Ponyjeong Foundation-FOMA, Nurturing Talent for Design Innovation

The Ponyjeong Foundation's advisor, Kim Jong-su (left), and Park Jong-seo, director of the Poma Automobile Design Museum, are holding the agreement for the "Ponyjeong Design Academy."

The Ponyjeong Foundation announced on the 30th that it has signed an agreement with the Poma Automobile Design Museum (hereinafter FOMA) to operate and support the 'Ponyjeong Design Academy'.

Under this agreement, both parties will operate the Design Academy for one year. The educational program was conceived from the awareness that, in order for future generations to cope with the unpredictable post-COVID-19 world, there is a need for an educational platform that cultivates the three core competencies (3C): Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity.

Although the complete digital era has arrived due to COVID-19, the program will focus on the challenge of maintaining humanity by providing education that encourages thinking with the hands and awakening the senses, aiming to nurture future innovative designers. The foundation plans to support the academy with 330 million KRW.

The Ponyjeong Design Academy will begin accepting program participants on November 29 and will proceed through three educational programs: Junior Design Class, Master Design Class, and Innovator Project, culminating in a design festival showcasing the final participants' works.

In particular, the Junior Design Class offers a diverse curriculum for middle and high school students as well as university (graduate) students, encouraging them to put down computers and smartphones and focus on the tactile sense of their hands. Not only Park Jongseo, the program's general director, but also leading domestic and international designers and artists will participate to directly impart innovation know-how.

Additionally, a project will be conducted to recreate the design blueprints of Giorgetto Giugiaro, the designer of the Pony automobile and recipient of the Ponyjeong Innovation Award, to find key elements that connect the past and future, thereby content-izing Ponyjeong's innovativeness and the significance of the Pony automobile. The recruitment for participants of the first Ponyjeong Design Academy will run until December 24, and detailed information can be found on the Ponyjeong Scholarship Support website.

Meanwhile, since its establishment in 2005, the Ponyjeong Foundation has continued scholarship, academic, and award programs, inheriting the philosophy of promoting basic academic studies and nurturing talent of the late Chung Se-young, Honorary Chairman of HDC Group (formerly Hyundai Development Company).