▶ People④
Lee Jae Sung, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Material Science and Engineering (Class of '14, College of Liberal Studies)
In a pluralistic contemporary society, interests constantly clash and conflicts arise between individuals and groups. Mr. Lee presents convergence as the key to these conflicts. When someone states their position based on meaning or data, someone else, who thinks in a convergent manner, coordinates these opinions to reach new solutions. He was able to gain this insight by crossing the boundaries between liberal arts and sciences.
As shown in the title of the lecture, I was a liberal arts student, but am now studying engineering. The subtitle, ‘A new path created via the convergence of academic disciplines,’ implies the path I have followed.
Although my background was in the humanities and social sciences, I was admitted to SNU College of Liberal Arts majoring in materials engineering. It was difficult for me, having learned mainly about the humanities and social sciences, to compete with those who had developed their skills in natural sciences. Besides, they were all SNU students, highly capable and competitive; however, I felt success in the program was still within the realm of possibility. The knowledge, experience, and humanistic sensibility I had accumulated in the fields of humanities and social sciences became a constructive foundation for my engineering research. This background has been beneficial, particularly in comprehending and describing my research as an engineering researcher and storyteller.
Admission to the College of Liberal Arts gave me sufficient time and opportunity to ponder my career path. In the College of Liberal Arts, the “Selected Topics Seminar” is available as a first-year course prior to choosing a major. This course offered extensive knowledge of one topic and the opportunity to view it from various perspectives. The experience developed “my pursuit of becoming a patent agent” particularly because I assumed that a patent agent may be a job where I could meet happy people. I further assumed that such people have the opportunity to share groundbreaking ideas with the world. For this reason, I chose materials engineering as my major. Another attractive point was that materials had already had a tremendous impact on human advances. As for now, I am eager to continue conducting research projects and expanding my knowledge. Based on these criteria, research is a considerable source of happiness for me.
“It relates to developing better interpretations based on the knowledge and experience I possess.
I believe that as more people experience and comprehend various fields
and develop their power of interpretation, our society will move in a better direction.”
I was simply lucky. I initially experienced difficulty in keeping up with the courses. Compared to my peers who had been interested in engineering since their secondary school years, I was a mere novice. I worked harder than others with the belief in the saying, “Practice makes perfect.” I would attentively listen to each lecture and untiringly review them. Fortunately, I think I am now walking at a similar pace to my peers in the research laboratory. It may be still difficult to understand equations and substitute them though.
To put it simply, I am doing “alchemy.” Like alchemy, which aims to create new substances from commonly available materials, in materials thermodynamics, my primary area of study, I examine the state of substances and apply the results to material fusion and process improvement toward enhancing their usability.
My liberal arts experiences have a positive effect in that I approach my research subjects as a “storyteller." Prior to conducting any research project, I tend to first think about its meaning and direction, an effort that leads to qualitative research. This substantially contributes to describing our research outcomes to the general public in a comprehensible manner. Currently, as an engineering researcher, I believe that I am not completely out of the scope of the humanities and social sciences.
All the spaces surrounding us are made up of certain materials, and simultaneously, everything within these spaces becomes materials. I am still interacting with friends who are active in various fields regardless of their majors—whether liberal arts or science majors—and occupations. In their midst, I am listening to learn what issues are sparking their interest in other areas and then mulling over whether materials engineering could be utilized to resolve these issues. It is also entertaining to hear about what research projects my peers in other laboratories are conducting and to learn from them.
The process of solving social problems is inevitably accompanied by conflicts, thereby requiring communicators. Such a person can think flexibly and coordinate issues without any biases in terms of knowledge or opinions. When an issue arises, those who approach the issue either emotionally or realistically might overlook something. If there were a communicator who could interpret the problem more cautiously, explain it clearly, and coordinate differences of opinion, wouldn't the situation improve? Although such talent could be nurtured primarily through academic convergence, the person’s effort is also essential, and in this respect, I insist that each student should develop their interest in areas outside their primary area of study and boldly combine it into their research. Such an approach will open new paths for both themselves and society.
