While every April in KAIST is the month of cherry blossoms and strawberries, this time, it was more special: lights were shone upon cherry blossoms and unmanned vehicles delivered strawberries. The cherry blossom festival and strawberry parties were hosted by the College of Engineering and the Undergraduate Student Council as a part of Happy KAIST 2014. The KAIST Herald interviewed Professor Seung Bin Park, the director in charge of Happy KAIST 2014.

My name is Seung Bin Park, the dean of College of Engineering and professor of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

           

As it can be seen from the name, the main goal is happiness. Life in KAIST should give students happiness, along with the sense of belonging and pride. We have thus far held many events and projects for students, but ironically, students themselves hardly seem to have realized that these events were meant for them to enjoy. Therefore, this time, the undergraduate and graduate student councils, faculty members, and professors have cooperated to organize the events together.

Furthermore, happiness fuels creativity. Continuously bombarding students with tests and assignments only suppresses room for creativity because curiosity and inspiration are best generated when one’s mind is relaxed and content. Most importantly, we want to give students precious memories that can be recalled when they think about KAIST after they graduate.

Instead of planning a whole new event, I thought adding on to the existing events would be a better idea. The lighting idea came from the graduates of KAIST. Lamps were placed along the roads of the northern part of campus, where a lot of cherry blossoms are located, to illuminate the trees at night. We also provided free coffee during this time for those who came to watch the cherry blossoms. There was also the cherry blossom photo event, in which photo frames were given as prizes to 100 KAIST members who liked the official KAIST Facebook page and posted there photos taken on the cherry blossom road. Lastly, some graduate students from the Department of Industrial Design held a night exhibition to augment the visual effect of the dazzling cherry blossoms.

While strawberries and aerospace engineering seem to be absolutely unrelated, professors thought the combination could let students contemplate on the various ways in which a certain technological development could be applied in real life. Professor Hyun Chul Shim of the Department of Aerospace Engineering directed the operation of unmanned vehicle strawberry delivery. When a user orders strawberries through the smart phone’s mobile application, the user’s location information gets transmitted to the system. Then, the unmanned car or plane delivers the strawberry by sensing the environment and avoiding obstacles.

I think these spring festivals relieve students’ stress from studying. It also generates a lively, free atmosphere and allows students to appreciate some of the technologies developed at KAIST. Overall, students may cultivate a more relaxed, comfortable attitude toward college life. Strawberry parties and cherry blossom festivals have already become KAIST’s signature events, and perhaps the little additions of this year’s spring festival may become a permanent part of the event as well.

First of all, there were no previous examples that we could refer to, since this was the first time organizing a student-focused event. In addition, being in the shoes of KAIST students was more difficult than I imagined. It was important to realize that things that make me happy often cannot make students happy. Thus, overcoming the differences in the standard and concept of happiness was a major obstacle I faced while working on this project.