Gwanak-gu, in partnership with Seoul National University's College of Engineering Innovation Center, has successfully concluded the "2026 Gwanak-gu Youth Engineering Camp," a summer program for local students that drew an enthusiastic response.
The Gwanak-gu Youth Engineering Camp is a long-running career exploration program that launched in 2014 and held its 12th edition this year. Through 2025, a total of 420 students from 118 schools had taken part. This year, 40 students from ninth grade through 11th grade joined the program.
To extend quality educational opportunities to more young people, the district expanded eligibility to include ninth graders starting last year.
That change paid off this year, with ninth-grade participation rising sharply. Inquiries and applications poured in during the recruitment period, reflecting strong interest from students and parents alike in engineering career exploration.
The camp ran Monday through Wednesday at SNU's College of Engineering. University students affiliated with Gongheon, the college's social service center, designed the program with participants' age group in mind and served as mentors, leading hands-on activities and group projects alongside the attendees.
Over the three days, participants broadened their engineering horizons through a range of activities. In the engineering classroom, they got hands-on experience with a manual generator, a polarized sugar-content meter and a gyroscope, then toured cutting-edge semiconductor research facilities to deepen their understanding of the latest technology and related industries. University student mentors also drew on pre-camp surveys to introduce key departments at SNU's College of Engineering and share detailed career information tailored to participants' areas of interest.
A highlight was the group project competition, E-CON (Engineering Contest), in which students worked alongside their mentors to analyze challenges and devise solutions, building creativity and teamwork skills. Participants tackled a variety of missions — constructing a tension-based bridge, building a hydraulic crane and designing a logic circuit — experiencing engineering principles firsthand.
The program also featured a talk concert where students could freely discuss engineering majors and university life, and a quiz competition reviewing what they had learned during the camp. On the final day, a closing ceremony and awards presentation for top teams brought the three-day schedule to a close.
The district plans to keep the momentum going in the second half of the year. In September, it will run a "Pro Bono Law Experience Class" for local middle and high school students, offering a special criminal law lecture and a mock trial. In October, an "Acropolis Debate Mentoring" program for middle school students will provide opportunities to write self-introduction speeches and practice debate. The district said it will continue to expand a diverse range of career and mentoring programs developed in partnership with Seoul National University.
"I hope this camp serves as a meaningful starting point for young people to discover their aptitudes and potential, and to grow into future engineering talent," district mayor Park Jun-hee said. "We will continue to build on our close collaboration with Seoul National University to expand a wide variety of programs that help young people explore career paths and develop the capabilities they will need for the future."
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