Dr. Gloria Kim and Pingchien Neo were awarded an Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students grant entitled “U.S.-Korea Global Design Thinking Alliance for Community College Students”.
Title: U.S.-Korea Global Design Thinking Alliance for Community College Students
PI: Gloria Kim
Co-PI: Pingchien Neo
Sponsor: US Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
Amount: $35,000
Grant period: Aug 1, 2020 - Sep 30, 2021
Website for more info: http://www.studyabroadcapacitybuilding.org/ideas-grants/
The project, U.S.-Korea Global Design Thinking Alliance for Community College Students, will address low study abroad participation of STEM students through the creation of a new UF faculty-led study-abroad program in South Korea. The 12-week immersive summer program will be a design thinking course for students in the Gator Engineering at Santa Fe College program. Students will form global design teams with Korean students at the partner institutions and work on industry-sponsored authentic projects. They will also have the opportunity to visit South Korea’s leading tech companies and government labs as well as experience Korean culture. The participants will gain design thinking training, learn intercultural competency, improve communication skills, get exposure to cutting-edge research in their field of study, and expand their personal and professional network. The team will use IDEAS grant funding to conduct site visits to establish and strengthen partnerships with South Korean universities, research institutions, and industry for this program.
Dr. Gloria Kim is the Associate Chair for Research of the Department of Engineering Education in the UF Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. She received her B.S. degree in Chemistry from Seoul National University, M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Pingchien Neo was born and raised in Malaysia in a tropical climate not unlike that of Florida. She moved to the United States to pursue a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and subsequently obtained her M.S. in Nuclear Engineering in ETH Zürich in Switzerland.