UNJournal Lee Sung Jun | Korea Aerospace University held a general faculty meeting on the first day of its second semester, presenting six key initiatives for the remainder of the year aimed at strengthening the university's competitiveness and building a foundation for future growth.
The "2nd General Faculty Meeting for the 2026 Academic Year" took place on the afternoon of September 1 in the university's main auditorium. The session opened with the presentation of appointment letters to six new faculty members, followed by remarks from President Hur Hee-young and work reports from administrative departments.
New Faculty Appointments
Six new professors who will begin teaching this semester received their appointment letters: Choi Dong-chan in space engineering, Jang Won-geun in mechanical engineering, Shin Jeong-ho in semiconductor advanced materials, Byun Hong-soo in computer engineering, Kang Su-min in logistics, and Kang Eun-ho in aerospace policy. The university said the appointments were made to strengthen its educational and research capacity in aerospace, advanced industry and policy fields, drawing on expertise from academia, research institutions, government and industry.
Six Priorities Through February 2027
In his opening remarks, President Hur announced the completion of a summer renovation of the university's Academic Information Center, with an opening ceremony for new lounges on the building's first and second floors scheduled for September 3. He then outlined six initiatives the university plans to pursue through February 2027, describing them as representing a significant opportunity for the institution's development. "Those who are prepared snatch up the goddess of fortune, but those who are unprepared do not even know whether she is coming or going," Hur said, urging active participation from the university community.
The first initiative involves stabilizing the university's Autonomous Major Selection System, now in its third year. Hur said student satisfaction has risen and the first-year dropout rate has declined significantly since the system's introduction, but noted new challenges have emerged as majors have been subdivided into 17 categories, resulting in uneven student concentration and some majors with only three or four faculty members. The university plans to develop a system for more efficiently grouping faculty by major and increasing flexibility in academic operations, with colleges and the Office of Academic Affairs to lead further discussion.
The second initiative concerns the university's response to the QS World University Rankings. Given its specialization in aerospace, the university has not previously prioritized rankings centered on comprehensive universities, but plans to systematically analyze faculty research output and domestic and international reputation to prepare for entry into the rankings, with a focus on the aerospace field. The Office of Planning asked faculty to help compile lists of academic and industry figures for the QS reputation survey, noting that the university must submit 400 names each from academia and industry, and requested nominations of 150 academics and 100 employers drawn from faculty research and industry networks.
The third initiative focuses on establishing the university as a hub for industry-academia cooperation in northern Gyeonggi Province. Gyeonggi Province and Goyang have proposed building an aerospace, defense and drone cluster centered on the university as a major policy objective. Hur said the early terms of local government leaders make this year an opportune moment to formalize cooperation, and asked faculty to propose relevant projects.
The fourth initiative involves developing a business plan for the "KAU (Ilsan) Industry-Academic Convergence Center" to be located in Baekseok-dong, Goyang. The university has applied as its first priority for roughly 3,307 square meters of space on the second through fourth floors of the Baekseok Business Building, which is owned by the city of Goyang. The space is intended to support education, research and entrepreneurship, including aviation safety training and public aerospace education programs, faculty laboratories and research institutes, and startup support space for students and faculty. The university also plans to attract aerospace-related companies and research institutes to the center, and asked faculty to draw on their industry networks to support the effort.
The fifth initiative concerns the opening of the Jeju Jeongseok Flight Training Center. Following Korean Air's withdrawal from operating the roughly 460,000-pyeong facility, Korea Aerospace University has taken over its management and is developing a comprehensive master plan for its operation and growth. The university plans to expand flight training centered on the Jeju facility while maintaining its existing infrastructure in Uljin, with a goal of developing the Jeongseok center into a flight education research and development platform comparable to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the United States and Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, incorporating data-driven education and evaluation systems using technologies such as EEG and eye-tracking.
The sixth initiative involves establishing a Global Campus at Incheon International Airport's Terminal 2. The university plans to use the campus as a base for expanding industry-linked contract departments and developing international education programs, with detailed discussions underway with relevant agencies toward a target opening in early 2027. Once operational, the campus is expected to strengthen field-oriented education and international exchange by leveraging the airport's industrial and educational infrastructure.
Administrative Updates
The meeting also included reports from administrative departments. The Office of Academic Affairs presented an amendment to sabbatical leave regulations that would shift the unit used to calculate faculty sabbatical allocations from individual majors and departments to colleges, along with plans to lower the recognition ratio for co-authors in faculty performance evaluations beginning with 2027 results. The office also requested stricter exam and attendance management in response to the spread of wearable devices, along with compliance with AI usage ethics guidelines published by the Korean Council for University Education last August.
The Office of Research Cooperation announced plans to launch a Shared Equipment Center after the end of October, allowing inquiries, reservations and use of on-campus research equipment to be processed through a single system. The office also said the university has developed a plan to establish a "National Research Institute for Space Energy" in response to the 2027 national research institute program "NRL 2.0," forming a strategic task force involving faculty from multiple disciplines.
Faculty Backgrounds
Professor Choi Dong-chan earned his bachelor's and doctoral degrees in industrial engineering from Sungkyunkwan University and previously served as a senior researcher at the Agency for Defense Development. Professor Jang Won-geun graduated from KAIST with a degree in aerospace engineering, earned a doctorate in hypersonics from the University of Queensland in Australia, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford.
Professor Shin Jeong-ho graduated from Hanyang University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering and earned his Ph.D. from the same field at KAIST, having previously served as an assistant professor at the University of Science and Technology and a senior researcher at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. Professor Byun Hong-soo earned his bachelor's and doctoral degrees in computer engineering from Sogang University, where he also worked as a postdoctoral researcher.
Professor Kang Su-min graduated from Korea Aerospace University's Department of Logistics and earned a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Virginia Tech, with postdoctoral experience at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and lecturing experience at Virginia Tech. Professor Kang Eun-ho graduated from Yonsei University's Department of Public Administration and earned a master's degree in international development policy from Duke University, having previously served as administrator of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and as a professor at Jeonbuk National University's Department of Advanced Defense Industry.
Based on the six initiatives presented at the meeting, Korea Aerospace University said it plans to pursue innovation in education and research alongside industry-academia collaboration and the expansion of regional and global hubs, with the aim of strengthening its position as a university specialized in aerospace.
