Gyeongnam Province Takes Initiative to Train and Supply Gas Turbine Specialists

Ministry of Industry's Selection for the 'Regional Energy Cluster Talent Development Project'

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] Gyeongsangnam-do announced on the 19th that its gas turbine specialized workforce training project has been finally selected in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's 'Regional Energy Cluster Talent Training Project' competition.

The Regional Energy Cluster Talent Training Project is a Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy professional workforce training program targeting energy industry convergence complex areas.

Since the designation of the energy industry convergence complex centered on gas combined power generation by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in August last year, Gyeongnam Province has prepared workforce training and supply plans to revitalize the industrial ecosystem.

With the selection of the province's project proposal focusing on training specialized gas turbine personnel in this Ministry competition, an opportunity to realize policy has been secured.

This project is centered on the province, with Gyeongnam Technopark participating as the lead institution, and three universities?Changwon University, Gyeongnam National University, and Gyeongsang National University?as well as numerous small and medium-sized enterprises in the province including Doosan Heavy Industries.

Changwon City and Jinju City also contribute local government funds to support workforce training.

The participating universities will open and operate 14 specialized graduate courses related to gas turbine materials and components, aiming to train gas turbine technology talents.

By operating educational programs linked to Gyeongnam's gas combined power generation industry and research infrastructure, the plan is to train and graduate 155 master's and doctoral level professionals over five years and carry out about 80 industry-academia cooperation projects that also involve core technology development.

This talent training project is designed to link industry-academia cooperation project execution with workforce training, aiming to simultaneously resolve on-site technical difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises and train specialized personnel.

It is expected to help not only alleviate the shortage of specialized technical personnel, which is an essential condition for creating a gas combined power generation industrial ecosystem, but also strengthen the competitiveness of local universities and create new jobs.

Furthermore, it is anticipated to open the way for government support for the creation and revitalization of the gas combined power generation industrial ecosystem, which the province is focusing on promoting.

The project will be actively promoted starting with signing a memorandum of understanding with related organizations in April.

In July, prior to the establishment of a specialized graduate school major, a 'Power Energy Talent Training Education Group' (tentative name) will be set up first to recruit faculty and select new students.

In the second half of this year, industry-academia cooperation projects will be actively launched, and seminars and expert lectures jointly promoted by industry, academia, and research institutes will also be held.