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Huge potential in South Korea's industrial tourism

Story and photos by OH ING YEEN
ingyeen@thestar.com.my  

Tuesday March 29, 2011

MENTION South Korea and most will think of visiting cultural and heritage sites or drama filming sites like Nami Island and Gyeonggi-do.

However, if you like Korean brands like Samsung, Hyundai and Nongshim, you may want to consider visiting their factories and galleries when you visit the country.

Visiting factories may not be as boring as some may perceive because this is the chance to know about the company and their latest products before it reaches Malaysian shores.

In his welcoming address, Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) strategic tourism product team director Kim Dong-ll sees potential in industrial tourism.

Futuristic: U.fashion is a future fashion-related service that allows one to create an avatar that has his or her body information based on face/ body scanning technology.

“Previously it was through invitations from companies to their business partners, hence we would like to have a system to enable people (other than business partners) to contact the companies that they are interested in visiting,” he said to a group of journalists from Malaysia, Germany, Thailand and Japan who were taken on an Industrial tourism familiarisation trip.

SK Telecom

The first stop was SK Telecom’s T.um in Seoul.

T.um is SK Telecom’s Information & Communication Technology (ICT) experience centre where visitors can experience the today and tomorrow of telecommunication technology and services. It utilises smartphones to provide visitors with a guide of South Korea’s cutting edge ICT services.

Guests are given a smartphone embedded with a specially designed programme and a Zigbee USIM card (SK Telecom’s self-developed chip) to guide them throughout the tour.

Try it: You can try your hand at making your own Korean traditional liquor ‘sool’ at the home brewing class.

The visitor’s experience at the centre is further enriched as the smartphone can perform dynamic interactions with the displayed items.

T.um is divided into two exhibition halls: Play Dream, which provides a guide into the future of ICT services; and Play Real, which allows visitors to experience technologies and services currently offered by SK Telecom

For more info, visit tum.sktelecom.com/eng

Reservations must be made at least one week prior to the visit via T.um office.

Samsung D’light

Samsung D’light gallery was equally impressive.

Here you can find the latest Samsung electronic products, some of which have yet to reach Malaysian shores.

For more info, visit www.samsungdelight.com

Spoilt for choice: A variety of products produced by Nongshim.

Sansawon Gallery (Baesangmyeon Brewery)

Soju aficionados and alcohol-enthusiasts will not want to miss out on a trip to the brewery in Pocheon City, Gyeonggi-do.

Called the sool gallery, Baesangmyeon Brewery’s Sansawon Gallery provides a 101 on Korean traditional liquor.

At the tasting corner, we sampled various Korean liquor such as Makgeolli, which is fermented boiled rice and wheat.

You can try your hand at making your own Korean traditional liquor — “sool” at the home brewing class.

Take a stroll around the Sansa Garden where traditional distilled liquor mature in large jars and appreciate the open scenery. Sansawon means a garden of Sansa (Mayflower) tree. Here you can find Sansa trees that are the basic ingredients for Sansachun, the representative brand of the Baesangmyeon Brewery.

For more info, visit www.sansawon.co.kr

Samsung Raemian Gallery

If you are interested in green technology, then a visit to the Raemian gallery is a must on your itinerary to South Korea.

The gallery may not seem relevant unless you are a potential house-buyer but the eco-friendly features will blow your mind away.

The exhibition halls have been featured in Time magazine and the ABC news, and has become a must-visit place for VIPs and experts from various fields.

Aside from industry players; architecture, engineering and interior design students will surely find this gallery fascinating and inspiring.

Log on to www.raemian.co.kr for more info.

Nongshim (Asan Plant)

Fans of spicy Korean instant noodles and Korean food products will enjoy a trip to Nongshim.

At its Asan plant, we were taken on a tour around the factory where the popular instant noodles are produced.

A visit to the factory will not be completed without a food tasting session where visitors will get to sample Nongshim’s noodles.

For more info, visit eng.nongshim.com

Posco

Next, we made our way to Pohang Steel Works in Pohang, situated in the Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

At the Posco Museum, visitors can learn about steel manufacturing and the history of the company via a video of the struggles of its pioneers. Then, take a tour of the steelworks on a bus.

For more info, visit www.posco.co.kr

Hyundai Heavy Industry (HHI)

HHI set the record for building the largest shipyard in the world in the shortest period of time (two years and three months). Visitors can visit the museum and shipbuilding site.

For reservations, log on to www.hhi.co.kr

Hyundai Motor Company (Ulsan Plant)

If you drive a Hyundai, you’d be interested to know how your car is manufactured.

There, visitors will be shown a PR video and introduction of the plant introduction before visiting Plant 3 and the loading dock.

Everyone interested in cars and Hyundai Motor Company is welcomed.

For reservations, visit pr.hyundai.com

Renault Samsung Motor (Busan plant)

Many Malaysians will know Samsung as an electrical and electronics brand but in South Korea, the company also manufactures cars.

Renault Samsung Motors is a member of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Renault Samsung Motors and its Busan plant produces 300,000 units a year.

