GIST is my power
Cha Beom Lee
Awarded with the 2019 GIST Outstanding Alumnus Award
Assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, USA
“GIST was home to me. It was where I slept, ate, worked out, listened to classes and
researched throughout the night. From time to time, I still remember hiking up Mt.
Bultaesan once in a while, looking over GIST and telling myself that I would become a
great researcher. I miss the time when I was only devoted to learning, without clinging
to performances such as research results, papers, proposals, task evaluations and others.
The GIST campus covered in snow was the most beautiful. Is it still so, now?”
Accept advice enthusiastically and move away from a fish in a well type of thoughts
As I spent a lot of time in the dormitory and laboratory, which were the only places for me during
my master’s and Ph.D. course at GIST. I relentlessly thought about research direction and career
options, and, although I discussed it with several seniors and juniors, I eventually realized that
they were fish in a well type of thoughts. I see my old self in the graduate students that I am
teaching now. It would be nice if the students of master’s and Ph.D. program could identify their
majors and careers automatically when it is difficult for students to select majors and careers by
themselves. I would like for them to talk with their academic advisors who know them the best
and who have a good insight in the reality of the relevant fields.
Two sheets of A4 paper filled with professor’s affection towards the student
During the master’s prgram, when I participated in the research training for two months at
JTekt, a company located in Kariya City in the vicinity of Nagoya, Japan, my academic advisor,
Professor Sun Kyu Lee accompanied me. He handed me two sheets of A4 paper that were filled
with Japanese sentences that were most frequently used during work so that I would be able to
communicate with the company employees who only used Japanese. With these two sheets of
A4 paper, I went around learning and conducting simple research. These two sheets of A4 paper
made me communicate at a level that enabled me to cope with the work in a couple of days.
The effect of the two sheets of A4 paper that the professor had written for me was magic, going
beyond the language barrier at work. I am always grateful.
The research environment of GIST where both basic research and applied research can be conducted
The basic research that I conducted at GIST has become the foundation for all of the research that
I am currently engaged in. The measurement field which I am currently researching about is an
extremely classical area, and, theoretically, it is closest to perfection experimentally. In addition,
we must have knowledge and experience in the fields of machinery, electricity, electronics, optics,
materials, and others in order to understand measurement. I was able to experience these fields
at GIST, and such experiences were a great help to me in pioneering new measurement fields.
I hope that the careers of graduates and participation of surrounding companies would become an opportunity for GIST to spread out into the world
The research competence of GIST has gained international recognition, and, although it is
expected to be evaluated highly in the future, I believe that if graduates are evaluated equally in
domestic and overseas stages and they continue active research in companies, research centers,
and universities, then the research competence of GIST and its ripple effect would amplify.
Endurance and efforts over a long period of time are required to grab opportunities
As an alumnus of GIST, this is the only thing that I can tell my juniors. Everyone has opportunities.
However, one must be qualified to grab the opportunity. Endurance as well as effort are required
over a long period of time. Although the current research may be difficult and even if the end
of the master’s and Ph.D. course cannot be seen, we need to try our best every moment to be
qualified for the opportunity. Never despair because you have GIST seniors and professors, and
whenever you are faced with a difficulty, seek advice.
