Purdue, South Korea partner on $2.3 million software project

September 9, 2015  


WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.A collaboration between Purdue University Department of Computer and Information Technology, Purdue Foundry and the South Korean Institute for Information and Communications Technology Promotion will bring South Korean university students to Purdue to participate in a software project to assist startups by helping them develop software specific to their companies.

The $2.3 million Korean Software Square Project set to begin this fall will bring about 60 South Korean students to Purdue each year during the next five years. The program will help students develop experience in the computer and information technology field and gain international experience in the U.S.

"The project takes 'real world' technology issues and challenges the students to solve technical problems with software used by the startups," said Eric Matson, associate professor in the Department of Computer and Information Technology who manages the program for Purdue. "The project is an engagement and educational opportunity for the students visiting the U.S. and as a driver for new ventures and startups."

Part of the project includes creation of a South Korean Software Square Project center to be operated by the Department of Computer and Information Technology. It will open in the University Church rectory, which is owned by the Purdue Research Foundation.

"One of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs and their startups is developing software to promote their technology or to create websites," said Greg Deason, executive director of the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurial hub in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship. "The fact that the Korean Software Square Project will be housed in the old University Church space is especially helpful because that is where the Anvil is located."

The Anvil is a Purdue student-run entrepreneurial center for students and the community.

"The software project will be the seventh such program that Purdue has partnered with the South Korean Institute for Information and Communications Technology Promotion over the past three years," Matson said. "We successfully partnered with the South Korean institute on individual programs and this has developed into a strategic partnership and evolved into the Korean Software Square Project."

The software project includes two areas of concentration:

* Capstone Program: Over a four-month period, students will implement technical projects while working with the Department of Computer and Information Technology and a local or regional company to complete a "real world" project.

* Software Maestro Purdue Program: Up to 60 South Korean students will visit Purdue for one month for an intense educational program in software entrepreneurship designed by faculty in the Department of Computer and Information Technology and the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship.

Writer: Cynthia Sequin, 765-588-3340, casequin@prf.org

Sources: Eric Matson, 765-494-8259, ematson@purdue.edu

Greg Deason, 765-588-5254, gwdeason@prf.org 

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