KSEA Forum

R& D Leadership Forum

4:30-6:30PM, Thursday, August 22 2024

University Leadership Forum

4:30-6:30PM Thursday, August 22 2024

KSEA and KOFST are pleased to host the seventh University Leadership Forum during the 37th US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship (UKC 2024) in San Francisco. This Forum will be an excellent opportunity to listen to university presidents from the US and Korea to discuss about emerging topics in academia. 

• The first forum in New York in 2018 discussed current issues in science and technology education and university administration such as the direction of national policies in the U.S. and Korea to support higher education and train young generations. 

• The second forum in Chicago in 2019 discussed challenges in educating students to meet the industry demands and creating an ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education. 

• The third forum in Seoul in 2020 with on-line participants from USA discussed how Korean universities adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and internationalization demands.  

• The fourth forum in LA in 2021 focused on the technological and contextual needs for fruitful on-line collaborations in both holistic teaching and impactful research between universities in the U.S. and Korea. 

• The fifth forum in Washington DC in 2022 discussed various ways to improve STEM education in universities and share best practices given the rapidly declining number of college students in Korea.

• The sixth forum in Dallas in 2023 discussed strategies to foster regional collaborations among universities, regional governments, research institutes and companies in Korea.

• The seventh forum in San Francisco in 2024 will discuss how universities are dealing with the declining external R&D funds and, consequently, increasing number of professors in performing just teaching without doing externally funded research projects.  

Discussion Topics:

Part 1: How Universities in US and Korea address the declining external R&D funds?

• What is the trend of total external R&D funds received by each university during the past five years?   

• What are the three main reasons for declining R&D funds received by each university. 

• If needed, what can each university president do to increase the externally funded R&D funds. 

Part 2: How to address the increasing number of professors doing just teaching without externally funded R&D projects.

• What is the trend of number of professors of doing just teaching without doing externally funded research funds (include both tenure track faculty without R&D fund and teaching/practice faculty without a research responsibility).  

• What are the three main reasons for the increasing number of teaching faculty at each university.

• If needed, what can each university president do to decrease the number of faculty members of doing just teaching without doing externally funded research funds (include both tenure track faculty without R&D fund and teaching/practice faculty without a research responsibility).

KWiSE Women’s Forum

11:00 - 1:00, Friday, August 23 2024 

Founded in 2004, KWiSE (Korean-American Women in Science and Engineering) is a non-profit organization to promote career development and networking of Korean-American women professionals in the science and engineering fields. Involving all key organizations working for Korean American women in the STEM field in both US and Korea, the main objective of this forum is to exchange ideas on career development, leadership, and empowerment of women in STEM and to discuss potential policies and strategies that are needed to expedite this process.

After an opening session by KWiSE and WISET, KWiSE-KWSE Session will discuss the current and planned global collaborations in women in STEM and future directions. Speakers will share examples of various on-going successful global collaborations, including Korea-US and Korea-UK. Based on these examples, we will discuss how women scientists and engineers can further strengthen existing collaboration and foster new collaborations.

The KWiSE-KOFWST Session will discuss future directions and vision of organizations working for women in STEM. Vision and path forward of the two organizations (KOFWST and KWiSE) will be shared, then a panel discussion will follow on how to empower women scientists and engineers. This forum is designed to be an interactive and engaging event to foster networking and mentoring among the attendees. The forum will provide an excellent opportunity for the participants to learn from the women leaders in the STEM fields and get inspired to become a future leader in STEM.

Aerospace Forum

2:00 - 4:00, Friday, August 23 2024  

This Forum serves as a comprehensive platform encompassing every facet of space and aeronautics related fields, from cutting-edge scientific advancements to breakthroughs in technology development and fostering global collaboration. By facilitating dialogue, innovation, and strategic partnerships, this forum aims to propel the boundaries of aerospace science and technology forward while advancing the collective understanding and utilization of space for the betterment of humanity. This forum is jointly organized by KSEA and Korean-American AeroSpace Science and Technology Association, a pivotal hub for exchanging aerospace science and technologies.  

History Forum

8:30 -10:30AM, Saturday, August 24 2024

The influence from the historical background appears indispensable in understanding the first generation of Korean-American, in particular, the inherited volunteerism that manifested in founding the KSEA a half century ago. In this forum, the propagation of the KSEA history to the next generations will be discussed.

• Introductory Remarks and Group Photo - Chueng-Ryong Ji (Chair) and Soolyeon Cho (Co-Chair) for all participants

• Welcome Remark and History of Young Generation Activities - Tom Oh (KSEA President)

• Early History of Korean Students in US - Kang-Wook Lee

• What is history? - Sung-Kwon Kang

• Senior Forum Summary - Thomas Hahn and his delegate