Day 4 - Daegu

Photo with the professors and students of YNC

"Today we visited the Yeungnam College of Science Technology (YNC), where it educates students to actively participate in the industrial development of their country. It was founded in 1968 by the late President, Mr Park Jeong-hee. 

I was astounded by their views on mechatronics as they placed high priority in this course. As a mechatronics and robotics student in Singapore Polytechnic, they inspired me to pursue this interesting and innovative area of advanced technology. 

We were brought into their mechatronics lab to view their control system which was activated by its pneumatic system and programmable logic control. It's pretty much similar to the one back in Singapore Polytechnic but the designs were far more sophisticated. Maybe, it is because they had more space to build and design this system. 

Seeing the Koreans demonstrate this system made me realised the importance of knowing how to operate that particular system, and not many people know this valuable knowledge. It made me feel glad that I had chosen this unique course to study at Singapore Polytechnic. I'm pretty sure that with the fast advancement of technology, Singapore will grasp the concept of mechatronics and use it to shape our country's future.

Vivien with her team members

We also interacted with the Korean students to design and build a catapult system as part of a traditional game called "yut". It was tough to communicate with the Korean students as they only spoke Korean while we only spoke English. Yet we overcame this language barrier with "google translate" and made friends with them. 

It was a fun and enriching trip to the Yeungnam College of Science & Technology as I've learnt to make friends with someone from different country and culture. It also motivated me to learn the Korean language."

Vivian, DMRO/3A/01

Carine (second from left) with her team members

"I feel very honoured to be able to participate in this educational study trip and I have always wanted to visit South Korea. During the trip to YNC, I made new local friends. Although there was a language barrier amongst us, the Korean students were very friendly and patient towards us. They even made time for us and brought us shopping.

Lastly, the weather was very cooling. I love it very much and I will come back again".

Carine, DCPE/3B/25

"This has been the most happening day of this Korean trip. My group mates and I had a really good time with the students from YNC. Even though some could speak very little English, we still managed to interact well with them and built a successful catapult.

Rakesh (second from left) with his team mates

We were united again at dinner and shopping. One thing I learnt about Korean people during the night reunion was that they are pretty patient people, often putting others before themselves. On one instance, I was hunting for this clothing outlet called "Hollister". My Korean mate patiently brought me around the streets and finally we found the shop and I made my purchases. We then headed for some cheese "toppokii" dinner and dessert at da Vinci coffee. After that, they put us on a taxi and we bid farewell. It was an eventful experience".

Rakesh, DARE/2A/03

Actual burnt train in the background

Briefing by Mr Kim on what to do in a subway fire emergency

"Third day in South Korea. How fast time flies when we are having fun! We have just finished visiting Daegu Safety Park hosted by Mr Kim.

Inside the safety park, we watched a heart wrenching video of a subway accident that happened in Daegu where close to 200 people died and over 150 people injured. After this incident, the people realised that they were not prepared for such eventualities. Hence, the need and opening of the Safety Park.

We also went through a mock emergency test inside the train to have a feel and to better understand what we must do during an emergency. I personally felt that this is a good experience and Singapore should implement a safety park to allow Singaporeans to have better preparedness as we can never predict what and when an emergency might occur".

Daphne, DCPE/3B/25