Tenacious engineer named master mechanic

By Yoon Sung-won

Lee Jun-hee, an electrical equipment engineer at Samsung SDI, has been named a master mechanic by successfully combining his work and study, the company said Thursday.

Enduring failure after failure, the 45-year-old technician acquired the national technical qualification for engineer plant maintenance in 2013, master craftsman electricity in 2015 and master craftsman in plumbing this year, becoming the 16th master mechanic at his workplace in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province.

He said the achievement elevated his self-confidence and made him a more thorough person at work.

“I have changed much at work,” the engineer said. “After experiencing that a minor error can cause a major fiasco, I have become a person who checks more thoroughly and pushes to achieve the goal as perfectly and as quickly as possible. My self-confidence and self-respect have also gone up.”

At Samsung SDI, employees who acquired more than three certificates of master craftsman are named master mechanic and inducted into the hall of fame. The company offers merits for master mechanics in promotion.

Samsung SDI said it plans to expand the master mechanic policy from the Gumi and Cheongju plants to the Cheonan and Ulsan plants to encourage its workers to improve their skills.

Lee said he started studying to acquire the certificates in early 2013. But it was a difficult task for him because it had been more than 15 years since he last studied. He had to take the test for the master craftsman in electricity five times after failing the previous four exams.