ICIST-KAIST 2013

Presented on the two days project about new technology

There is a progression for my blog from just a way to post some photos to a tourist's journal that keeps track of all the places that I visit, but now it became a place for me to write down some experience that I think worth sharing to others.

This time, I attended a conference in South Korea, called ICISTS-KAIST which mainly focuses on the integration between technology and society. The conference itself is wonderful and I was really impressed that all of these were created by only undergraduate students from KAIST, one of the top university in South Korea. Many famous people attended this conference including Walter Bander (a founder of One Laptop per Child project) and David Christian (Big History on Ted Talk).

Another activity that we had to do apart from listening to all speakers was team project. The question for our team is making a policy to prevent any problems from emerging technology. Seeing the poster (picture above) after only two days of work felt amazing. I did learn a lot from this activity.

Giving a presentation on "A Push for More Computer Science Education"

But the most important part that I chose to come to the conference is a presentation in front of all 300 delegates about one of my interests. I talked about how important for today situation that we have to review our education system to support computer science education more since it became much more important lately. This is my second time talking in front of many people in English, but it was my first time volunteering to do so. I think that the only way that I can be better at this is to do it several times until the fear of a podium is gone. Someone told me that "Fake it until you become it." We just have to fake that we are not afraid of  the stage until the fear is actually gone. And I think I did better this time compared to my first time during my last year of high school. If you are interested on the topic or want more details about my talk, you can go to the script page.

My Thai friends in South Korea and one new friend from China
(Which one is from China? Anyone?)

Lastly, another reason that I joined this conference is that I have some Thai friends who are studying at KAIST, and they were the one who told me about the conference. They are also a great host for taking care of someone who have no idea how to speak in Korean and cannot even order food for himself.

Thank you for inviting me!