The graduation ceremony for the second batch of students of SEA:ME (Software Engineering in Automotive and Mobility Ecosystems), a global SW talent development program for future automobiles jointly developed and operated by Kookmin University (President JEONG, SEUNG RYUL) and the Volkswagen Group Woori Foundation (Chairman Till Scheer), was held on Tuesday, August 13, at the Volkswagen Group Woori Foundation. 

The students spent a year from July 2023 to June 2024 at 42 Wolfsburg, a non-profit coding institute in Germany, studying modules on embedded systems, autonomous driving systems, and mobility ecosystems. At the ceremony, the students expressed their gratitude for the SEA:ME program, saying, “The SEA:ME program helped me to develop my dreams of becoming a software developer and to develop my interest and expertise in the field of future automobiles.” 

The students' achievements were also diverse. Kookmin University students Jaehyung Park, Donghwan Seo, Dahyun Goh, and Junho Kim, and Inha University students Minchan Jeong and Jaehyun Jung participated in the Bosch Future Mobility Challenge (BFMC) 2024 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, from May 18 to 19 and placed third in the final round. The BFMC is an international autonomous driving competition that challenges teams to develop an autonomous driving algorithm for a one-tenth the size of a car and drive it through a specified environment, and 80 teams participated. In addition, students participated in the Bosch Connected Experience (BCX) Hackathon 2024 and the Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) Hackathon Challenge 2023, among other competitions. 

The program has also been successful in terms of employment and career paths. Students who have completed the program have been employed by leading automotive companies in Korea and abroad, including interns at Hyundai Motor Company's autonomous driving division - CARIAD Sensor Fusion at Volkswagen Group. 

“It is rewarding to see that the students have shown clear improvements in their competencies and have been able to find employment at domestic and overseas companies while developing and operating the SW Talent Development Program in the automotive field,” said Prof. SHIN SUNG-HWAN, Dean of the College of Automotive Engineering at Kookmin University, who oversees the program. ”We are grateful to the Volkswagen Group Woori Foundation for its generous support for the program.”