Through a federal grant and active leadership, SUNY Oswego is paving the way for study abroad programs and research partnerships in South Korea and Taiwan to prepare students for opportunities with Micron Technology and other microchip-related fields.

In 2024, SUNY Oswego and partner institution Monroe Community College (MCC) in Rochester earned a highly competitive Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) grant from the U.S. Department of State, supporting efforts to establish, expand and/or broaden American student mobility overseas. 

Project lead Joshua McKeown, associate provost for international education, noted that the project’s title, “Getting Ready for Micron: How a Rural-Serving Public Regional University and an Urban Community College in Upstate New York Will Prepare Students for Opportunities in the Global Semiconductor Industry,” is forward-looking on both a global and local scale. 

The $50,000 grant was the largest award the program had ever given and supported the aims of the bipartisan 2022 CHIPS and Science Act to build study-abroad capacity, programs and resources to prepare U.S. students for careers in STEM, technical and/or vocational fields.

Over the summer, McKeown and faculty members Benjamin Ogwo of career and technical educator preparation, Lisa Glidden of politics and Jae Woong Lee of computer science visited South Korea with MCC colleagues this summer to advance partnerships and plans.

‘Incredible experience’

"It was an incredible experience, we accomplished everything I hoped to do," McKeown said. "Our university partners helped set up a flawless visit, and our faculty were all constructive and engaged."

The proposal helps fund “two deliberate, faculty-led delegations,” McKeown said – the one to South Korea over the summer, and one to Taiwan in January 2026.

McKeown quickly recognized the impact of Micron Technology investing $100 billion into the region over the next 20 years to create a microchip fabrication plant in nearby Clay, just three miles from the Oswego County line, to transform Central New York and provide opportunities in education, both at home and abroad.

“When the Micron news came across, the first thing I started thinking about was our partnerships with Taiwan and South Korea,” McKeown recalled. “I thought that over the years we here at SUNY Oswego have developed partnerships with universities that are the leaders in microchip research, design and manufacturing.”

While a complex project, the goals are important and obtainable, McKeown said, potentially leading to more students studying abroad in South Korea and Twain – whether as traditional study-abroad programs or even bootcamp-style programs to get young people interested in the industry. 

“As we grow our semiconductor industry in Central New York, surely there’s something we can share and learn,” McKeown said. “That’s what exchange is about. Our industry and our programs can only benefit from collaboration.”

This learning included grant-funded visits to two existing SUNY Oswego exchange partner universities in Korea, Pusan National University (PNU) in Busan and Kyungpook National University (KNU) in Daegu, as well as accompanying semiconductor industry visits and exposure.

“KNU is one of the leading semiconductor universities in Korea, which is one of the leading countries in the field, and is located 20 minutes from an industrial park,” McKeown said. “This university partner gave us special access – the stuff we saw was the best of the best. It was a showcase for Samsung in particular. You can learn a lot by seeing one of the best companies in the world showing us its best.”

With KNU having its own cleanroom and industry partnerships, SUNY Oswego students could gain experience and learn how research works, while also gaining cultural knowledge.

High interest

McKeown noted that interest in these destinations remains high for another reason – the impact of the region’s pop culture, including what is known as the Korean Wave or Hallyu.

“South Korea, like Japan and Taiwan, particularly has a really powerful cultural capital right now,” McKeown said, through such popular exports as K-pop, films, dramas and the blockbuster “Squid Games” TV series. 

“There’s a lot of interest in Korean culture, pop culture today, and also in Japan,” McKeown noted. “These countries are also close allies, they’re safe and they’re also really cool places to go. I feel that regardless of semiconductors, students will go there and love it. As a study-abroad person, an international educator for many years, that’s still important to me.”

Ogwo’s expertise in training education meant he could explore what Korean universities and partnerships are doing well to scale up skills through bootcamps and other measures. Identifying how this works within schooling, training systems and partnerships was very clear in South Korea, McKeown observed.

“Samsung is very closely involved, and there’s a close hand-in-hand relationship between education and industry,” McKeown said. “It was inspiring. I think Ben saw some really interesting evidence that what they're doing is right, but things that they can learn from too.”

As the founding director of the Great Lakes Institute on campus and a sustainability scholar, Glidden was able to explore environmental implications and how South Korean chip manufacturers try to mitigate any impact.

And as a computer scientist and teacher, Lee could see how education and trends worked hand-in-hand in providing current and future students with preparation to thrive in this emerging and evolving industry.

Growing connections

McKeown gave credit to other faculty members who established partnerships and connections that continue to bear fruit.

“Taejin Jung from communication studies introduced SUNY Oswego and me to these universities in South Korea,” McKeown said. “With Taiwan, Shashi Kanbur of physics and astronomy made so many connections and research collaborations. Without them, we wouldn't have these relationships.”

All of these connections -– coupled with the largest economic development project in the history of Central New York –- provide the university an opportunity to support student success, become a leader in economic development and establish itself as a distinct destination.

“The stakes are higher now, with the coming of Micron, and with local, state and national investments, and I feel proud to be a part of it in some small way,” McKeown said.

“The world we’re in –- semiconductors are national security right now,” McKeown noted. “It’s almost like a kind of technological arms race. Our university partners in South Korea and Taiwan are excellent and leaders in the industry. These are top partners, and they want to collaborate with us.” 

Ultimately, the summer visit showed that the pieces are in place for SUNY Oswego to play a key role in a bright future.

“What I saw was evidence that what we’re trying to do in Central New York can be done, in terms of bringing together industry, education and governments, working together toward larger goals,” McKeown said. “In the regional approach to Micron, I also see that. It says to me what we’re doing here, we can study that somewhere else, and that we’re on the right track. That was heartening.”