"Researchers, Throw Pianos Out of the Building" [Reading Science]

‘April Scientist of the Month’ Han Seung-yong, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University, Emphasizes Autonomous and Creative Research

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] "Researchers of Korea, throw the piano out of the building."

Professor Han Seung-yong (46, photo) of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University, who developed the world's first ultra-small, ultra-lightweight insulated high-temperature superconducting magnet and received the April Science and Technology Award, said this in an interview with Asia Economy on the 5th, expressing his wish as a researcher and mentor to advise his juniors. This was a comment on the difference in research culture he felt during his 13 years of study at MIT in the United States since 2003 and after returning to Korea in 2017 to work at his alma mater, Seoul National University.

According to Professor Han, MIT has a tradition where students throw a piano off the rooftop of the dormitory on the last day they can drop a class without it being recorded on their transcript. In 1972, a student jokingly proposed, "I want to throw a piano out of the dormitory building to study the movement of the fragments," and surprisingly, this was officially approved by the school and became a tradition. Professor Han explained, "For students, at least at this school, it leads to confidence that 'it's okay to do crazy things,'" adding, "Failure itself is a very valuable asset, so don't be afraid and enjoy the attempt itself."

This kind of academic culture that respects students' 'fun' might seem like a lighthearted 'if it doesn't work, so be it' attitude, but it ultimately leads to amazing creativity that can overcome any challenge, resulting in MIT's outstanding academic achievements. The research culture he experienced at Seoul National University after returning to Korea in 2017 was somewhat different. Korean students place more emphasis on success than fun and are weighed down by fear of failure.

Professor Han said, "I often saw Korean students hesitate due to fear of failure that might lie at the end of a new attempt that no one else has tried," emphasizing, "Korea, having entered the threshold of advanced countries, must break away from past follower-type research, and for that, there must be more free research that 'throws the piano'."

The ultra-small, ultra-lightweight insulated superconducting magnet developed by Professor Han, which is less than one-hundredth the size of existing ones, is expected to bring revolutionary changes in a wide range of industrial fields requiring electromagnets such as generators and motors. He said, "Using smaller and lighter superconducting magnets, it will be possible to manufacture wind turbines with much higher efficiency and power, nuclear fusion devices, and urban air mobility (UAM), among others."