the Environmental Energy Engineering Department of the Smart Green Engineering Department, who participated in the project and heard about it.

Q. Could you please introduce yourself?

Bang: Hello, I’m Bang Jin- sik, majoring in Environmental Energy Engineering at the School of Smart Green Engineering.

Q. What made you participate to this project?

Bang: CES is the world's largest ICT convergence exhibition held in Las Vegas in early January every year, where companies in the ICT field reveal the latest technologies and new products. As an engineering student, I have always been interested in CES. In the meantime, senior lab students recommended me to participate in the CES 2024 project, so I participated.

Q. How did the pre-training go before departure?

Bang: From Nov. 18 to Dec. 30, 2023, we received training 7 times except for the exam period. During the training period, we were conducted with basic guidance on the exhibition, studied about participating companies, prepare for the expected questions in the booth application process in theory and In practice, and also about business English expression.

Q. Did you face any difficulties during the pre-training?

Bang: Since we were supposed to support and assist the companies, I personally felt responsible as the training progressed, and had no choice but to wonder, 'If my performance goes bad, wouldn’t it cause problems to the company?' Also, during the 5th training session, based on the contents of the preliminary training, we were supposed to conduct the company and the product PR presentation in English in front of the representatives of the companies participating in CES. I had to make every effort to prepare for the completion of both, as the presentation coincided with the final exam period.

Q. How was the schedule on local?

Bang: During our three- day stay, we supported booth operation for a certain period of time at the booth we covered. We mainly introduced the company and its representative products to booth visitors in English, and assisted the work by collecting QR codes and business cards to secure a list of customers. We were also given the opportunity to enjoy local culture in my busy schedule.

Q. Do you have any memorable moments during the booth operation support and the exhibition tour?

Bang: The first impressive experience was when I met a booth visitor who asked an unexpected question. I remember the CEO of our company helping me explain by asking a question that went beyond all the expectation. The second time was when I visited booths related to my major. In particular, the booths that exhibited hydrogen energy were memorable. As a member of a hydrogen- related laboratory, it was meaningful to see these latest technologies in person, as I am aiming to graduate from a master's degree. Lastly, when I saw various mobility being demonstrated in combination with AI. Once again, I thought that we will have an inevitable relationship with AI in the future.

Student Bang Jin- sik said, "I was strongly motivated by checking the future of the field related to my major, and I was able to think about how to apply this to my major." When asked for advice for current students, student Bang Jin- sik said, "If the application announcement for the overseas student program is posted, try it first," encouraging participation in global activities. As overseas programs for students are diversifying, we hope CWNU students will continue to take on international challenges more actively.

By Kim So-ha, reporter  lucky.river16@gmail.com

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