Korea Aerospace University signs an MOU with DigiPen Institute of Technology for the establishment of a global joint cooperation campus

UNJournal Lee Sung Jun | The Korea Aerospace University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the DigiPen Institute of Technology, a world-renowned university specializing in games and software located in Washington State, USA, to strengthen global education and research cooperation.

Officials from Korea Aerospace University and Digipen Institute of Technology are holding a meeting on the 27th in the conference room of the main building of Korea Aerospace University to discuss the establishment of a global joint cooperation campus and the strengthening of education and research cooperation. During the meeting, various cooperation measures were discussed to expand industry-academia collaboration and foster future talent. (Photo courtesy of Korea Aerospace University)

The signing ceremony took place on April 27 at 3:00 pm in the JB Industry-University Cooperation Agency Industry-Industry Cooperation Seminar Room on campus.

Attendees at the ceremony included President Heo Hee-young, Dean of the College of AI Convergence Ahn Jun-sun, Dean of the College of Engineering Park Sang-hyuk, Dean of the College of Aviation and Management Kim Jin-ki, Director of Planning Hwang Wan-sik, and Director of International Exchange Kim Sang-woo.

Representing the DigiPen Institute of Technology Korea Campus were Co-CEOs Kim Hyung-soo and Kim Jong-woo, and COO Park Jung-bum.

In addition, Min Kyung-sun, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Mayor of Goyang Special Count who pledged to develop an office building in Baekseok-dong, Goyang into a high-tech industry-academia convergence center, also attended and emphasized his determination to attract a joint cooperation campus.

Through this agreement, the two universities agreed to "establish a global education ecosystem" and decided to pursue cooperation in 10 areas covering education, research, and industry-academia collaboration.
Key areas of cooperation included: Conducting joint research, exchanging professors, researchers, and students cross-class and credit exchange, operating dual degree programs, and sharing educational and research materials and academic information.

The core of this agreement is the promotion of the establishment of a joint cooperation campus in Korea.
This model is based on the global campus system that Digipen Institute of Technology has already successfully operated overseas.

Digipen has been operating a local campus in Singapore since 2010 in cooperation with the Singapore government and also maintains a campus in Bilbao, Spain.

In particular, it has proven its global competitiveness by recording high employment rates in the field of computer science. Once the Joint Cooperation Campus is established, a convergence curriculum combining our university’s specialized aerospace education with Digipen’s global practical training know-how is scheduled to be launched.

The plan is to jointly design and operate a specialized curriculum that integrates the aerospace, semiconductor, game, and content industries into Digipen’s core educational fields, such as artificial intelligence (AI), real-time interactive simulation, game design, and digital art and animation.

Officials from Korea Aerospace University and Digipen Institute of Technology are taking a commemorative photo after the MOU signing ceremony to strengthen global education and research cooperation, held on the 27th in the main conference room of the main building of Korea Aerospace University. From the 3rd from the left in the back row: Digipen Institute of Technology Co-representative Kim Jong-woo, Goyang Mayoral Candidate Min Kyung-sun, and President Heo Hee-young. From the fourth from the left in the front row: Digipen Institute of Technology Co-representative Kim Hyung-soo and Director of International Exchange Kim Sang-woo are standing holding the agreement. (Photo courtesy of Korea Aerospace University)

Digipen Institute of Technology is an educational institution founded by Claude Comair, co-founder of Nintendo America, and is known for establishing the world's first four-year bachelor's degree program in game programming.

Located near Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington D.C., it continues to provide practice-oriented education based on industry-academia cooperation networks with global companies such as Amazon Web Services, Meta Platforms, and SpaceX.

President Heo Hee-young stated, "By collaborating between Korea’s leading comprehensive aerospace university and a world-class university in the digital media field, we will be able to present a new model of convergence education," and added, "We will make the establishment of the Joint Cooperation Campus a turning point to enhance the global competitiveness of Korean education."

Vice President Janson Chu of Digipen Institute of Technology stated, “We have high expectations for this partnership with Korea Aerospace University as it will allow us to secure an educational hub in Asia and provide world-class computer science and game design education to Korea’s top talents.”

Following this agreement, the two universities plan to form a working group and proceed step-by-step with specific implementation plans, including selecting the location for the joint cooperation campus, determining the scale of operations, and designing dual degree curricula.

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South Korea