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In an interview with the Chosun Ilbo on Tuesday, a visiting Korean scientist working for U.S. space agency NASA said he wants to be a role model for Korean-Americans and Korean students. ¡°No one can mistake me for other nationals than Korean, so if I do well, people will say ¡®Koreans do well,¡¯¡± he said.
Since February, Dr. Shin Jai-won has been an associate administrator for NASA¡¯s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate -- and the first Asian appointed to assistant-secretary level. He is third ranked from some 18,000 staff. It took him 19 years after joining the administration to reach the post, which often takes 25-30 years to reach.
Shin earned his doctorate at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and his Master¡¯s at California State University after graduating in mechanical engineering from Yonsei University in 1982. His first job at NASA was studying submarines.
¡°At that time Russian submarines had slanting towers, whereas U.S. submarine towers were vertical. I found that towers should be tilted to reduce water resistance, so changed the design of U.S. submarines,¡± he said.
He also participated in NASA¡¯s Aviation Safety Program, set up by the White House after an air crash in the late 1990s. He developed various aviation safety technologies, helping reduce accident rates by as much as 80 percent in five years. One technology he developed allowed civil aircraft pilots to check weather information in real time and surrounding geographical features regardless of weather conditions.
¡°It is difficult to produce considerable short-term results in the aerospace industry,¡± said Shin. ¡°But Korea stands a good chance of success if it specializes in a technological area it excels in, like the internet, and invests in developing unrivaled aerospace technology.
¡°Korea should work towards contributing to an international space development project, not because it agrees to share costs but because it offers essential technologies. To that end, it should develop programs to support Korean students studying relevant areas overseas.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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