Future AI engineers compete at Lam Research Korea's 'Robo Challenge'

Lam Research Korea hosted the finals of its Lam Research Robo Challenge — a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education program for high school students — Thursday at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's international conference hall in Jung-gu, Seoul.

The event was organized by Seedcorp, a social cooperative, and sponsored by the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity. Students selected through qualifying rounds across five regions — southern and northern Gyeonggi Province, Chungcheong, Jeolla and Gyeongsang — competed by programming robots to complete assigned missions, testing their creative problem-solving and logical thinking skills.

Participants repeatedly revised their code and ran tests within a set time limit, working through trial and error to find the best solutions on their own.

Students also connected with peers from across the country, sharing their interest in and vision for future technologies including robotics, AI and semiconductors.

The event featured a special lecture by science communicator Gwedo on the theme "The New World That Robots, AI and Semiconductors Will Open." Gwedo outlined how advances in AI and robotics are transforming industries and everyday life, and said semiconductor technology lies at the foundation of that innovation.

"The students who made it to the finals are not a generation that will simply consume future technology — they are the generation that will create it," Park Jun-hong, CEO of Lam Research Korea, said. "I hope they discover their own potential and dare to dream bigger, at the very center of the changes being driven by AI, semiconductors and robotics."

Park added that Lam Research Korea would continue to support a range of STEM education programs so that future talent can experience firsthand how science and technology can change the world.

Lam Research Korea runs several programs, including the Robo Challenge, aimed at expanding access to STEM education and nurturing the next generation of science and technology talent.

The company co-operates a Memory Academy with the Korean Institute of Information Display and participates in the WISET Global Mentoring program for women in science and technology. It also works with the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology to offer semiconductor process design courses and a tech academy using Semiverse Solutions, as part of broader efforts to develop future semiconductor talent spanning high school students, university and graduate students, and job seekers.