Posco College of Technology relaunches as Posco Steel-AI Convergence College to cultivate steel industry talent

Posco's two-year associate degree institution, Posco College of Technology, is being reborn as Posco Steel-AI Convergence College. The renaming and curriculum overhaul are designed to cultivate talent who will lead the steel industry's AI transformation, or AX.

Posco said Thursday it applied to the Ministry of Education in July to change the school's name, receiving final approval for the new name, Posco Steel-AI Convergence College, on Aug. 20.

Posco College of Technology opened in 2014 to train future-ready professionals who combine practical skills with academic expertise, and has graduated 435 students over the past 13 years. Through the overhaul, the college aims to boost future technological capabilities at steelmaking sites and accelerate the digital transformation of production floors.

The revamp centers on shifting to an AI-focused curriculum. Previously, the program centered on steel-production-related majors and liberal arts courses — metallurgy, mechanics, electrical engineering and business administration — but the college has since phased out courses with little real-world application. In their place, it has introduced a wave of state-of-the-art AI courses, including AI systems and AI programming. Of the 31 total courses now offered, 14 are AI-related, accounting for 45 percent of the curriculum.

The college is also strengthening hands-on training so that what students learn translates directly into improvements on the ground. When students identify areas for improvement in actual processes, the college provides one-on-one coaching from in-house experts to help them work out AI-based solutions. Kim Jong-min, a student in the Gwangyang equipment technology department, developed an AI-based drawing review system that improved on-site accuracy and dramatically cut review times.

The college is also expanding industry-academia-research cooperation and its training infrastructure. It has partnered with the POSTECH AI Research Institute, regional universities and outside specialized institutions to secure top-tier faculty and course content. Plans call for digital-only lecture halls and an IT lab, along with high-performance workstations and training robots, to complete an environment for AI, robotics and automation practice.

"We will cultivate talent who best understands both steel and AI, establishing the college as a core education platform that will elevate Posco's future competitiveness," said Park Sung-eun, dean of Posco Steel-AI Convergence College.

Recruitment for the 2027 incoming class opens Monday. Applicants must be model production and technical staff with at least five years of tenure. The program runs on a two-year, four-semester system, with graduates earning an associate degree.

Posco Group regards AI as a core tool for overhauling decision-making and operating systems and for securing a decisive edge over competitors. It is pushing ahead with its AI transformation around three pillars — business, administrative work and value.

Meanwhile, Posco Group has been actively expanding its business portfolio in pursuit of sustainable growth, recently signing an MOU with Chinese cathode material maker Longbai Group to cooperate across the secondary battery materials business, including the supply of battery-grade lithium.