The city of Seongnam is accepting applications through June 24 for its "Seongnam Physical Artificial Intelligence (AI) Academy," a program designed to cultivate core talent in the physical AI field.
The academy is operated by Gachon University's Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation on behalf of Seongnam city. A total of 30 participants will be selected from unemployed young adults aged 19 to 34 residing in Seongnam or current students and prospective graduates of local universities. The selection process consists of three stages: document screening, an entrance test, and an in-depth interview.
Selected trainees will complete a total of 1,076 hours of intensive coursework over approximately seven months, from May 11 to December 10.
The curriculum is structured in phases around the core physical AI disciplines of Vision, Edge Computing, and Robotics. Phase 1 (one month) covers foundational programming and development environments. Phase 2 (four months) is an advanced hands-on course where participants carry out projects applying key technologies. Phase 3 (two months) consists of industry-linked projects in which teams solve tasks assigned by partner companies.
Eleven companies and institutions, including Robotis, MaumAI, and the Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI), participate as industry-academic partners, providing mentoring and internship opportunities throughout the program. Upon completion, a showcase event attended by corporate HR managers will be held to connect graduates with employment opportunities.
Application details are available on the Seongnam city website and the Gachon University website.
"The direction of Seongnam's AI talent development model is to directly connect companies with the talent they need on site, while enabling young people to choose the companies they want based on practical skills," Seongnam Mayor Shin Sang-jin said. "Starting with this academy, we will build a standard model that local governments across the country can reference."