Nationwide Middle and High School Students Offered Online and Offline Lectures, Field Trips, and Laboratory Practice
Mayor Lee Kangduk: "We Will Build the World's Best Battery City Where Youth Dreams Come True"
Pohang City held the '2024 K-Battery Youth Academy' on the 8th at the POSTECH International Building to nurture future talents in secondary batteries, which will be responsible for Korea's future industries.
This event, co-hosted by Pohang City, Dong-A Ilbo, and Channel A, was designed to increase youth understanding of secondary batteries, one of the nation’s strategic high-tech industries, and to foster creative and passionate future talents in the secondary battery field.
The opening ceremony was attended by Pohang Mayor Lee Kangduk, Dong-A Ilbo Executive Director Kim Junghoon, other officials, and over 100 participating youths and guardians from across the country.
Starting with the opening ceremony on the 8th and continuing for two days until the 9th, the academy targets middle and high school students nationwide who aspire to become secondary battery experts. It covers topics ranging from the history of batteries, battery materials, operating principles, battery value chains, and industrial impacts through both online and offline lectures, field trips, and hands-on experiments.
On the 8th, POSTECH professors Kang Byungwoo and Lee Sangmin delivered lectures on 'Next-Generation Secondary Battery Materials and Technologies' and 'Trends and Future Prospects in Secondary Battery R&D,' capturing the interest of the participants.
Participants then visited the Pohang Secondary Battery Integrated Management Center, which serves as a forward base for the battery industry, where they learned about the battery recycling process and had the opportunity to make their own mobile phone chargers, gaining a deeper understanding of how batteries work.
Prior to the offline event, academy participants were also given the opportunity to take online video lectures provided on the official website, allowing them to build foundational knowledge in the battery field.
The city expects that this K-Battery Youth Academy, which proactively provided a platform for career exploration and showcased Pohang’s outstanding innovation capabilities?built on top-tier battery technology, infrastructure, and human resources?will serve as a cornerstone in nurturing future talents who can lead the global market.
Pohang City is recognized for having the optimal ecosystem for next-generation secondary battery technology development and talent cultivation, thanks to its world-class research and educational institutions.
Research institutes such as POSTECH, the Accelerator Research Center, RIST, and the Secondary Battery Integrated Management Center, along with a concentration of R&D demonstration infrastructure, provide abundant resources and professional manpower to support research and technology development in the secondary battery field. In addition, four universities, Meister high schools, and specialized high schools in the region produce outstanding talent every year.
The city plans to quickly respond to industry talent demands and foster all-around innovative talent through initiatives such as the Battery Academy, Battery Specialized Graduate Schools, Glocal Universities, and Special Education Zones, aiming to become a key supply base of technology and talent that leads the growth and innovation of the global high-tech industry beyond Korea.
Mayor Lee Kangduk stated, "I hope you will grow into innovative talents who will lead the secondary battery industry, which will be the future of Korea," and added, "We will build the world’s best battery city in Pohang so that the dreams of youths leading the secondary battery industry can come true."
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