Pukyong National University

Pukyong National University Selected for BISTEP’s ‘External Cooperation R&D Planning Support Program’

- RISE Project Group to Launch Digital Manufacturing Specialist Training Initiative

Pukyong National University (President Bae Sang-hoon) announced that it has been selected for the External Cooperation R&D Planning Support Program hosted by the Busan Institute of Science and Technology for Education and Promotion (BISTEP) and will begin full-scale implementation.

Led by the university’s RISE (Regional Innovation Strategy and Education) Project Group, the initiative will focus on planning a program to cultivate specialized talent in digital manufacturing systems integration (SI).

BISTEP’s External Cooperation R&D Planning Support Program aims to help universities, research institutes, and industries in the Busan region identify and design medium- and large-scale R&D projects. It provides support for preparing planning reports and national grant applications to secure government funding for these initiatives.

Pukyong National University plans to use this project to secure a large-scale national R&D grant worth approximately 16.3 billion KRW. To achieve this, the university will form an academic？research？industry consortium with partners including Kyungsung University, Busan Technopark, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), and the Korea Auto Parts & Materials Industry Technology Research Association, with the goal of completing the project proposal by the end of this year.

Through this initiative, Pukyong National University aims to attract major national R&D funding and to launch full-scale training of specialists in digital manufacturing, leveraging the RISE Project’s Open UIC (University？Industry Collaboration) platform. The project report will include detailed plans for advancing the manufacturing SI industry through AI and blockchain technologies, and for systematically cultivating practical talent for digital transformation.

Specifically, the plan includes establishing a structured system to train over 400 specialized professionals over five years through △micro-degree-based interdisciplinary programs for undergraduates, △weekend-intensive practical training courses for industry employees, and △capstone and project-based training in collaboration with industry sites.

The university also intends to leverage advanced infrastructure such as its Smart Factory Lab and IoT Integrated Training Room to strengthen demand-driven education in areas like blockchain-based certification technologies, AI-powered quality control, and predictive maintenance. The program will further connect these skills with real-world industrial applications through on-site internships and technology demonstration projects, building a highly advanced talent development system.

Kim Chan-jung, Head of the PKNU RISE Project Group, stated, “This project serves as a practical model of the Open UIC strategy promoted by the PKNU RISE Project and will play a decisive role in producing innovative talent in the EnergyTech field. We expect it to generate tangible results for the RISE Project by producing highly trained professionals who will lead digital manufacturing innovation.” <Pukyong Today>