[Editor's Note] As we enter the cutting-edge IT era, competition in engineering technology is intensifying. Technology development and human resource development are urgently needed in various fields, including semiconductors, secondary batteries, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, next-generation communications, and quantum computing. Accordingly, as the importance of universities and academic societies, which are the foundation for fostering cutting-edge talents, grows day by day, we met with Lee Hyuk-jae, the president of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Korea (professor of the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering at Seoul National University and director of the System Semiconductor Industry Promotion Center at Seoul National University), who boasts the history and tradition of the Korean information and communication field, to discuss trends and the future of the semiconductor industry, academia, and research.

■ Please give a brief self-introduction.

He is the Dean of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University and has been conducting research and education in the field of system semiconductor design.

■ You are currently leading the society as the president of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers. Please give us a brief introduction of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers and explain what the society is focusing on this year.

The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers is the oldest academic society in the field of information and communication, established in 1946. Unlike other academic societies that specialize in specific fields, the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers conducts academic activities encompassing a wide range of fields, including semiconductors, communications, computers, artificial intelligence, signal processing, industrial electronics, and robots.

This year, we are preparing various tasks to support the education needed by industrial member companies. Due to COVID-19, universities have been conducting online education for the past two years, and in the process, they have acquired a lot of educational videos.

We are preparing to create an educational program using the educational videos from the past and use it for retraining employees working at industrial member companies. We want to provide opportunities for company employees to study on their own through videos after work hours to make up for the knowledge they lack.

■ The summer academic conference will begin on June 28. Please introduce some of the notable presentations that will be presented at this academic conference.

This year, artificial intelligence and semiconductors are attracting attention, and various research and development results related to these fields are scheduled to be announced.

In particular, there are many special sessions where companies present their latest developments, including Samsung Electronics Memory Business Division, SK Hynix, Naver Cloud, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Hyundai Mobis.

In addition, there will be a demonstration of a robot developed by LG Electronics, and an exhibition with the participation of 15 companies in the system semiconductor field, providing a venue to share the development status of Korea's system semiconductors, especially the latest artificial intelligence semiconductors.

■ You are also the director of the Seoul National University System Semiconductor Industry Promotion Center. Among the activities that have contributed deeply to the development of semiconductors and cutting-edge industries in various fields, I am curious about your recent memorable achievements and your thoughts on them.

The Seoul National University System Semiconductor Industry Promotion Center is responsible for supporting domestic system semiconductor companies with support from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Recently, many new companies have been established in the system semiconductor field. We are supporting the initial growth of these companies, and there are many companies with great potential, so future growth is expected.

The center holds a 'Symbiotic Forum' four times a year to discuss the current status of companies in the system semiconductor ecosystem and to provide a place for networking. I feel rewarded when I think that this program 'may have helped startups grow' by providing opportunities for early-stage companies to interact with many companies in a short period of time.

While working at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University, I have felt the need for fostering semiconductor personnel and have worked hard to achieve this. As a result, the Department of Advanced Convergence was recently established at Seoul National University and a next-generation intelligent semiconductor major program was created.

In addition, a joint major called 'Artificial Intelligence Semiconductor Engineering' was newly established to educate semiconductors to 80 students from other majors every year. This major is very popular with many students applying within Seoul National University.

As the head of the Next Generation Semiconductor Innovation Sharing University Business Group, I am providing semiconductor education to students from not only Seoul National University but also other universities. With over 200 students from other universities receiving semiconductor education at Seoul National University, I am able to break down barriers between universities. I think I can contribute to solving the problem of university entrance exams in Korea to some extent.

■ Along with the success of ChatGPT, the AI storm is blowing strongly in the industry and market. AI semiconductors are attracting attention as the next-generation future food source. What is the future outlook for semiconductors, and what kind of preparations should domestic fabless companies make?

Artificial intelligence semiconductors are the food of the future. Currently, Nvidia of the United States dominates the market, but I think the competition is still at the beginning stage. There are many promising venture companies in our country that are making artificial intelligence semiconductors, so I think it would be worth competing if they grow.

However, while Korean companies have a certain level of hardware competitiveness, they lack software competitiveness, so it is necessary to urgently improve this.

■ I would like to know about the research team you are leading at Seoul National University and what recent notable research achievements have been made.

A promising field in the AI semiconductor field is PIM (Processing-in-Memory). It is a technology that makes memory and processor into a single chip. In existing semiconductors, memory and processor are made into separate chips, and the process of exchanging data between these two chips consumes a lot of power and reduces performance.

PIM is what has overcome these shortcomings, and it is being studied extensively as a next-generation artificial intelligence semiconductor technology. Our lab is conducting research on a new PIM structure that can be efficiently executed on a large artificial neural network such as GPT. We are researching a structure that can reduce the amount of data required by a large artificial neural network while not reducing performance.

■ Please give a final word to e4ds news readers.

The semiconductor industry is currently experiencing a severe labor shortage, so there are many employment opportunities at various levels.

There are also many short-term programs that provide semiconductor education to those who are not majoring in semiconductors.

I hope that you will show a lot of interest in the semiconductor field and choose it as your major, and that many of you will find employment in related industries.

thank you