The Leading Center for Engineering Education Innovation (Director: Professor Il-jae Lee) conducted the "Smart Factory MES Practicum and Data Visualization Course" to promote innovation in the manufacturing sector and to train future engineers.

"Smart Factory" refers to an intelligent production facility for manufacturing innovation through the convergence of design, production equipment control technologies, and IoT technologies. Through the development of curricula in new industrial fields, the program has been operating long- and short-term courses for three years.

The training, held from February 8 to 10, involved students from three universities — Jeonbuk National University (JBNU), Kongju National University and Chungnam National University — and included virtual Festo setup and MES program practicum, as well as database modeling and visualization exercises.

Participating students developed competencies as future engineers through the Smart Factory training and, despite the program's high difficulty, demonstrated high levels of engagement and satisfaction.

Participants and instructors completed the training in strict compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines, including social distancing, wearing masks, disinfection and ventilation, use of self-test kits, submission of daily self-screening forms, and temperature and fever checks.

Professor Il-jae Lee, Director of the Leading Center for Engineering Education Innovation, said, "Smart Factory technologies are a core technology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the manufacturing sector, and many companies at home and abroad are adopting them. Government support for this area has been expanding each year." He added, "Universities need to establish leading educational programs to respond to this trend. In the next project, we will further refine the curriculum and add a variety of practical training to cultivate well-prepared engineers."