Hanyang University

Hanyang University   (University)
Formation	1939
Headquarters	South Korea
One of the leading private research universities of South Korea.

Hanyang University is one of the leading private research universities of South Korea, particularly known for the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. The main campus is in Seoul and its satellite campus, the Education Research Industry Cluster at Ansan (ERICA campus), is in Ansan. Hanyang (한양;漢陽) derives from the former name of the capital Seoul used during the Joseon Dynasty. The university was established in 1939 as the first engineering institute in the country. Hanyang University enrolls over 3,000 international students each year, and more than 3,300 students study abroad annually.

History

Hanyang University was founded as Dong-A Engineering Institute on July 1, 1939, during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Dong-A Institute started with 630 students and 35 faculty in Jongno-gu, Seoul. After producing its first graduates in 1941, Dong-A tried to elevate itself to college status, to no avail. In May 1941, the Institute relocated and offered education specializing in engineering and technology to 100 students who had finished secondary school. In 1943, with Korea still under Japanese occupation, the Institute was suspended from recruiting new students. This resulted in a temporary shutdown of the school on March 15, 1944, when the last 78 students graduated.

Upon the restoration of the nation's independence in August 1945, Dong-A Institute renamed itself the Engineering Institute for National Foundation. Institute founder Dr. Kim Lyun-joon foresaw the importance of industrial advancement in the reconstruction of Korea and established Hanyang University as a judicial and academic body. The board of trustees at that time included Myowook Lee, Byeongok Cho, Kwansoo Baik, Wonchul Lee, Waljoon Kim, Taeyong Choi, and Lyunjoon Kim, who had led the nation's independence movement. In July 1948, the school was accredited as the first four-year engineering college in Korea with Kim Lyun-joon as the first dean. Six engineering sub-departments were set up, as well as a secondary school.

During the Korean War, many of the school's facilities were destroyed and the professors and students were scattered. However, classes were continued in Busan with temporary teachers. Even during their refuge, the College fostered numerous competent science teachers by building a training center for secondary school teachers in the technical fields. In 1953, Hanyang University was authorized as a graduate school by the Ministry of Education.

Research and development

Hanyang University maintains active research programs in biological sciences, natural sciences, medicine, natural resources and environment, media and communication, and business administration. Hanyang has designated “Outreaching Research Competitiveness” as one of its key strategic directions under the NEW HANYANG 2020 plan. For its part, the Industry-University Cooperation Foundation (IUCF) is working to promote more individual and collaborative research at HYU by providing funding for research projects from their initial stage, and offering assistance in the publication of research papers in prominent international journals, among other duties.

Key research accomplishments

HYU's reputation for research has resulted in following key accomplishments:

• Hanyang is currently operating the Components and Materials R&D Cluster of international standards at the ERICA Campus. Resident government research institutes in this designated “Cluster Zone” include KITECH, KTL, and KERI. Research centers for such private companies as LG Innotek and LG Micron also have a presence there.
• In 2006, Twenty-eight project teams from Hanyang were selected for Brain Korea (BK21) Phase II project, which is the second stage of the Korean government-sponsored program that seeks to develop and promote world-class research universities. Over the next seven years, HYU will receive 15.4 billion won a year in government funding for BK21 research.
• Hanyang currently ranks number one among Korean universities in technology transfer revenues, earning more than 10 billion won between 2006 and 2009. Moreover, the HYU Center for Business Incubation is consistently recognized for its standard of excellence each year by the Ministry of Information and Communication. In addition to the domestic market, the Center has also made inroads into China by establishing a local presence in Shanghai.
• Hanyang is operating the Cell Therapy Center for Intractable Neurological Disorders. At the center, they are providing therapy for the patients and conducting research to find cures for Lou Gehrig's disease, which is said to be the first in the world that is closest to being approved by the Korean FDA.
• As the hub of engineering and research, Hanyang has research centers around the campus. At the Innovation Center for Engineering Education in Hanyang University Seoul campus, researchers are conducting research on bipedal robots to improve its efficiency. They are making robots, which resemble humans. Through precise programming and control, they are simulating every movement of humans and succeeded in letting the robots change directions efficiently while walking, mimicking how humans change directions in real life. The main focus of their research is using a process called slip foot, which means that when changing directions, one of the robot's feet ‘slips’ on the ground when its body rotates to the desired direction. Once it gets fully developed, the researchers predict that the human-like robots could also be used in households, as seen in many sci-fi movies.
• Research teams at Hanyang are also making progress in their research on silicon and germanium. The team previously discovered that the proper alternative for this may be a Si-GE (germanium) composite. It benefits both the mechanics and kinetics associated with lithium while maintaining its high specific capacity, especially volumetric capacity. It has recently been explored as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries due to its stable cycle performance, and excellent rate capability. The team studied both the Si-Ge and Ge-Si core-shell nanowires and figured out the nanowires that have a Si core and a Ge shell demonstrates a much improved electrochemical performance, especially cycle performance and rate capability.
• In the biomedical field, researchers are making strides in the methods to cure malaria, a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by parasitic protozoans of the genus Plasmodium. They are annotating the Pf3D7 strain, which is a specific strain of the Pf species. The recent completion of the genome sequence of Pf offers new opportunities to identify more effective targets for drug development and to gain insight into the biological pathways involved in malaria pathogenesis.
• Researchers in the field of Chemistry are also developing photo-responsive polymers, transparency, and high heat resistant polymers for flexible displays, biodegradable polymers, and new functional polymers. Researchers report on a new acrylamide-based hard-soft hybrid BCP that can generate high-quality lithographic patterns satisfying all six criteria mentioned above. It has additional potential as a scaffold for metallic nanostructures. PDOPAM-PMMA BCPs were synthesized from newly designed crystalline p-dodecylphenylacrylamide (DOPAM) and methyl methacrylate monomers via RAFT polymerization. The findings of his study suggest that the newly developed BCPs can be a universal and practical candidate for the implementation of sub-20 nm directed self-assembly processes. With the fruits of their research, the team's research was selected as one of the top 5 percent of papers of Advanced Material.

Notable alumni

Public Sector

• Hong Nam-ki, Minister of Economy and Finance & Deputy Prime Minister of South Korea
• Choo Mi-ae, Minister of Justice of South Korea
• Kim Moo-sung, South Korean politician
• Im Jong-seok, South Korean politician and former chief of staff
• Hong Ihk-pyo, South Korean academic and politician

Business

• Chung Mong-koo, Chairman of Hyundai-KIA Motor Group

Arts and literature

• Park Mok-wol, poet
• Pyun Hye-young, author

 

An Alumnus on Wikispooks

Person	Born	Nationality	Summary
Won Sei-hoon	31 January 1951	South Korea	Spook

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