—Yonsei Joins Design Factory Global Network

On the morning of April 22, the opening ceremony for the establishment of Design Factory Korea (DFK) was held at the Yonsei International Campus (YIC). The ceremony was followed by a number of events over the next two days, including receptions, forums, and business workshops. The establishment of DFK in Songdo was the result of an MOU signed in 2014 between Underwood International College (UIC) and Finland’s Aalto University. Following the agreement, Yonsei became part of the Design Factory Global Network (DFGN) and began work on its own Design Factory. 

—What Is DFK? 

According to the Aalto Design Factory (ADF) website, the Design Factory is “the symbiosis of state-of-the-art conceptual thinking and cross-disciplinary hands-on doing. It leads the way towards a paradigm shift in education and business by providing a constantly developing, collaborative environment for students, researchers, and business practitioners.” DFGN is a global network of participating institutions in Finland, Australia, Chile, China, Switzerland, and now Korea.  Along with DFK and ADF in Finland, the other members are Swinburne Design Factory (Australia), Duoc Design Factory (Chile), Aalto-Tongji Design Factory (China), and CERN Ideasquare (Switzerland).

DFK is located in Veritas Hall B, and it currently consists of a design studio that covers about 330m². The studio is used by students to plan, design, and execute projects, while an online network allows them to communicate with other DFGN members across the globe. In the future, a prototyping lab will be established, enabling students to create various prototypes using state-of-the-art equipment and workstations. 

UIC Dean Park Hyung-ji explained that DFK is a space for futuristic education and integrated industrial collaboration where students can experiment with different processes such as creative ideation, planning, prototyping, and marketing. Through the DFGN, students also have opportunities to collaborate with other members. DFK promises to create a number of exciting opportunities for practical and creative learning, paving the way for innovative developments in design-related research and university-industry collaboration.