Department News
[Dong-A Ilbo] A medical-school graduate and other “engineering outsiders” win a robotics competition
Author
임은지
Date
2026-02-26
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726
- A team formed by a medical-school transfer student and a Liberal Studies student, among others
- Takes first place at Seoul National University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering “Robocon”
- First female-majority team to win in 33 years
- “The competition gave us confidence in an engineering career path”
[Dong-A Ilbo, Reporter Choi Hyojeong] At the 33rd Robocon (robotics competition) held by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Seoul National University, a team consisting of three female students and a transfer student who is a former physician won. In the Department of Mechanical Engineering, where the proportion of female students is under 10%, this is the first time a female-majority team has taken the top spot.
According to SNU on the 4th, about 70 students participated across 14 teams at Robocon, which was held on the 21st of last month at the Haedong Advanced Engineering Building on the Gwanak campus. This competition has been held every year since 1993 as part of the department’s hands-on major course “Creative Engineering Design (Chang-gong).”
The winner was the team “5vertake (Overtake),” made up of Jo Seongeun, Park Seohyeon, and Yoon Hyeju(19), students in the Department of Mechanical Engineering; Kim Wonjae(30), a former physician and transfer student; and Jung Jiwoon(18), who lived in Thailand for 12 years before enrolling in the College of Liberal Studies. With its unusual composition, the team drew attention early in the competition and was dubbed the “outsider squad of engineering.”
The Chang-gong course is a practical class, introduced by the late Professor Joo Jongnam, in which first-year students who lack a strong engineering foundation directly design and build robots. This year’s theme was “SNU1,” modeled after the process of maintaining a racing car. Participating teams built two types of robots—an autonomous “car robot” and an “engineer robot” that carries out maintenance missions—and competed over six minutes on the speed and accuracy of parts and tire maintenance. Overtake recorded 104 points in the final, defeating the runner-up team “Gwanak Dynamics” (85 points) to win. As a result, they also secured the right to participate in the international Robocon.
They agreed that the practicum gave them greater conviction and confidence about pursuing an engineering career path. Team leader Jo said, “Starting fabrication a week earlier helped, because we were able to experience trial and error sooner.”
Kim, who decided to transfer because of a pure desire for mechanical engineering even after graduating from medical school and obtaining a medical license, said, “I agonized a lot during the decision process, but after achieving the result of winning, I feel it was the right choice.” He dreams of becoming a biomedical engineer in the future to research and develop medical robots.
Park and Yoon, who even stayed up all night to repair the robots the day before the competition, said, “Through this experience, we want to study the robotics field more deeply.” Jung said, “I want to take on research in biomimetic robots.”
