Cement Industry Takes Initiative to 'Train Skilled Professionals'... Establishing Regional Hub Universities

Business Briefing Held at Busan National University on the 17th
Participants Completed Specialized Track Courses

The cement industry has embarked on nurturing specialized personnel.

On the 17th, officials are taking a commemorative photo at the 'Eco-friendly Cement Industry Skilled Workforce Training Project' briefing session held at Pusan National University. [Photo by Korea Cement Association]

The Korea Cement Association and the cement industry announced on the 19th that they held an explanatory meeting for the ‘Eco-friendly Cement Industry Specialized Personnel Training Project’ at Pusan National University on the 17th.

According to a recent survey, the number of domestic cement-related researchers was 983 as of 2021. A representative from the Korea Cement Association explained, “The pool of master's and doctoral level talents necessary for research?such as new technology development and maintaining excellent products that correspond to the status of the cement industry, which has led modern architectural culture?is on the brink of extinction, let alone the researchers needed to respond to the greenhouse gas reduction crisis.”

Accordingly, the Korea Cement Association has designated regional base universities?Hanyang University (Capital area), Kongju National University (Central area), and Pusan National University (Southern area)?and plans to expand the number of master's and doctoral students benefiting from the program to 162 over the next five years, focusing on nurturing personnel necessary for future technology development.

Students participating in this project will complete specialized track courses offered at each base university and simultaneously engage in joint industry-academia projects with cement companies.

This event, promoted as part of the ‘Industrial Innovation Talent Growth Support Project’ by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, was attended by officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Choi Jae-won, President of Pusan National University, Jung Yeon-gil, Director of the Korea Ceramic Technology Institute, and Lee Chang-gi, Chairman of the Korea Cement New Materials Research Association, among others.

Choi Jae-won, President of Pusan National University, emphasized, “This personnel training project aligns with national policy and will make a significant contribution to realizing carbon neutrality through a materials engineering approach.”

Kim Ui-cheol, Director of the Korea Cement Association, who oversaw this project, stated, “It is not only the decline in research personnel but also securing specialized personnel in technology and R&D fields who will play a key role in expanding low-carbon cement products necessary for responding to greenhouse gas reduction, activating recycling of circular resources, and implementing carbon capture, storage, and utilization technologies for carbon-circulating cement production processes that is the top priority. We plan to operate specialized or linked programs in three technology groups: eco-friendly cement materials, eco-friendly cement processes, and eco-friendly cement applications.”