To know more, visit www.renaultsamsungm.com

SK Energy

Find out how petroleum is produced at SK Energy’s Ulsan plant. At the SK Energy Gallery, learn about the company’s history and how petroleum is generated and developed. The site tour takes you on a tour to the oil refinery, petroleum producing plant, and environmental pollution prevention facility among others.

For more info, visit www.skenergy.com

While the industrial tourism is targeted at industry players and students studying relevant courses, tourists are also welcomed to visit some of the said facilities.

Take note that registration is needed before visiting some of the plants and photography is phohibited at some of the places.

For details, visit the KTO office in Menara Hap Seng, Jalan P.Ramlee, KL. (Tel: 03-2143 9000)

The Industrial Tourism Familiari­sation Tour was organised by KTO.

Emphasis on research

By KAREN CHAPMAN
educate@thestar.com.my

Scientists bring pride to the universities they represent especially if their findings are beneficial to society.

FROM a national sizing survey, a night time alert system for vehicles to finding a vaccine for the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) in prawns, dealing with dengue infections and the computer-aided cranio-orbital reconstruction, it is obvious that Universiti Malaya (UM) researchers are engaged in a whole range of research and development (R & D) activities.

“As one of the country’s five research universities, UM has a strong tradition in R &D,” says Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Jamil Maah. He was UM deputy vice-chancellor (Research and Innovation) and has been reappointed as deputy vice-chancellor (Academic and International) from this month.

He adds that as part of the research strategic plan to mobilise the various research groups more efficiently, the research is organised into eight clusters.

Prof Mahmoud demontrating how the Night Time Alert System works on a model in the engineering labotary.

They are Sustainability Sciences; Health and Translational Medicine; Biotechnology and Bioproducts, Advanced Fundamental Research; ICT and Computational Sciences; Advanced Engineering and Technology; Social and Behavioural Sciences; and Humanities and Ethics.

He adds that the university has also established the Institute of Research Management and Monitoring, a central body which coordinates all research activities and consultancies within UM.

Trained as a chemist himself, he is used to working with dangerous chemicals. “Danger is my business and if I were not careful, the laboratory could have exploded on many occasions,” shares Prof Mohd Jamil.

A new face

For senior consultant maxillofacial surgeon Prof Dr Zainal Ariff Abdul Rahman from the Dental Faculty, it was the plea from a patient who had been badly injured when he was knocked down by a lorry that inspired him to look into how there could be a better outcome for the treatment of traumatic injuries.

“The patient had one of the worst deformities that I had seen in my career and his children could not recognise him, so he pleaded with me on how I could help him,” he shares.

Prof Zainal Ariff shows a model skull an the titanium sheet used in the surgery.

This was the beginning of the journey as Prof Zainal Ariff worked with his colleague, the late Prof Selvanathan Narainasany from the artificial intelligence department, and came up with the the computer-aided cranio-orbital reconstruction software that could help “make a face more normal” after a patient had suffered traumatic injuries.

“This is because any discrepancy of more than 2mm is visible and it is very hard to get accuracy when reconstructing a face as we had to reposition the structure accurately in three-dimensional coordinate,” he explains.

When a patient suffers traumatic injuries in an accident and is bleeding from the brain, the pressure will build and the neurosurgeon has to perform a craniotomy, adds Prof Zainal Ariff.

But the part of the skull which has been removed cannot be replaced immediately and it takes time for the brain to recover from the swelling and also the pressure inside the skull must be relieved.

“The area where the bone has been removed will appear deformed. A few months after the patient has recovered, we replace this bone with titanium sheet or other compatible material,” he explains.

Prof Zainal Ariff says conventionally the sheet was placed over the bone defect and it was cosmetically compromised.

“With this new technology, we can shape the titanium according to the previous bony contour. This will result in better appearance of the patient,” he explains.

Prof Zainal Ariff did a clinical trial with 20 patients and there was 85% satisfaction in terms of symptoms. Prof Zainal Ariff has applied for a patent and he and his team have since won numerous prizes.

Prof Zainab says MyAIS abstracts and indexes Malaysian journals.

Sizes and shapes

The Malaysian Sizing Survey (MySIZE) is a national sizing survey to take the body surface measurements of Malaysians.

Using the latest photogrammetry technology, subjects wearing body-fitting scanwear to ensure accurate measurements, will be scanned using the NX-16 3D body scanner and data generated will be whole body measurements, where a 3D model consisting of cloud points will be shown on the computer screen.

It is able to take from 200 measurements per subject in the duration of around 10 seconds with a 99.5% accuracy.

Assoc Prof Dr Amir Feisal Merican Aljunid Merican who is director of the Centre of Research for Computational Sciences and Informatics in Biology, Bioindustry, Environment, Agriculture and Healthcare (Crystal) at the Faculty of Science, explains that the survey is modelled after those carried out in the United Kingdom, United States and Thailand.

“The objective of this survey is to create a national database containing the digital data of body sizes and shapes of Malaysian subjects. The data obtained is statistically significant as it will be the accurate body measurements of Malaysians,” he says.

The survey will be carried out throughout the country and represents the Malaysian population according to several categories including gender, ethnicity, geographical location and socio-economic income.

The project is expected to kick off in Malacca next month.

