LG Global Challenger set sailing

LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo, left, poses with student participants in the “LG Global Challenger” program at a launch ceremony at the company¡¯s building in Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of LG Group

By Bahk Eun-ji

LG Group held a ceremony Wednesday to launch the “21st LG Global Challenger,” an expedition team of university students who seek to visit academic institutions and corporations in other countries.

The program gives selected students opportunities to experience and observe top-notch universities, research facilities and corporations in various foreign countries for about two weeks. LG Group fully funds the program.

This year, 35 teams of 140 undergraduate and graduate students from seven academic fields, including natural science, info-communications and economic management, were selected, the group said.

The winning research proposals are mostly about renewable energy and environment, Internet of things (IoT), drones (quad-copter) and welfare for senior citizens.

Based on the assessment of the post-exploration reports, selected teams will be given an internship at LG Group, the company said.

“Over time, what we imagined has been translated into what we are capable of,” Koo Bon-moo, LG Group chairman, said to students during the launch ceremony. “This has been possible as many young people like you were not afraid of failure. I urge all of you to make the world a better place by challenging yourself with your passion.”

This year, the program also selected five teams of 20 exchange students from foreign countries to support exploration in the country. The selected projects of those teams included “study of the road management system in Korea,” “global marketing strategies of Korean herbal medicine cosmetics” and “social assimilation of multicultural families in Korea,” among others.

The selected students will be given opportunities to experience various social and cultural activities related to their project proposals in Korea. The team that submitted the proposal about Korean herbal medicine cosmetics, for example, will visit cosmetic manufacturing facilities to explore the production process.