A view of Changwon National University.
CHANGWON — Changwon National University will train defense industry talent under an industry-academia sponsorship arrangement with Hanwha Aerospace (012450) known as a “contract quota system,” under which the company reserves hiring slots in advance, selecting industry-academia scholarship students in their junior year, developing them through a master’s program and then hiring them as full-time employees.
The university said on the 30th that it had been selected for the AX (AI transformation) Innovative Talent Development Program run by the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) under the Ministry of Science and ICT. Among the 15 universities selected nationwide, Changwon National University is the only one in the southeastern region covering Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province.
The university will invest a total of 17.7 billion won ($12.6 million) in the project over six years through 2031, including 15.5 billion won in government funding. Hanwha Aerospace is taking part as a joint research and development institution, while South Gyeongsang Province and Changwon each provide 300 million won as cooperating organizations.
At the center of the project is the contract quota system with Hanwha Aerospace, a defense company. Instead of the conventional hiring route in which candidates pass an entrance exam and then undergo new-employee training, the arrangement develops students to fit the workplace from their time in school and allows the company to hire them directly.
The university and the company will select 10 industry-academia scholarship students each year from third-year undergraduates and provide company-tailored education beginning in their fourth year. Five of those who complete the combined bachelor’s-master’s program will be hired as permanent employees at Hanwha Aerospace.
The curriculum is also shifting toward field-based instruction. Four working experts from Hanwha Aerospace will teach at the university as Joint Appointment (JA) adjunct faculty. The eight-week new-employee training normally required after joining the company can be completed in advance as regular university coursework. Students will take part in projects using the company’s actual data and in internships known as the D.AX Internship while enrolled.
The university is also strengthening ties with local industry. It will conduct hands-on training and projects jointly with major companies in the Changwon National Industrial Complex, including Hyosung Heavy Industries (298040) and DN Solutions. The program targets 90 internships, a 90% employment rate and a 60% rate of graduates settling in the region. South Gyeongsang Province and Changwon are each contributing 300 million won to help build a defense AI innovation ecosystem and encourage young people to settle locally.
Changwon National University plans to create a D.AX (defense AI transformation) track in its graduate school and, centered on the Department of Artificial Intelligence Convergence Engineering (operational innovation) and the Control and Instrumentation Engineering major (manufacturing innovation), select more than 50 students a year starting in 2027 to produce a total of 250 master’s- and doctoral-level specialists. It will also pursue joint international research with Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute and Poland’s Military University of Land Forces.
The selection is seen as a case in which research and education infrastructure built up since the university was designated a Glocal University 30 institution by the Ministry of Education in 2024 — including its Software-Oriented University status, BK21 program in artificial intelligence, AI boot camp and National Research Lab (NRL) 2.0 — has produced a large-scale result.
“This is the fruit of expanding our Glocal University innovation capacity into a large national talent development project,” President Park Min-won of Changwon National University said. “We will establish a new talent development model that connects undergraduate study, graduate school, industrial sites and actual hiring in one continuous path, and raise the competitiveness of South Korea’s defense industry and manufacturing AX.”
Promotional image announcing Changwon National University’s final selection for the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) “AX Innovation Talent Development Project.” Photo courtesy of Changwon National University