Life saving signals

For Prof Mahmoud Moghavvemi who is director of the Centre of Research in Applied Electronics at the Faculty of Engineering, the idea for the Night Time Alert System came about after reading newspaper reports of lives lost due to accidents caused by vehicles parked by the side of the road at night.

“The Alert System is a safety measure implemented to avoid collision at night with stationary vehicles by the road side due to breakdown or other reasons. The circuitry system for the alert can be integrated into existing vehicles and what happens is that the system is able to ‘sense’ when there is an incoming vehicle,” he explains.

Once the sensors have been placed in a vehicle, it is able to sense a vehicle coming towards it. At a distance of between 100 to 200 metres, he says visual alerts which consist of flashing hazard lights and secondary brake lights are switched on and start blinking to alert the incoming driver of the existence of a stationary vehicle in front.

“When the incoming driver comes nearer to less than 100 metres, both the primary and secondary brake lights will be turned on and blink constantly. An audible alert in the form of an emergency siren will also be activated,” he shares.

Prof Mahmoud who demonstrated how the alert works on a model in the engineering laboratory, says he has carried out all the tests, built a prototype and has also applied for a patent number.

Tracking system

There is a need for the Higher Education Ministry to push for a national-level system to track the work carried out by Malaysian researchers or how many times it has been cited by others.

Head of the Digital Library Research Group at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology Prof Dr Zainab Awang Ngah says there is presently no such national system to support the Malaysian research community here.

Prof Zainab has been working on MyAIS or the Malaysian Abstracting and Indexing System (
http://myais.fsktm.um.edu.my) for the last three years.

“MyAIS is an open access system that abstracts and indexes Malaysian scholarly journals,” she explains.

“It gives users information about who is publishing what, in which Malaysian journals as well as publication productivity and citations in the local context.

“A journal audit carried out last year by us gave the figure of 543 Malaysian scholarly journals both in print or electronic and those that have ceased,” she says.

“Students often moan about the difficulties of accessing local articles so such a database has become necessary,” she adds.

Thailand have their own Citation Index as do Taiwan, Korea and China.

“Although our local journals may not be listed under the ISI (Institute for Scientific Information)-indexed journals, it does not mean our work is not good,” she explains.

Overcoming spots

The white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is a major problem for those in the prawn industry as it can cause huge losses.

Prof Dr Phang Siew Moi from the Institute of Biological Sciences at the Faculty of Science and director of the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences and her team have succeeded in producing at least two positive strains of Chlorella vaccine.

“We inserted a gene into the Chlorella to produce a specific WSSV viral protein so that when the prawn eats the Chlorella, it would trigger an auto-immune response in the prawn to the virus.

“The Chlorella would then serve as a vaccine and we then conduct live viral challenge tests with the prawns,” she explains.

The Chlorella vaccine, she adds, can be used by all those involved in the prawn industry as it can be processed and incorporated into the feed. The team is now preparing the patent filing for the vaccine.

On whether prawns which have been given the vaccine are safe for consumption, Prof Phang says: “The prawns are perfectly safe to eat and are not modified.”

Prof Phang and her team had developed and filed patents on genetic transformation of marine algae when she was approached by a Sabah-based aquaculture company to produce an oral algal vaccine against the WSSV.

“(Mr) Ung Eng Huan who is Global Satria Sdn Bhd chief technology officer approached me with the idea of producing an oral algal vaccine against the WSSV. We applied for a TechnoFund grant (RM2mil) and our two research teams worked very closely to produce this algal vaccine.

“The success of this present work has been very encouraging, as it proved that our earlier protocols for marine algae (seaweeds) to be applicable to microalgae as well,” explains Prof Phang, who was one of three UM scientists invited to carry out research at an arctic station in Ny-Alesund, Norway in 2006.

Asked whether prawns have to destroyed if they are infected, Ung explains that when farmers find an infection, they do not usually destroy their crop but carry out ‘emergency harvesting’ and sell the crop.

“As prawn viruses cannot infect humans at all, it is perfectly safe to consume virally infected prawns,” he adds.

Learning more from the mosquito

Prof Shamala Devi from the Department of Microbiology at the Faculty of Medicine wants to understand more about how dengue affects different people. Having been infected twice by dengue, she says each time the symptoms were different.

“The second time I was so sick that it really felt like break bone fever as my entire body hurt,” she shares.

It is not surprising then that her major areas of interests are in the field of dengue diagnostics, immunology and the genetics of this disease.

Prof Shamala Devi can be seen on the cover photo harvesting virus obtained by culture for performing assays to detect neutralising antibodies.

“Currently I am trying to develop assays to determine and differentiate levels of neutralising versus enahancing antibodies in assymptomatic dengue infections.

“I am also looking into the cellular immune responses which appear to be involved in severe dengue such as the T cell epitopes recognised by the body, the levels and types of cytokines and how they cause vascular leakage,” she shares.

She is also looking at the genetics of those who have assymptomatic dengue in order to understand how they respond genetically and why they are not clinically ill.

Preliminary results, she adds, indicate their ability to prevent viral entry and the production of a cytokine storm.