Korea Polytechnics opens advanced equipment and expertise to help small firms build prototypes

A startup in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, that had struggled to develop its product due to a lack of specialized expertise and equipment completed a prototype smart farm climate-control board in about three weeks with support from Korea Polytechnics. The device automatically regulates crop-growing conditions to reduce energy consumption on farms.

Korea Polytechnics announced Tuesday that it supports prototype development for local small manufacturers and small and medium-sized enterprises by opening up facilities, equipment and faculty expertise across its nationwide campuses.

The support is provided through a program called Kkumdeurim Gongjakso, which opens the university's facilities and equipment to the public and to businesses, offering technical training and prototype manufacturing assistance.

The Siheung startup, ALE Company, had conceived an automated crop-environment control system but could not secure the skilled personnel or equipment needed to build it. With technical support from Jang Yeong-su, a professor in the semiconductor and electrical engineering department at Korea Polytechnics' Semiconductor Convergence Campus, the company produced a fully functional prototype. It plans to use the result as a basis for mass production and market entry.

The Asan Campus supported O2Com, a supplier of key OLED deposition components to Samsung Display and LG Display, in improving the performance of its quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) deposition monitoring sensors. Wi Jae-hyeong, a professor in the semiconductor packaging engineering department, handled the precision machining work, raising the product's accuracy and overall quality.

The Daegu Campus produced a prototype sealed nozzle designed to block paint scatter as part of an effort to improve the primer-coating process for Meister. Lee Ji-ung, a professor in the mechanical engineering department, replaced the existing manual application method with a robot-based automated spray system and standardized the process conditions. Korea Polytechnics said the changes allow coating quality to be maintained uniformly while reducing workers' exposure to paint.

Korea Polytechnics has supported more than 340 prototype projects every year — 347 in 2023, 342 in 2024 and 344 last year. Last year, 47,000 people received technical training through the program.

Korea Polytechnics Chairman Lee Cheol-su said the institution would strengthen its role as an open educational community where anyone in the region can learn technical skills, while working alongside local businesses to solve their technological challenges.