From July 24^th to 28^th, 2023, the Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK) of TU Dresden and the Jeonbuk National University, Korea (JBNU) organized a summer school for highly talented Korean hight school students aged 15-17. During the one-week trial study program on Sustainable Lightweight Engineering, the students took part in theoretical lectures and workshops with a practical focus specially designed for the target and age group. In addition to the technical projects, the program consisted of campus tours, presentations of study programs at TU Dresden, and leisure activities that showed Dresden as an attractive place to study. "The trial summer school was an enriching experience for all participants and an overwhelming success!" commented Prof. Dong-Won Kim, the former president of JBNU, who is currently spending his sabbatical semester at the ILK for research purposes and who accompanied the students throughout the whole event: "The students felt well taken care of at the ILK and several expressed the desire or even already planned to return to Dresden for a longer period of time to take advantage of the city's great cultural offerings."

Impressions. ILK Summer School for Highly Gifted Korean High School Students, July 2023

Jeonju, the region around Jeonbuk, is an H2 model region, from generation to storage to utilization. In this area, ILK is particularly active in the topics of H2 compression, conduction, and storage in stationary and mobile systems, and especially interested in hybrid-electric flying and H2-powered vehicles. JBNU is one of the player in this Korean H2 region and is currently increasingly seeking international contacts in Europe. In August 2022, the (then) JBNU President, Prof. Dong-Won Kim, and the ILK Board Member, Prof. Niels Modler signed an MoU for future collaboration between the two institutions. As a result, a series of joint exchange and mobility activities started in 2023, including this trial summer school.

The JBNU annually selects about 50 outstanding high school students from the Jeollabuk-do region after the first-year midterm exams for a one-year research internship in JBNU laboratories or affiliated with JBNU science and engineering professorships. At the end of this one-year program, the students present their research results and go on a study trip to a variety of renowned institutions overseas. The participants of the ILK summer school were graduates of this JBNU internship program. The TU Dresden as one of the German universities of excellence, the ILK as a prestigious first-class research institute in the field of lightweight engineering, and Dresden with its local history and culture were an excellent fit for the program profile.

Although the trial study program only lasted four days and the stay in Dresden was five nights, the students were delighted with the new insights they gained into lightweight engineering methods and smart materials. The summer school was characterized by a good balance between specialized technical courses, insight into everyday campus life at TU Dresden and leisure activities in Dresden. The atmosphere was open-minded, friendly and relaxed. "What surprised me was the high level of English skills among the students", describes Dr. Sebastian Spitzer, head of the Expert Group Lightweight Design at the ILK and coordinator of ILK's partnerships with Korea: "The participants were very bright and, above all, willing to participate actively. Shyness is not an issue. They approached us and asked question after question and just soaked up all the knowledge." In his closing speech, Prof. Maik Gude, the ILK board member, appreciated not only the interest and engagement of the Korean students but also the great commitment of his team: "Without the enthusiasm of the ILK staff for internationalization on the one hand and their commitment to promoting young talent on the other, events of this caliber could not happen."

The students were guided through the ILK's entire technical center. In addition to the Lightweight Engineering Campus Dresden-Johannstadt, they also visited the National Lightweight Engineering Validation Center (LEIV), which was opened 2022 and is entirely committed to the rapid transfer of research results in the field of environmental friendly and global equitable product and process design into industrial practice. At the ILK, they were able to laminate, build and test a lightweight beam, and design and print a 3D model in the CAD software. The ILK concept of neutral lightweight engineering ("Neutralleichtbau") was very appealing to the students and they were generally enthusiastic about the ideas on how to follow sustainability premises in mechanical engineering. The topic of transferability of sustainability aspects in mechanical engineering to personal decisions aroused particular interest. However, the direct contact with lightweight materials and technologies also triggered quite simple astonishment, for example when carbon reinforced polymers were demonstrated and did not correspond to the intuitive idea of the students at all. We were unable to offer a satisfactory lightweight solution to the question of how to get as high as Dr. Spitzer, but the students nevertheless left us in the direction of Prague enriched by a great deal of new knowledge.
 

Coordination at the ILK
Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Spitzer, Expert Group Lightweight Design, Head, +49 (0)351 463-42487,
Contact at the ILK
Radka Tomečková, ILK International Office Advisor, +49 (0)351 463-37956,

Further to the webpage of the Korea partnership, here.