A model promotes SK ICT Curriculum for undergraduate school students, jointly developed by SK Telecom and SK hynix, Thursday. Courtesy of SK Telecom, SK hynix

By Baek Byung-yeul

SK Telecom and SK hynix jointly developed the SK ICT Curriculum education course to share practical knowledge on artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor technologies, which has been introduced at over 20 domestic universities so far, they said Thursday.

The information and communication technology arm of SK Group said it developed the academic program in a bid to help train young future workers in the technologies and show the students what experts in the fields of AI and semiconductors are doing.

"SK Telecom and SK hynix held an online conference introducing the curriculum to professors and faculty at more than 20 universities nationwide," the two companies said in a statement.

"Through this program, the two companies plan to help solve the labor shortage in high-tech industries such as semiconductors by establishing an online education platform, developing a regular curriculum and opening special lectures developed for each university."

An SK hynix spokesman said the curriculums developed by experts at the two companies will be used for undergraduate students at domestic universities who are majoring in engineering.

"The curriculum is comprised of content that most new employees of SK Telecom and SK hynix are required to learn when they first join one of the two companies. We expect engineering majors would enhance their level of understanding in AI and semiconductors through this curriculum," the official said.

SK hynix developed a curriculum for semiconductor technology. It said the curriculum contains more than 80 lessons in 12 major fields of the chip industry such as chip processing and design.

The chip curriculum is based on the know-how of its engineers, and a glossary of somewhat difficult terms used in the chip industry is provided as well as short videos that can teach students about semiconductors easily and engagingly.

Through the AI curriculum, SK Telecom provides 77 video lectures in 10 fields, including natural language, voice recognition and computer vision. AI experts of SK Telecom introduce basic theories, algorithm technologies and actual AI service development cases.

While 2022 is the first year for SK hynix to come up with a semiconductor curriculum for university students, SK Telecom has been offering the AI curriculum for six years. By 2021, its AI curriculum had grown in popularity, attracting more than 4,000 students at more than 20 universities nationwide.