Kyungnam University Becomes the Only Korean University to Join Officially as a Member of US DTC

Second Time Since First Membership of an Asian University in Germany's IDTA

Establishing a Global Smart Manufacturing ICT Talent Development System

Kyungnam University has become the only university in Korea to join the U.S. Digital Twin Consortium (DTC).

This achievement provides new momentum for Kyungnam University's bold innovation and official designation as a Glocal University 30, as the university leads the digital transformation of the Changwon National Industrial Complex.

With this membership, Kyungnam University will actively establish a “collaborative system for nurturing global smart manufacturing ICT talent” in connection with Glocal University and RISE.

The DTC (Digital Twin Consortium) is a global organization that leads the awareness, adoption, interoperability, and advancement of digital twin technology. Last year, Kyungnam University became the first university in Asia to become an official member of Germany’s Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA), a consultative body under the German federal government. Together, DTC and IDTA are the two leading organizations in the global digital twin industry.

Commemorative photo after the US DTC membership event with CTO Dan Isaacs (left) and Deputy Director Namhyun Yoo of the Global Joint Research Center for Mega Manufacturing AI. [Image provided by Kyungnam University]

The consortium is dedicated to the overall development of digital twins through partnerships with experts from industry, academia, and government. Major members include Microsoft, Google, DELL, ANSYS, and Dassault Systemes. In Korea, Kyungnam Technopark, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, and Changwon-based Korea Open Solution are also members.

“Digital twin” is a technology that creates three-dimensional data identical to real-world machines, equipment, and objects in a virtual space, and then uses computer simulations to predict and solve potential real-world scenarios in advance. As enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing continue to develop and accumulate, digital twin technology is gaining attention as a core technology to accelerate the “digital transformation” across various industries.

To join the DTC, Yoo Namhyun, Deputy Director of the Global Joint Research Center for Hyper-scale Manufacturing AI, personally attended the “U.S. DTC Second Quarter Regular Meeting.”

At the event, Deputy Director Yoo introduced the “Global Manufacturing Convergence SW Development and Demonstration Project” and the “Manufacturing Industry Specialized Hyper-scale Manufacturing AI Service Development and Demonstration Project,” both hosted by Gyeongsangnam-do and jointly participated in by Kyungnam University and Kyungnam Technopark.

In particular, he drew the attention of global companies by sharing plans to simultaneously apply the German IDTA’s “AAS (Asset Administration Shell) data collection standard technology” and “Data Space standard technology,” which are optimized for manufacturing standards, as well as the U.S.-led concept of Software Defined Manufacturing, to both projects.

Members from Japan’s NEC and Belgium’s global engineering software company IMEC expressed great interest in these plans and promised to continuously share research outcomes and collaborate in the future.

DTC CTO Dan Isaacs and other DTC members said, “We will actively support Kyungnam University and Kyungnam Technopark by monitoring their projects and helping to promote their achievements within DTC,” and added, “If Kyungnam University’s Global Joint Research Center for Hyper-scale Manufacturing AI invites us to the global seminar planned for the second half of this year, we would be honored to participate as presenters.”