In this blog post, I will outline my reasons for applying and my future career plans based on my academic achievements, school activities, and experiences with consideration and cooperation during my high school years.
Academic Experience and Reflections
While attending ○○ Semiconductor High School, I systematically learned the fundamentals of semiconductor technology. Although I initially decided to pursue this field of study because of the job prospects, studying the major for three years convinced me that it aligns with my aptitude and interests.
During my freshman year, I focused on foundational core technologies, studying equipment design, electro-pneumatics, and C programming. Since I’ve always had a knack for working with electrical devices, I was able to complete the hands-on assignments with relative ease, and the praise I received from my teachers and classmates when I successfully finished a project served as a great source of motivation.
In particular, I worked on an assignment involving the creation of design drawings on a computer using C programming; since this task was quite challenging even for first-year students, my friends often asked me for help. Although I could have solved it on my own to improve my grades, explaining the process to my friends deepened my own understanding, and I felt a sense of fulfillment as we achieved good results together.
In my second year, I teamed up with friends I’d studied with in my first year to take a course on applied component technology, where we worked together on practical assignments such as disassembling and reassembling semiconductor equipment and designing circuits. As I advanced through the program, I realized that the coursework shifted from foundational to applied and practical topics, and I came to understand firsthand that collaborating with teammates was more efficient than studying alone.
In my third year, I mastered practical semiconductor equipment skills and successfully completed team projects involving thin-film and diffusion processes. I also completed assignments in etching, inspection, and packaging processes, earning high certification grades. I received positive evaluations under our university’s specialized curriculum certification system, allowing me to graduate with a sense of satisfaction.
Description of Major Campus Activities and Reflections
While in high school, I was active in the mechatronics club, where I learned mechanical and semiconductor design as well as CAD application, and I also planned creative mechanical designs. Through these club activities, I gained extensive experience in putting design theories into practice.
One particularly meaningful experience during my club activities was the exchange with our sister school abroad. I participated as a student guide in an overseas field experience program, and initially, I was in charge of guiding and demonstrating when students from a vocational technical school in Suzhou, China, visited our school.
To demonstrate our club’s mechanical and semiconductor design activities to the Chinese students with a hands-on focus, I collaborated with other club members to prepare a demonstration of the design software. Although there was some initial awkwardness due to my limited English and cultural differences, we quickly bonded over our shared interest in semiconductor manufacturing and design, and were able to communicate naturally while working on projects together.
After the club demonstration, we took a field trip together to our university’s industry-academia partnership companies located in the Daedeok Technology Complex, where we met alumni working there and heard many of their stories. Seeing our seniors communicate fluently in Chinese filled me with pride, and the field trip was a valuable opportunity for both me and the visiting students to understand the connection between practical work and education.
Later, we traveled to China to visit a vocational technical school in Suzhou and a local semiconductor company (JME). The local factory operated as a single facility producing various electronic products, which allowed us to compare it with the Korean semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem—where processes are completed through division of labor and collaboration among component suppliers. This comparative experience was extremely helpful in understanding the diversity of technology ecosystems and broadening my perspective.
Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Collaboration, and My Reflections
The instance of collaboration and consideration I practiced most frequently during my school life was working with my dorm mates to complete group assignments. In particular, starting in the second semester of my sophomore year, I shared a dorm room with my groupmates and we spent almost all our time together, studying and conducting practical exercises side by side.
Since my major courses placed a greater emphasis on practical work and assignments than on theory, we needed a significant amount of time to complete our assignments. So, we would gather in the dorm’s study room or in our rooms, divide up the tasks—such as creating presentations, researching materials, and practicing presentations—and work on the assignments together. By dividing the roles, we used our time efficiently and improved the quality of our final products.
One of the main assignments for our theory course was a research project on semiconductor testing, which involved organizing details for various types of semiconductors and their respective manufacturing processes, requiring both memorization and a deep understanding. We completed the assignment by dividing the research among ourselves, organizing our findings, then meeting to review the content and practice our presentations to help each other understand the material.
Among the hands-on assignments was a project to design and build an electronic watch from scratch. We built it using transistors, resistors, and soldering, but the process—which had seemed simple in class—took longer than expected in practice, and we encountered minor issues related to power connections and time-keeping. To solve these problems, we stayed up all night modifying the circuit and repeating tests; through this process, we learned the value of cooperation by respecting each other’s roles and filling in for one another’s shortcomings.
As a result, we were able to complete a better project and personally experienced how our collective efforts were rewarded with tangible results. This experience reinforced my belief that individual ability alone has its limits, and that greater achievements can be made through cooperation and consideration.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation for Application and Career Plans
The decisive factor in my decision to apply to the Department of Advanced Materials Engineering at Korea University of Technology and Education was the recommendations from alumni and my exposure to their career paths. My high school is a Meister High School specializing in semiconductor technology, and while many alumni enter the workforce immediately upon graduation, those who chose to pursue higher education often recommended Korea University of Technology and Education. I was told this was due to the department’s curriculum, which allows students to apply their specialized knowledge, its well-equipped facilities, and its active industry-academia collaboration.
I chose Materials Science and Engineering because, while studying semiconductor processes, I keenly realized the critical importance of materials. During field classes and hands-on training, I witnessed firsthand how the limitations and defects of existing materials in electronic devices and mechanical equipment could affect the entire manufacturing process, and how even minor material defects could significantly impact a product’s performance and reliability.
Therefore, I wish to conduct research in the field of new materials to address material shortcomings and solve process-related issues. In college, I plan to diligently complete advanced courses in semiconductor manufacturing processes, plasma engineering, display device engineering, and metal recycling to build specialized knowledge that can be immediately applied in semiconductor-related fields.
Additionally, to solidify my foundation in materials science—including ceramic engineering and alloy design—I will study foundational courses such as Materials Strength and Electronic Ceramics in advance to build a strong foundation. Building on the practical experience in semiconductors and design that I have accumulated since high school, I will develop research capabilities that integrate theory and practice during my time at university.
In the long term, I aspire to join electronics and semiconductor companies, such as Samsung SDI, or firms specializing in mechanical components and new materials, and become an engineer who solves problems in the field. In the process, I will actively take advantage of industry-academia collaboration opportunities between my university and companies, and through practical experience, I will grow into a highly skilled expert in new materials and semiconductor manufacturing and processes.
