AKCSE President’s Message

Greetings to our members,
I am honored and excited about the opportunity to serve as President of AKCSE until December 2020.

Thanks to all members’ devotion centered around the past 21 Presidents and the Executive members, AKCSE now has grown up to 3,000 registered members and 2,000 active members including full members, Young Generation and Young Professional since its establishment of November 1986. AKCSE has 11 Local Chapters, 5 Young Professional Societies, 3 Professional Societies, and 16 School Chapters all over Canada at present.

Furthermore since 2011, we have been hosting Canada-Korea Conference on Science and Technology (CKC) annually touring major Canadian cities, and the 9th CKC will be held in Banff, Alberta this summer. Because of our members’ enthusiastic support and involvement, CKC is growing steadily every year and now has become a reputable science and technology conference where nearly 700 Korean and Canadian scientists gather together. CKC now offers unique Canadian programs such as Canada-Korea Strategic ST&I Cooperation Forum, Research Day Program and Presentation of Science and Technology Ambassador Credential. CKC also resulted in practical science and technology cooperation where number of international collaborative research projects have been introduced, and exchange of manpower became frequent.

It is evident there has been abundance of efforts, services and sacrifices from all our members in achieving such progress. And it is also true it has been slow to improve our systems and/or events designed to be more considerate of our members while such remarkable growth and rapid expansion have been accomplished. Thus, as the 22nd President of AKCSE, I am committed to work on improving the role of research and talent exchange hub connecting Korea and Canada with 7 Vice-Presidents and the Executives as we create a warm and welcoming Association for our members.

I intend to accomplish Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (E.D.I.) recognizing and embracing different individual conditions and characteristics without any discrimination because of gender, disability, religion, age, socio-economic status. Hereafter it will lead all members to respect each other eventually, and our members as well as participants attending our Association events will be able to reach their full potential. I appointed VP-E.D.I. to serve such purpose.

Another priority is to make more investment in Young Generation and Young Professional (YGP), our future. I plan to develop and support various YGP programs and expand scholarships and AKCSE Awards. Also, VP-Entrepreneurship has been appointed to inspire YGP’s entrepreneurship and support business start-up.

To revitalize research and technical development even more, I plan to sponsor CKC participation aggressively, and in the meantime operate R&D Canada, the Association’s research portal website and build member database. This will enhance easy access to information on human resources, recruitment, and research development between Korea and Canada as well as within Canada. The Association will make every effort to promote international collaborative research such as supporting matching funds.

Well, our members’ keen interest and passion are crucial to achieve this. Therefore, I would like to ask for your continuous support on projects promoted by the Executives for the next two years. I sincerely hope to see you all in the upcoming CKC.

Thank you.

Jeong Woo Kim, Ph.D. P.Geoph. P.Geol. P.Eng.
AKCSE 22nd President
Professor, Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary