SemiAI Joins University of Seoul's Semiconductor Core IP Design Talent Program as Industry Partner
Five-year, KRW 33.6B national initiative under MOTIE/KIAT — co-running industry projects in the analog & power management track
Professor Minjae Seo of the Department of Convergence Engineering at the University of Seoul (President Yong-geol Won) has been selected for the Industrial Innovation Talent Growth Support Program (Education and Training) operated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT). Through the program, his team will fully roll out the "Specialized Training for Semiconductor Core IP Design." The program aims to cultivate master's and doctoral-level industrial innovation talent for advancing high-tech and core industries, and to build a virtuous cycle in which that talent is effectively deployed.
Managed by the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association's research consortium, the project brings together 15 institutions—including the University of Seoul—and is a large-scale national initiative with research funding of approximately KRW 33.6 billion. With Professor Seo as the consortium's lead PI, the University of Seoul will receive about KRW 1.9 billion in research funding over five years, from March 2026 to February 2031, to train specialists in semiconductor core IP design.
Four technology groups under the industry–academia model
The program focuses on strengthening Korea's industrial ecosystem by training core IP design specialists through industry–academia collaboration projects. To that end, four convergence-based technology tracks will be operated: ▲high-performance processors ▲memory and storage ▲high-speed interfaces and connectivity ▲analog and power management. The University of Seoul will serve as the core hub of the "analog and power management, energy conversion" track. The lead PI Prof. Minjae Seo, along with Prof. Myunggon Kang (Convergence Engineering), Prof. Jungho Choi (Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering), and Prof. Yoon Kim (Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering)—all leading semiconductor faculty—will deliver specialized technical education and research guidance.
Industry–academia projects with SemiAI and other Korean design firms
The University of Seoul will also co-run demand-driven industry–academia projects with leading Korean semiconductor design companies including Silicon Mitus, SemiAI, Wavepia, Cosineon, and Obang Technology. Through these collaborations, specialized curricula in areas such as analog/mixed-signal, PMIC, and power & energy-conversion circuit design will be optimized to match each partner's real-world requirements, with an end-to-end "education–project–internship (industrial training)–employment" support system in place.
The University expects that the highly skilled talent produced through this program will help close the supply gap in system-semiconductor design—and play a central role in strengthening the competitiveness of Korean fabless companies in core areas such as power semiconductors and PMICs.
"I am deeply grateful for the dedication and leadership of Prof. Jungho Choi, who has exemplarily led our preceding program. We will inherit that DNA and build on it," Prof. Seo said. "Together with outstanding partner companies, we will provide close support so that students can immediately settle into industrial roles." He added, "By combining the University of Seoul's strong research infrastructure with our structured employment support system, we will focus all of our capabilities on producing world-class talent in semiconductor core IP design."