Sujeong Baek, who completed her Ph.D. in the Department of System Design and Control Engineering at UNIST, has recently been appointed as an assistant professor in the Department of Industrial and Management Engineering at Hanbat National University, beginning September 1, 2018.
Dr. Baek’s research interests lie primarily in the area of smart factory. Known as factory of the future, a smart factory is a highly digitized and connected production facility that relies on smart manufacturing. Because smart factories hold the promise of enabling truly sustainable, efficient and custom manufacturing, it is considered an important outcome of the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0.
Dr. Baek will begin her term as an assistant professor in the Department of Industrial and Management Engineering at Hanbat National University on September 1, 2018.
Dr. Baek received her doctorate from UNIST in 2018 under the mentorship of Professor Duck Young Kim in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering. This makes her first professor who received both her Bachelor of Science degree and doctorate from UNIST. She says her secret to fufilling the professional dream is to aim for the areas with high demand for technical specialists.
“In my first year of university, the concept of smart factory was unknown to the general public,” says Dr. Baek. “Thanks to the great guidance of Professor Kim and the academic traditions of UNIST that place great emphasis on convergence and challenge, I was easily able to break fresh ground for the field of smart factory.”
System Design and Control Engineering was a great fit for Dr. Baek, as she has a great interest in fusion research. She was exposed for the first time to smart factory while working as an undergraduate intern at Professor Kim’s laboratory and quickly became fascinated by it.
Being in Ulsan has been a great help for her professional development, as there are many manufacturers in Ulsan are taking the initiative to improve manufacturing process by combining smart factory. Dr. Baek developed a more complete understands of the issues and challenges that manufacturers are facing today, thus has naturally deepened her. She carried out a research project of Hyundai Heavy Industries to improve their marine engine failure, which led to software improvements and reforming of maintenance guidelines.
Professor Duck Young Kim in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering at UNIST.
“Smart Factory Research is an important field that brings together various majors such as mechanical engineering, design, control engineering, electronics engineering, and data analysis to create innovation in the industry as a whole,” says Professor Kim. “UNIST has been actively pursuing research on smart factories to promote and advance the economic growth with local industry by securing excellent facilities and manpower.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Industrial and Management Engineering at Hanbat National University has been selected as the ‘2018 Fourth Industrial Revolution Innovation Leading University Project’, sponsored by the Ministry of Education and has been establishing an innovative education and learning environment to cultivate smart factory professionals.
